[Source: ESPN] Community leaders, local residents, and youth gathered in Mount Druitt, Sydney on February 28 to participate in the opening of a new, multifunctional sports space dedicated to the local community and its residents. Built to Play is a global project, led by ESPN. This is the first Built to Play project undertaken by ESPN in Sydney and the eighth globally.

The courts and surrounding area, refurbished with the help of community residents and ESPN and Disney employees, will provide a safe place to play for the surrounding community, as well as offer ongoing programming using the power of sports to educate young people on key local issues. Sport for development organizations, Coaches Across Continents and Police Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) NSW will deliver programs on the new space.

Hosted by ESPN sports reporter and commentator, Stephanie Brantz, the event was attended by Haydn Arndt, General Manager, ESPN ANZ and Disney Media Distribution, along with ESPN and Disney employees and community volunteers who helped build the space, as well as local residents and their families. The celebration was comprised of cultural performances, special recognition of community leaders who volunteered their time, as well as sports matches open to the community.

“At ESPN, we believe that sport has the ability to transform lives, and we are committed to providing resources to enable kids in Sydney to play sports,” said Haydn Arndt. “We’re pleased to bring this global project to Mt. Druitt and to collaborate with love.fútbol, PCYC NSW, and Coaches Across Continents, to create this space in a community where there is a need, as it can truly make a difference.”  

love.fútbol, which is known for building community sports facilities all over the world, played a key role in selecting Mount Druitt, Sydney, for the new space based on need, population served and socio-economic status. The unemployment rate is over 13% higher than the Greater Sydney average, alongside a number of social challenges in the area including drugs and alcohol abuse, high crime levels, insufficient transportation and limited services for youth.

“We are fortunate to have such significant support from ESPN, Disney, love.fútbol and Coaches Across Continents who share our vision of empowering young people,” said Dominic Teakle, CEO, PCYC NSW. “Participation in sport is a powerful tool for change. It allows young people to feel part of a team and that sense of belonging gives them the support to face their challenges both physical and mental.  PCYC sits at the heart of most NSW communities and this facility will enable us to better serve the community of Mount Druitt.”

Fan zones are a very attractive and important feature of major sporting events. There are several reasons for this, including:

• unrestricted access;
• enjoying the atmosphere of the event with other fans, feeling like you are part of it;
• watching the action on a giant screen with great pictures;
• without having to pay for a ticket (often very expensive) for entry to the stadium.

But unrestricted access is a real problem in terms of security, since it is impossible to track who is inside the fan zone. In the event of a terrorist act committed inside, it would be a real nightmare finding victims and attackers.

Some fan zones hold more than 70,000 people. In these zones, the cost of proper security is almost unsustainable. Cities and towns that host these zones are unlikely to be assisted by the organisers, who demand many things but rarely finance them.

Let us remember that the attack in Atlanta 1996, with two deaths and a large number seriously injured, took place in a fan zone – even if it was not called that at the time.

People who attend fan zones are rarely rich people. But maintaining free and unhindered access to the fan villages is to continue running a particularly high risk, putting the life of fans in danger.

While there is no such thing as zero risk, it is possible to considerably reduce risk simply and without great expense by:

- making screening devices mandatory;

- controlling entry and exit with human security, as well as patrols inside the zone;

- charging a very low admission fee for entry badges with a credit card requiring registration on the internet, to show who is inside the zone.

Even though this will remove some of the spontaneity that makes these zones so attractive, it will significantly reduce the risk and allow fans and families to go to these joyful places that are so motivating for local authorities and their image. 

For the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires 2018, the organisers decided that entry for spectators would be completely free of charge, but they required registration on the internet. Though this did not shorten queues at the stadium entrance, it enabled a good level of security to be achieved for an enormous crowd – and this is vital today.

The futureproof venue is a place that delivers total fan engagement and leverages technology to achieve this goal. Teams and properties need to think creatively about how to make their venues exciting today and relevant to their communities tomorrow.

