EVENTS: MANAGING AND MOBILISING

“The important thing is that all stages from adolescent to mature man, work is done to spread the sporting spirit.”

Baron Pierre de Coubertin

Activating legacy is a daily business. Once the curtain has come down on the Olympic Games, Cities continue to be active and capitalise on the skills developed, the knowledge acquired and the mobilisation generated during the Games. Cities have developed specific tools that contribute to valuing their Olympic heritage. They can also, punctually and, in a way that creates momentum, organise specific events that explicitly or implicitly refer to their Olympic past and contribute to spreading sport-related values. To succeed in the organisation of punctual and recurrent events, Cities need (i) an interested crowd, (ii) a “strike force” of volunteers that can be mobilised to assist in the organisation and (iii) a good management model.

Events themselves then become an opportunity for the City. This is first an opportunity to both mobilise its local community and offer an event that local people can attend. It also becomes an occasion to value educational, health or cultural policies that are part of the City’s vision and development plan.

The cases presented in this section focus either on the events themselves, the mobilising instruments or the management policies.