We live in a world where our plates are filled with convenience and our choices are influenced by an environment full of temptation. The current food system places immense pressure on planetary boundaries and affects people’s health.

A large portion of the Dutch population does not stick to healthy diet guidelines, including the citizens of Rotterdam. This city has the highest national rates of overweight and obesity among adults and children. In recent years, major changes have occurred in the city’s food landscape. The number of fresh food providers has decreased by 38 percent, while the number of fast-food locations has increased by 46 percent, especially noticeable in low socioeconomic status (SES) neighbourhoods (Mölenberg, 2021). This, coupled with rising food prices and limited financial resources, leads to less healthy lifestyles and increased health risks among citizens of low SES neighbourhoods.

The municipality of Rotterdam has the responsibility to secure the health of the city and its citizens. Among initiatives undertaken, the municipality takes part in the City Deal ‘Healthy and sustainable food environment’, to improve the food landscape in collaboration with other municipalities. Within this framework, and in partnership with the municipality of Rotterdam, this project has been initiated with the research question:

“How can the municipality of Rotterdam stimulate VMBO students toward adopting a healthier and more sustainable diet?”

Literature and field research findings reveal that VMBO students’ dietary choices are influenced by individual factors, their social environment, and the physical environment. VMBO students are in the midst of their development, in which their friend group and social status are important. Consequently, a design statement addressing these aspects has been created using the Social Implication Design (SID) method (Tromp & Hekkert, 2014):

“To ensure VMBO students will make healthy dietary choices, I want them to feel cool among their friends by making healthy choices tempting.”

The final concept, developed in co-creation with the target group and in line with the design statement, includes two design interventions to promote healthier dietary choices among VMBO students. The first intervention is the ‘Eat to your Beat’ food festival at school. Through a variety of festive activities, VMBO students gain knowledge and skills related to healthy eating. The first intervention aims to actively engage students to experience and discover that healthy food can be tasty and fun. The second intervention, ‘Eat smart, Play hard’, uses street art to draw the attention of VMBO students to healthy food choices. The art is linked to an online challenge complemented by a social media campaign. This intervention aims to seductively showcase healthy foods and engage with the target group in their online world.

Lastly, a roadmap presents the required steps for the municipality of Rotterdam to implement the design interventions. The first horizon of the roadmap focuses on laying the foundation, the second one is on expanding the concept, and the last horizon is on optimising the performance.

The concept aims to activate the municipality and improve the health of VMBO students in Rotterdam South by making healthy food cool!