The role of sports events rights-holders in creating legacy

In the spirit of fostering dialogues and exploring new horizons, SCORE – a Sport Think Action Tank based in Lausanne – organizes periodical SCORE Labs, meetings which draw on expertise from within and outside of sports. 

In a previous article we discussed the challenges and methodological issues related to the definition, conception and measurement of social legacy, since sports events account for many intangible outcomes. Among other areas of discussion, SCORE Lab participants highlighted the importance of involving local community actors as formal stakeholders in this process, from planning to evaluation. 

The inclusion of additional stakeholders into the process must be in the early stages, even before the candidature of the potential host city, as event delivery pressures always work against the planning and implementation of legacies. Sports events rights-holders, such as international federations, the IOC and other governing bodies, have the responsibility of ensuring a successful event hosting strategy, where the positive impact of the event outweighs the negative. Doubts about legacy planning are often due to not listening to or not involving the local community. What can rights-holders do to make events relevant to the host?

Inclusive stakeholder engagement to increase event relevance 

Indigenous practices across the world teach us community processes for decision-making. In Andean republics, mingas - a Quechua word for “collective work” - meant the union of several communities in search of mutual benefit. According to the Royal Spanish Academy, the word ‘minga’ means “meeting of friends and neighbors to do some free work in common.”

Accountability to the affected population (AAP) is an integral component of UNICEF’s emergency programming; it consists of having the local population as a key partner across all assessments and processes to ensure good resource mobilization and effective feedback systems. Urban developers have adopted a human-centered approach based on creative dialogue between designers and citizens (or users) to develop solutions of common interest. 

These and many other examples of varied stakeholder engagement strategies in different sectors can be transferred and implemented in a sport events context as means to deliver a collectively-relevant project.

Empower strategic stakeholders to build shared vision

Surveys have been the most commonly used ‘collective’ tool to understand communities' attitudes towards major sports events, and recent public referendums have expressed local communities' reluctance to hosting those events. As rights-holders claim the legacy of sports events, they should have a prominent role in ensuring these collective processes are in place. Whether it is a small or a big event, stakeholder engagement strategies will contribute to defining the event legacy (shared vision) if done early in the event’s bidding phase. 

Governing bodies are responsible to ensure that the event hosts take in full consideration any impact that the event might have, establishing a dialogue and actively engaging with the local population. Such stakeholder engagement and more collective approach can be adjusted according to the dimensions of an event and the ambitions of the host community. In addition to legitimizing the event narrative, stakeholder engagement and co-design strategies help to mobilize resources to address eventual challenges and to optimize processes. 

S4D as a main platform in legacy planning  

Sports events rights-holders can also look inwards at the strengths that sports have - while learning from other sectors, they have at their disposal a unique tool to give voice to anyone participating in the game. Stakeholders directly affected by the event could help to define event legacy according to that specific community situation.

S4D is a naturally inclusive platform capable of connecting sports events to almost any social context. However, in order to be effective, rights-holders have to engage early in a collective process of prioritization, capacity-building and impact assessment with local citizen groups.

If rights-holders want to drive the sports legacy conversation, they have to be open to other industries' approaches and local indigenous practices; they have to be inclusive in co-creating a shared vision; and  they should use S4D as the platform to build and strengthen collectivism while developing and growing the sport. 

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SCORE - Sport Think Action Tank: Independent sport thinkers who aim to support and cooperate with the sports community to SCORE impactful and relevant solutions