Competence 6: Acting responsibly and demonstrate engaged citizenship
Sports Professionals are aware of the ethical aspects of the profession and raise current social and moral issues, and contribute to
solution approaches in a critical and responsible manner as the situation arises.
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The work field simulation GAME with the Municipality of Groningen had different subjects per week, one of them was to come up with a plan to renovate and improve a public park in Vinkhuizen by using input from different age groups and types of users of the park. This all together with my consultancy team, the A team, that consisted of myself, Maarten Lendering, Sander Kuperus, Lindsay Blok, David Schostak with our senior consultant/lecturer Drew Henderson.
My task was to conduct (street) surveys and interviews among the different age groups and users of the park. And later when the information was collected I assured during the composing of the plan that each type of user’s input was used and no one was left behind. I also stated this during the presentation in front of the alderman Paul de Rook and several civil servants.
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As a consultancy team we sat together to create a well-rounded survey to get input from the residents of the Vinkhuizen area. This surveys were later used by Lindsay Blok and me or me alone when the Vinkhuizen area was visited to gain information. Together we went to a senior housing were the residents were really pleased with or visit and that someone listened to their needs and wishes in order to renovate the park. We also retrieved information from youth that was playing basketball in the nearby sports hall and hang-arounds that were just chilling in the park and were surprisingly friendly. Later on I visited the neighbourhood centre located across the street from the park. Their I talked to neighbourhood counsellors who help me to gain objective information about what was happening in the park and what the issues were.
All this information was put together in a renovation plan that had an all-round appearance so all age groups would be pleased when they visited the park. We also made use of budget-cutting strategies so the Municipality of Groningen would be pleased with costs of execution. This all was put together in a report an presented to civil servant of the Municipality of Groningen.
Our report included input from all the different age groups and types of user of the parks. By visiting the area and asking the residents what the really thought of the park we could come up with a renovation plan that fitted all the needs and wishes of residents of Vinkhuizen which was also mentioned by the civil servants and the alderman Paul de Rook after completing the final presentation. The municipality was assessing the renovation plans on creativity, being financially attractive and on being executable. This resulted in the municipality taking parts of our report and implemented them in the newly renovated park in Vinkhuizen.
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For me this would be a head example of reaching level B for acting responsibly and demonstrating active citizenship because of the fact I made a connection with the residents and commuters of a specific area within a time frame of a week. This amongst a wide spread variety of ages by using different approaches for every one of them. And in the presentation of our plans, I insisted to make the alderman Paul de Rook and his civil servants clear that certain age groups would make use of the park when it would be renovated.
I was really pleased with the executable plan we came up with that also kept finances in mind. Because some other plans were maybe more creative but couldn’t be executed in a realistic way.
The next time I would take more time to conduct the surveys and (street) interviews to get more input and an even more realistic idea on the needs and wishes of the users of the park.
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Ahead of the start of the graduation year, I have had the first contact with MIBOSO during a location visit at the 13th of October 2018, which was part of the course ‘Small Business & Entrepreneurship in year 3 of the educational program of Sport Studies at the Hanzehogeschool Groningen. Kelly Schat spoke about his vision and direction MIBOSO is aiming at in the future. In that vision indoor and urban farming was a part that he wished to be enrolled in which I saw an innovative graduation project. Combining (live) nutrition with a physical exercise environment was something never seen before and was already part of my personal view on how to improve a sports studio or gym environment. After shaking Kelly’s hand and exchanging contact details we parted.
Sometime went by before the next meet-up was scheduled at the 19th of August 2018. Meanwhile in searched contact with several students who did an internship at MIBOSO before to gain some insight information about what I could expect in the upcoming year. During the first visit it already felt MIBOSO had a different culture and approach towards training and improving health of their clients.
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The sports studio had a different design of space than gyms and sports studios I was used to. Partly due to the large windows that gave an open view on the outdoor environment, but mostly because of the way the floor space was used. Training equipment and machines were placed in such a way that created an open space, which gave an easing feel while walking in it. What I heard from previous interns was that MIBOSO had a family-based business approach with an informal attitude towards interns and their ideas.
On the other hand, this open attitude was experienced as non-strutured. To me this was no frightening idea, since I felt I could be of use in such a setting and it would also be more challenging than more conventional internships. Adding structure and consistency in performance within a company is an objective that could benefit me in my final steps to become a health professional, besides exploring new ways to stimulate health.
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To gain some knowledge on the topic of indoor and urban farming and the social need on different levels, I read some on-line articles and watched several documentaries on television, YouTube and other streaming channels. The three of us discussed what our expectations according to the project were and talked in more detail about the business approach while eating a nutrient rich meal in line with the goals of the project.
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When clients reach out to MIBOSO they do so in the form of face-to-face contact, e-mail contact and phone contact. As I got more responsibilities over time this was also part of my daily tasks. This initial contact is an important step in the decision phase a potential client has as was a result of the customer journey map conducted by the students. Therefore, my objective was to do this in a professional an overall conclusive manner.
During the communication with (potential) clients it was clear that these consisted of people from different backgrounds, nationalities and with their own needs and wishes. This asked for appropriate communication in not only the Dutch language but also in English and German on the services MIBOSO delivers, the facility and explanation of the Virtuagym system used for administration of clients. To relate better with the customer it has also been beneficial of me to show interest in their interests and in issues they experienced within society and in the close surroundings of MIBOSO. Really empathising with the clients is what I did and what makes me having reached level C.
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