Meaningful leisure experiences

Meaningful leisure experiences

10/21/2025 - 11:52

Creating meaningful experiences is firmly rooted in the core of Breda University of Applied Sciences. We live in an experience economy which goes beyond relaxation, excitement, and pleasure. We want to use experiences to have a positive long-term impact, come up with resilient solutions, let people flourish and make sustainable change. We built meaningful, or even transformational experiences for a better world. The heart of our business and existence is in helping people to fulfil aspirations, to make people healthy, wealthy and wise, and even let nature and the world itself benefit. Big words, huge ambitions, which sound empty and hollow if we cannot deliver them in practice. This ninth edition of Uncover magazine features stories from education, industry and society, and research. Separate chapters are included on the future, professorship perspectives, stories, projects and specialisations from Academy for Leisure & Events (ALE), World Leisure Organization, and CELTH.
Leisure & Events
  • Uncover

This article was written for Uncover magazine - Meaningful Leisure Experiences. 

Authors: Peter Horsten and Simon de Wijs are the final editors of Uncover.

For the chapter Future outlook we interviewed Joe Pine, organised a conversation with BUas professors about Leisure in (un)sustainable times, and invited some keynote speakers from the World Leisure Congress, during which this Uncover will be launched for the first time, to deliver an article. With this first chapter, we set the tone for the other stories.

Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) hosts a diverse range of professorships and with a chapter on Professorship perspectives we first lay a theoretical foundation under creating meaningful experiences. Then we explore pressing topics including artificial intelligence, digital innovation, virtual humans, sustainable tourism (mobility), and placemaking within local communities. Through an interdisciplinary approach, BUas bridges academia and practice, fostering innovation and addressing global challenges. The collaborative environment encourages impactful research that helps shape a more inclusive, sustainable, and technologically advanced future for the leisure sector and beyond.

With the chapter ALE stories and projects, we explore leisure as a powerful tool for personal and social development and well-being. We highlight projects including story-based tourism routes, impact of theatres, social interventions in public space, and cultural expressions such as hip-hop, illustrating leisure’s role in identity, fashion, and community. Leisure emerges as a lifesaver in wartime, a vehicle for street culture, and a meaningful expression of doing ‘nothing.’ ALE also reflects a broader vision of higher education as an active player in societal ecosystems, using leisure to inspire transformation, stimulate dialogue, and provide inclusive spaces for expression.

A key milestone is the upcoming World Leisure Congress, set to take place in Breda in August 2025. Therefore we have included a World Leisure Organization (WLO) chapter. WLO is a global network committed to promoting leisure for a better society. With an ever-expanding presence across all continents. There is a story from Otago, which has been  involved from the beginning, but there are also stories from new regions like Thailand, the Middle East, and South Africa. WLO serves as a catalyst for dialogue, collaboration, and innovation. Its guiding principle is that leisure contributes significantly to individual and societal well-being. During the congress in Breda WLO brings together academics, practitioners, and policymakers to exchange ideas and co-create sustainable, inclusive solutions that improve quality of life through leisure.

Then there is a CELTH chapter. The Centre of Expertise for Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality (CELTH) builds bridges between science and industry, supporting sustainable innovation through collaborative research. CELTH studies therefore focus on three overarching themes: conscious destinations, sustainability transitions, and leisure for a better society.
In this magazine six projects facilitated by CELTH are presented that span critical themes such as accessibility, impact of (over)tourism, placemaking and volunteering. 

The ALE specialisations chapteris all about both current and emerging issues in the ALE programmes and in their connected leisure subsectors. Each programme explores sector-specific trends, challenges, and opportunities while engaging with broader themes such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), community identity, and ecosystem dynamics. Students work alongside experts and industry and society partners to envision multiple futures - probable, desirable, and even disruptive. Through this collaborative learning process, ALE cultivates key competencies in leisure management, with a strong focus on leisure as a driver for social change, resilience, sustainability, and innovation.

Be inspired and reflect
Meaningful leisure experiences do not have a single definition. It can be as simple as a moment of stillness or as ambitious as a movement for social transformation. In a world marked by increasing polarisation, global instability, and competing values, the role of leisure becomes more layered and contested. As this magazine reveals, meaningful leisure experiences sit at the crossroads of personal fulfilment, societal impact, and systemic change. Rather than prescribing what it should be, we invite readers to engage with its evolving meanings - understanding that in the vast spectrum from ‘doing nothing’ to ‘bettering the world’, every leisure experience holds the potential for being meaningful.