To do this, questions around designing an experience that entices fans off the couch, keeps them safe, and engages them in a meaningful way should be considered early and often. Entertainment districts are rising to the challenge by creating spaces designed for multiple sports and events. Venues further strengthen their durability by enmeshing themselves in the city around them through mobility and connectivity initiatives.

If the fan is going to spend the time, money, and effort to get to the venue, they want to experience something they can’t be missed. They want to feel like they are part of something larger than themselves. Venues can deliver this by embracing their role as innovation hubs for emerging technology.

Acceleration of new technologies increases opportunity and risk

As a member of the PyeongChang Olympic Coordination Commission, our project began in 2011. In the 7-year span from kick-off to completion the world around us changed dramatically. Globally, internet access grew from 2 billion people in 2011 to 4 billion today.

This change was reflected in the 670 million people who watched the Games online, a 120 per cent increase from Sochi 2014. As applications on the Google Play store increased from 30,000 in 2010 to 3.5 million in 2018, mobile applications became the new way to access services such as ticketing and mobile ordering.

Behind the scenes, the evolution of cloud computing started to provide an easy to manage, scalable infrastructure resource which allowed companies to process large amounts of data. At the Sports Innovation Lab, we saw this change reflected in the proliferation of technology solutions. For the venues themselves, all of this change adds significant complexity but also provides opportunity to create differentiated and compelling technology-powered experiences that can wow fans.  

The rate of technology evolution presented challenges for the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games (OCOG), as technology decisions are made three to five years before the first event begins. As available solutions changed between 2011 and 2018, so too did fan expectations: mobile ordering, contactless payments and high-speed connectivity became the norm (for social media and instant replays).

Despite these challenges, the 2018 Olympics was a presentation of today’s most exciting technologies, from 8K broadcasts and 5G connectivity to virtual reality. Staying abreast and ahead of the rapidly evolving technologies and fan expectations will be essential to the success of the Games in Tokyo, Beijing, Paris, and LA.

Smart venues rise to the challenge

To match pace with the rate of technology evolution, the futureproof venue must be an innovation hub where technology providers test their solutions. The pressure and opportunity for what we at the Sports Innovation Lab call a ‘Smart Venue’ continues to build. A Smart Venue removes hassle, creates memories and builds a technology platform for further innovation. We see a host of new solutions adding to the fan experience.

Technologies that remove hassle and create memories were on full display in PyeongChang. Many of the The Olympic Partners (TOPs) used the Games to demonstrate their technology capabilities on a global platform. I was able to see and hear about the future of 5G with Samsung, facial recognition with Alibaba, VR with Intel, self-driving cars with Toyota, robot assistants with Genie Talk, live athlete data used for performance and fan engagement from Omega, and contactless payments with Visa. Korea Telecom also developed a high-speed, low latency network to support mass video streaming and deliver Wi-Fi to 250,000 devices simultaneously. The Games provide one of the most visible platforms for global technology vendors, yet we also see new technologies being tested across venues on a daily basis.

Raising the innovation bar

In my final duties as a member of the International Olympic Committee, I awarded the 2018 USA Women’s Hockey Team their gold medals. Standing in the centre of the Gangneung Hockey Centre, the feeling was electric.

That energy traveled halfway around the world, where at 3 AM USA Hockey fans were watching via a 4K high-definition stream. This year’s Olympics demonstrated the opportunities and challenges live sports face in creating futureproof venues:

• The live experience is incomparable. No substitute will ever match the in-person live experience at a venue.
• The remote experience is drastically improving. For those who cannot experience an event live, there are a growing number of digital alternatives.

These two forces put an extreme amount of pressure on venues to make it easy and appealing for fans to attend live events, but it also creates a huge opportunity to improve access and engagement with sport. Venue operators will need to expand their innovation strategy for attracting foot-traffic and community value.

