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Universiteit Utrecht
Inspire Programme London 2012
Critical success factors and lessons for the Netherlands
Bake Dijk – Researcher
@bakedijk
USBO
Universiteit Utrecht
Olympic Games 2012
• Singapore promise
• Inspire a generation
• Sebastian Coe placing a pledge to use the events to inspire
two million people to take up sport and physical activity at the
heart of the bid. Legacy includes sporting, economic, cultural,
and environmental benefits, and aims to ensure that no “white
elephants” were created by the 2012 Summer Olympics and
2012 Summer Paralympics.
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Universiteit Utrecht
Inspire Programme
• LOCOG - 2.713 Inspire marks
– Sustainability
– Education
– Volunteering
– Entrepreneurship (business)
– Sports
– Culture
April 2008 – September 2012
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Universiteit Utrecht
Project demands
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Inspired by the Olympic Games 2012
Innovative and exceptional
Participative, inclusive and accessible
Well planned and managed
Organized by one or more non-commercial
organizations.
• Completely financed, without commercial financing
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Universiteit Utrecht
Research by Utrecht University
• Commissoned by NISB:
– Distinguish the critical success factors on the level of
organization and content of the Inspire projects
– What are the lessons learned for the Dutch context?
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Universiteit Utrecht
Research by Utrecht University
• One week (3-8 June)
• 11 cases in London
• Qualitative case studies by 22 master students
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Universiteit Utrecht
General results
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72% of projects would either not have taken place or would not have
taken place with the same scale or profile if London had not been
chosen to host the Games
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More than half of the Inspire Projects (54%) have been running for 1
or more years
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Over 10 million people have been involved in an Inspire project. 1 in 6
people in the UK has been involved in an Inspire project.
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9 in 10 Project Leads say they have been inspired to run similar
projects in the future, showing strong legacy potential.
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78% of Inspire projects are expected to continue after the Games
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Universiteit Utrecht
Critical success factors
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National support by LOCOG
Existing initiatives
A strong local network
Clear local tasks
Ownership and influence by the target group
Accessible initiatives
Competent (voluntary) employees
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Universiteit Utrecht
Fields of tension
Central control vs. Local implementation
Think national, act local
Momentum of the event vs. Sustainable
legacy
Use the moment of the event as an accelerant for
the final goal(s)
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Universiteit Utrecht
Lessons learned for the Netherlands
1. On step back: operationalization of ‘legacy’
• On which themes do you focus? Why?
• Is it important to determine national target groups?
• What is the value of a ‘mark’?
– If it is of value: how can you optimize the advantages and limit
the disadvantages
– What are the consequences for projects without a label?
• How do you measure legacy?
– Do you focus on output? # participants? Hours of carried out
projects?
– Do you focus on outcome? Less tangible, hard to measure or hard
to assign to legacy projects
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Universiteit Utrecht
Lessons learned for the Netherlands
2. Connect the main event (OG) to the social legacy
project(s)
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Facilitate as organizing committee a platform to use the advantages in
relational and communication way with (potential) partners and
sponsors. Organize network meetings or a digital platform and put a
spotlight on the social projects
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Limit the regulations about the visibility of the link with the event.
Words as ‘Olympic’, ‘OG 2012’ or use the Olympic rings were
prohibited in the Inspire Programme. The momentum of the event
makes the social projects possible. Make visible that the project
wasn’t carried out in the same way (or in the same size) if the event
didn’t take place.
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Universiteit Utrecht
Lessons learned for the Netherlands
3. Strive for visible and tangible long-term legacy
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Re-use the facilities of the project by the target group (for example
via schools)
Recurring annual events for a wide range of people (Classico Giro)
Make sure local sports organizations are involved.
Build ‘smart partnerships’. A global sports events usually attracts
partners/sponsors with which you don’t get into contact normally. A
welfare organization usually doesn’t cooperate with a commercial
organization, but when the Olympic Games are organized in a country
it is possible. Strive for structural partnerships.
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Universiteit Utrecht
The End