De Sprong VZW: Community Engagement and Digital Behavior Change

From neighborhood initiative to sustainable behavior change

De Sprong vzw is a social innovation organization committed to health, movement and connection within neighborhoods and vulnerable communities. Through its Fitmakers program, the organization supports people in building a more active and healthier lifestyle.

The challenge was clear: how do you ensure motivation continues beyond a workshop or group session?

De Sprong works in a strongly community-driven way. Yet that is where the paradox lies:
The good intentions are there. The energy is there. But lasting behavior change often remains fragile.

The question for Move To Happiness was not "can you deliver an app?"
The real question was: how do we support our participants in between sessions? How do we keep engagement alive without adding extra pressure on facilitators?

The approach

Strengthening community through digital continuity

Together with De Sprong, a two-layer approach was developed:

Community & Engagement as the foundation

The platform was deployed to:

• Support challenges focused on physical activity and healthy habits
• Connect micro-campaigns to existing Fitmakers initiatives
• Enable participants to inspire one another through shared actions

What stood out: digital support did not replace in-person coaching.
It extended it.

The community remained at the heart.
The platform became the rhythm between sessions.

This resulted in:

• Greater continuity between group sessions
• Increased participation in activities
• Clear visibility of small wins

And perhaps more importantly, participants felt supported rather than controlled.

Personal AI buddies as approachable guides

In addition to community approach, individual support was introduced.

Not as a mandatory track.
But as optional, complementary guidance.

Practical examples:

Wellness Wally
Served as an accessible first point of contact for reflection and motivation.
For participants who felt uncertain or struggled to stay consistent, Wally provided supportive conversations and small, achievable steps to keep them moving forward.

Bite Buddy
Was introduced for participants who wanted to improve their nutrition without falling into restrictive diet thinking.
The focus was on simple, realistic behavior adjustments within their own daily context.

Snoozzz
For participants with irregular routines or limited energy, sleep and recovery became accessible and adaptable priorities.

What De Sprong valued most was that the AI buddies functioned as an extension of coaching, not a replacement.

They lowered the barrier to asking for support. Without waiting lists. Without stigma.

Results & strategic evolution

From welfare initiative to structural impact

What is visible today:

• Greater continuity in participation
• More self-directed engagement
• Positive adoption of AI buddies as personal sparring partners
• Reduced reliance on one-on-one mentoring

What is not claimed:

• No medical claims are made
• No direct economic ROI calculations are presented

That would not align with their context.

What does emerge is something different: behavior change becomes structured and supported by a system.

Today, De Sprong is exploring how organizational-level data and insights can help to:

• Identify patterns in engagement
• Better time and sequence initiatives
• Make impact more transparent to partners and funders

This is where human performance comes into play, not as KPI-driven language, but as the structural strengthening of energy, engagement and resilience within communities.