Some properties are rising to this challenge by adopting their identity as an innovation hub. The San Francisco 49ers have created an innovation centre to teach local school children about Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math at 49ersEDU. FC Barcelona has an Innovation lab to examine the future applications of athlete data.  The Green Bay Packers partnered with Microsoft to create the TitletownTech where digital solutions are developed for new market challenges.

Building innovation hubs inside venues for future events, Local Organizing Committees and venue owners/operators must look beyond blueprints and budgets to create innovation centres that increase the technology IQ of the local community, and ultimately, future fan engagement.

The success of any major tournament, and the reputation of the host city, is intrinsically linked to the safety of the venues. The UK is rightly seen as a beacon of excellence in sports grounds safety but it is true to say that this excellence has come at a heavy price: tragedies such as Hillsborough highlight how poor our sporting infrastructure and levels of safety management were.

Watching live sport is a thrilling experience and cities that are hosting major tournaments will want to be assured that the safety of all people within a venue is taken seriously. In this article we outline a strategic approach to safety and provide some detail on forthcoming guidance that will enable host cities to manage safety challenges in today’s world.

Strategic issues

Host cities should ensure, early in the development process, that they adopt an integrated approach to safety, security and service. What does this mean? It means that safety, security and customer services are recognised as interdependent and cannot be treated in isolation. Safety and security must never come at the cost of customer service.

Host cities will know that security and safety are critical factors; the attacks at the Stade de France in Paris, in November 2015 showed that major sporting venues and infrastructure are a target for terrorist activity. Furthermore, the 2017 attack at the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, in which twenty-two were killed, demonstrated that whilst there is often vigilance and attention given to crowds entering a venue, there is often less attention paid on exit.

But what does customer service mean? It means ensuring that the experience of the visitor is also a priority and that safety and security do not come at the cost of a poor experience. Communicating effectively with spectators, for example on search regimes, will assist host cities to avoid crowd agitation.

One of the reasons that the London 2012 Olympics were so successful off the field was the presence of the volunteer ‘Games makers’ who were there to signpost and guide spectators around the Olympic Park and venue: a great example of an integrated approach.

Practical advice

The principles of an integrated approach are firmly embedded within the newly released 6^th edition of the Guide to Safety at Sports Grounds. The Guide is used across the world by architects, stadium owners, host cities and venue managers to help design and refurbish stadium and operate major events in line with international best practice.

The Guide reflects today’s challenges. As examples of what is new compared to the previous 5^th edition published in 2008, is guidance not only on evacuation in the event of an issue within the stadium, but also the principle of “exceptional egress” which may arise as a consequence of an external stimulus and may indeed involve internal movement or “invacuation” The full impact on the psychology of a large crowd in response to being held within a stadium is not yet known but we provide practical steps to take as this area continues to develop.

It also addresses the external factors that create interactions between the stadium, the spectators and the immediate environment, including local transport hubs (‘Zone Ex’). These external factors will be important for stadium owners and operators to consider as part of their overall event management strategy and integrated approach to safety.

In our work across the world advising on strategic safety challenges we often see stadiums that are built to a good standard, but deaths and serious injuries occur due to failings in safety management. It is hard to overestimate just what a positive impact a more strategic approach to safety management can have.

In summary, the safest venue is an empty venue, but nobody wants to see that. Adopting an integrated approach means not just recognising the skills and expertise from different parties in managing an event safely and being clear on the roles and responsibilities of each party, but in ensuring that each agency dovetails to provide a strategic approach to safety.

Further details on an integrated approach can be obtained via the Council of Europe. The Sports Grounds Safety Authority (SGSA), as the world’s leading authority on sports grounds safety, are standing members of the committee. We advise governments, host cities, tournament committees and venues on best practice in venue safety management.

A 70 million euro state-of-the-art football academy has been built on the site of a former barracks within sight of the Allianz Arena in the north of Munich. Polytan was in on the action as the fitter of choice: the Burgheim-based sports surface specialist laid around 22,000 square metres of synthetic turf and synthetic surfaces outside – with 20,000 square metres consisting of the LigaTurf RS Pro II CoolPlus premium synthetic turf system with top quality Infill Bionic Fibre infill granules.

