Aletta’s Regional Year Challenge 2025 - Food environment

Aletta’s Regional Year Challenge 2025: Turning data into insights that matter

The Aletta Regional Year Challenge gives students a unique opportunity to work with real-world data as part of their educational program. It’s a hands-on, interdisciplinary experience designed to strengthen your skills in data analysis, critical thinking, and problem-solving—while contributing to real public health challenges.

This year’s theme: Our food environment

What we eat—and the environments we live in—play a huge role in our health. In 2025, students will dive into data from the Lifelines cohort to explore how diet, weight trends, neighborhood infrastructure, and social factors interact.

Whether you’re a student, teacher, or organization, we invite you to take part in this year’s challenge. Help us explore how data can drive healthier food environments and more equitable health outcomes.

Click here to enroll for the program and receive updates from us!  

Tackle the challenges of a healthy food environment.

This year’s program will contain the following events:

1. Kick-off session with an inspiring speaker who will introduce the topic: Thursday 19 September - 15.00 - 17.00

2. Data workshop / webinar: Thursday 26 September - 15.00 - 17.00

3. Connecting half-way: to share initial ideas and solutions and inspire each other: Thursday 14 November - 15.00 - 17.00

4. Sharing results & reward ceremony: Thursday 30 January - 15.00 - 17.00

What can you expect?

The program offers a variety of activities and these are some of the key highlights:

• Yearly Challenge Theme: This year’s challenge is: “how might we improve the healthy food environment of citizens in the Northern Netherlands”? All students who are working on research questions or challenges that match with this theme can participate. Students are encouraged to think creatively, collaborate effectively, and develop innovative and data-driven insights and solutions. At the end of the program you will receive a certificate acknowledging your participation. 

• Real-World Data: The program provides students with access to a rich dataset from Lifelines which includes various variables that are related to health and healthy living environment - aggregated to the level of zip code and age. This dataset can support their educational or research projects and empowers them to explore, analyze, and draw meaningful insights.

• Networking Opportunities to get inspired and share results: Aletta's Regional Year Challenge organizes various meet-ups, workshops, and networking events throughout the program. These events allow students to interact with professionals, researchers, and fellow participants, fostering a sense of community and providing valuable networking opportunities.