Informing the future direction of Olympic social impact legacy and measurement

The first workshop held in September 2021, was organised by Event Legacy Ltd on behalf of the Association of Summer Olympic Federations (ASOIF). It focused on the development of a comprehensive and consistent list of social impact indicators for host members. ASOIF invited academics and event practitioners from around the world to debate key questions around the measurement of social impact. During the discussion, Dr Ormerod presented evidence from his ongoing research around major events in partnership with Doncaster Council. This program of work started in 2018 and has involved community social impact studies of two legs of the Tour de Yorkshire cycle race, the UCI Road World Cycling Championships, and a Rugby Union England Roses Six Nations championship match. Future work is also planned for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup that will now take place in 2022.

The second workshop held in October, was organised by the Organisation for Economic and cooperative development (OECD) and supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It addressed a wider remit of global events such as trade fairs, exhibitions, and cultural celebrations, as well as the Olympic Games. Again, Dr Ormerod was able to draw on his experience of developing social impact interventions and measurement approaches to inform the debate. He also submitted documentary evidence to help inform the development of a framework for measuring the social impact of global events and the development of common outcome indicators, relevant to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Legacy Strategic Approach.

The collated workshop evidence will inform a future OECD report which will provide methodological guidance on impact measurement and the identification of common outcome indicators for global events. As part of this work, Dr Ormerod will participate in further consultation events and activities early in 2022.