Great importance is attached to the development of young talent in Munich: the ultra-modern sports facilities on the club's 30-hectare site include a sports hall, a ground with three stands for 2,500 spectators, a basketball court, a beach soccer pitch, fitness/technique/coordination areas, mini pitches, a circular track and seven full-size pitches. This unique offering is rounded off by the academy for 35 talented junior players, the club house, a cafeteria, a medical practice and much more besides.

At the request of the German record-holders, sports surface systems from Polytan were installed over an area of around 22,000 square metres on the open-air site, with synthetic turf from Polytan being laid on two full-size pitches, two mini pitches and the fitness/technique/coordination area. In addition, Polytan synthetic surfaces were the ideal choice for the basketball court and the circular track: the basketball court was fitted out with the hard-wearing PolyPlay S all-round surface, while the Rekortan M professional sports surfacing system ensures that the running track is suitable for competitions. Both areas have been laid in classic brick red, the usual colour of choice in professional facilities used for competitive events.

When it came to the synthetic turf, FC Bayern Munich opted for the LigaTurf RS Pro II CoolPlus system with Infill Bionic Fibre infill granules, which currently represents state-of-the-art technology in professional football.

Polytan had already been awarded the contract for the synthetic pitches at the training ground on Säbener Strasse by the German record-holders back in 2009 and 2011. Thomas Hanke, the Sales Director for Germany at Poly- tan, attributes the fact that the club has again opted for premium products by the Burgheim-based sports surface specialist to the continuous advances in its systems.

"In combination with the elastic base layer, which provides for long-lasting, optimum force reduction, the LigaTurf RS Pro II CoolPlus synthetic turf system is ideal for the high demands placed on it by FC Bayern Munich. The highly resilient smooth filaments are similar to real blades of grass and yet they provide consistently good playing qualities, even when the weather is cold and wet. There is no need to close the pitches, and the turf heating system means that training sessions can run continuously, even if temperatures fall below freezing or there is a bit of snow."

The state-of-the-art Infill Bionic Fibre granules contribute to even better playing qualities and help to reduce the risk of injury to players. The EPDM granules are of an irregular shape, in contrast to the angular, smooth-cut form of conventional infill. The result is a softer and naturally springy surface.

Thomas Hanke emphasises yet another advantage: "The organic structure of the infill granules reduces what is known as ‘splash’, when material sprays up in other words, and duelling and tackling are possible to almost the same extent as on real grass."

Furthermore, stalks of grass in two shades of green and the green infill granules give the turf a fresh, natural look which lasts all year round. The playing field is prevented from heating up excessively on hot summer days by Polytan's patented CoolPlus technology, which incorporates UV-reflective pigments into the filaments.

This article first appeared in the Summer 2018 Issue of Host City magazine

Billed as a new era in world sport, this summer’s multi-sport European Championships will elevate the profiles of host cities Glasgow and Berlin during an 11-day sporting extravaganza. The inaugural event will bring together the existing European Championships for athletics, aquatics, cycling, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon, while a new golf team championships will be held.

Around 4,500 athletes from 52 nations will take part in the championships, which are set to be held every four years after August’s event. And the UK’s biggest multi-sports event since the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games is showcasing novel features in two of its venues.

The Glasgow BMX Centre in Knightswood is the only permanent new venue constructed for the event. The first ever world and Olympic-standard BMX track for Scotland, built at a cost of £3.7 million, makes Glasgow the only city in the world with venues capable of hosting all four Olympic cycling discipline events (BMX, mountain biking, road and track) within its city boundary. All four disciplines are being staged as part of the European Cycling Championships.

The facility, completed in May 2018, features the only outdoor 8-metre ramp in the UK as well as a 5-metre starting ramp. Funded by Glasgow City Council, SportScotland, Glasgow 2018 and British Cycling, the venue is already open for use by the local community. After the championships, it will also be utilised for training by Western Titans BMX Club.

Colin Hartley, Glasgow 2018 championships director, said: “The exhilarating thrill ride that BMX will take us on in August is set to be spectacular, and we’ve got a fantastic venue for it. 

“We commissioned the innovative Glasgow BMX Centre to be built especially for the championships and, in doing so, we brought Scotland its first and only world and Olympic-standard BMX track, with a legacy that will last for years to come. 

“Witnessing the BMXers take to the track this August will definitely be a moment to remember.” 

Swimming Pool Innovation

Home to the Glasgow 2018 Synchro Swimming European Championships, Scotstoun Sports Campus, located in the west end of Glasgow, is one of the busiest sport and leisure facilities in the city.

The campus accommodates both Scotstoun Stadium, home of the Glasgow Warriors, and Scotstoun Sports Centre. The centre is a Glasgow City Council-owned facility, featuring a 25m x 25m pool, gym, six squash courts, multipurpose sports hall, eight indoor tennis courts and the National Badminton Academy of Scotland. There are several outdoor football pitches and tennis courts.

In the wake of its successful hosting of the table tennis and squash events at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Scotstoun Sports Campus was chosen to deliver the Glasgow 2018 European Synchronised Swimming Championships. It became an interesting and unique project.

The sport required a venue with a 20m x 25m x 3m competition pool as well as a training pool. Glasgow 2018 organisers thought outside the box and a decision was made to utilise Scotstoun by building an international standard synchronised swimming competition pool – in the indoor tennis centre.  

The design team ensured all technical requirements were incorporated into the build, including the installation of a heating, ventilation and cooling system to regulate the temperature of the hall to 27 degrees.  

The overlay included: excavation to create a level platform for pool filtration equipment and associated power overlay; construction of a platform to hold an HVAC unit that was craned into position over the building; and complete strip of all internal lighting to install temporary broadcast lighting, a competition PA system and screen rigging truss.

The work also involved construction of a 20m x 25m x 3m competition pool, installation of a 3.1m pool deck platform and two grandstands to accommodate spectators, athletes, sponsors and European federations’ guests, as well as installation of media and broadcast tribunes.

“We’ve got an excellent facility in Scotstoun, so it made perfect sense to build upon this in order to deliver a venue fit for our world-class synchronised swimmers,” said Glasgow 2018 director Hartley. 

“Making the venue ready for the events was quite an interesting undertaking, and one we’ve really thrown ourselves into in order to make it as perfect as possible for both our athletes and attendees.

“Our grandstands will ensure everyone is able to see the show-stopping performances in this not-to-be-missed spectacular.”

For the first ever European Championships, a total of 12 venues across Scotland will be used. Glasgow hosts six sports – aquatics, cycling, golf, gymnastics, rowing and triathlon – while Berlin stages athletics at its Olympic Stadium, with the road races and race walking events held throughout the city.

More than 3,000 athletes will travel to Scotland as part of a total delegation of around 8,500 including officials, media and others. A further 1,500 athletes will compete in Berlin.

Festival 2018, an arts and culture programme, will complement the sporting competition in Glasgow and Scotland. “There is something on offer for everyone at Glasgow 2018, with elite sporting action and a unique cultural programme, and we want to see as many people as possible get out to enjoy the events whether that’s in George Square, Go Live at the Green or the sports venues,” said Scotland’s culture secretary Fiona Hyslop.

Organisers of the championships say it has a potential European TV audience of up to 1.03 billion. In a deal with the European Broadcast Union, its free-to-air members, including the BBC, will screen the event across the continent.

Host City: What to you is the most exciting thing currently going on in the world of major events?

Soaad Stott: Honestly, it’s an incredibly exciting time for the world of overlay – we seem to be at the threshold of some really big changes. The Olympic & Paralympics are obviously the gold standard in our industry, but for good reason. