The President of the Jordan Olympic Committee (JOC), HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, has launched a national communications initiative to boost sports participation among Jordanians.

Concerned over the Kingdom of Jordan’s collective health and what it describes as “the continuous threat of our young people falling victim to damaging and anti-social distractions”, the JOC has launched a series of initiatives under the banner of “Living Sport” with the aim of making sport play a part in the lives of all Jordanians.

 “We, in the Olympic Movement, truly believe in the power of sport to make a positive difference, and the Jordan Olympic Committee is taking responsibility, alongside like-minded organisations, in making that difference,” said HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, President of the Jordan Olympic Committee.

The programme was launched on Thursday during celebrations held in Al Hussein Sports City in advance of Olympic Day (23rd June). The JOC was joined by representatives from all 34 sporting federations under its umbrella, as well as 200 school children who took part in activities promoting Living Sport and the Olympic values.

The programme is set to run indefinitely. “There is no end date to sport making a difference to the lives of our citizens and so Living Sport has no end date,” said Prince Feisal.

A one-month campaign will be launched every year on Olympic Day to address key health and social issues. Specially created JOC committees will promote sport as universal and without barriers to participation, and organized in an environment-friendly way through green initiatives.

Living Sport will target six to 11 year olds through an “Ambassador” initiative, steering children away from anti-social distractions by bringing fun into sport.

Through the JOC News Service, sporting successes will be celebrated, bringing a sense of collective national pride. The JOC is also taking steps to make sport more marketable and attractive to all non-participants, from fans to sponsors. 

“Living Sport is a long-term programme which will be at the heart of all JOC activity and operations, and which will evolve as needed through time to remain relevant to all that we do,” said Prince Feisal.

De Boer Middle East has won the contract to build a high-specification semi-permanent exhibition hall at King Abdullah Economic City located close to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia.

At 6,500 sq m useable space, the King Abdullah Exhibition Centre will be one of the largest temporary structures to be built in the region.

Sustainability is a key feature of the building, which has an expected life span in its current location of between five to ten years. Following this, it can be dismantled and reused in a new location, as exhibitions move to a permanent facility being built in the coming years.

Furthermore, specially insulated wall panels on the Delta Emperor structure will be added to reduce air conditioning requirements especially during the summer months, improving overall energy efficiency.

The semi-permanent structure, which has a 60 m x 90 m footprint, will house exhibition and meeting space of more than 6,500 sq m – larger than a football pitch. The turnkey venue combines the latest temporary structure technology combined with traditional building techniques to deliver the look and feel of a permanent building. The whole venue is designed with a high specification interior fit out encompassing adaptable conference rooms and retractable exhibition hall divides.

Another advantage of the De Boer temporary structure solution is rapid build-times with construction to be completed within two to three months instead of the usual one to two-year timeframe for permanent builds.

The hall will be centrally located in the King Abdullah Economic City project, situated 100 kilometers north of Jeddah. This newly planned city has injected around SR207 billion ($55 billion) into the local economy, with 260,000 apartments and 56,000 villas planned for completion by 2020. The King Abdullah Exhibition Centre is expected to be the centrepiece in the economic city and a draw for visitors to the region.

Commenting on the contract win, Edward Gallagher, De Boer Middle East’s Business Development Director, stated: “We’re delighted to be partnering with one of the most innovative, forward-thinking organisations and cities in the Middle East in delivering this exhibition centre project. As a result of choosing De Boer Middle East the city can expect to be delivering exhibitions and events by October – drawing thousands of people, driving tourism and bringing in revenue.

“With our continued developments in construction technology, De Boer can now deliver full, turnkey venues for any need, from temporary airport terminals to warehouses and sports facilities to exhibition venues in weeks instead of years. These are facilities that will last at least 10-15 years without any maintenance overhaul.

“In a growing, forward-thinking environment such as the Middle East where governments, developers and companies are continuing to invest, whether building new cities or just expanding their operations, we are seeing ever-increasing demand for our solutions as people realise it’s possible to have something akin to a permanent facility but in a fraction of the time,” Gallagher concluded.

With around 500 projects per year, De Boer also delivers the world’s largest temporary exhibition hall for the bi-annual Farnborough Airshow in the UK and installs temporary structures annually at the largest global trade fair – Bauma in Germany.

Source: De Boer Middle East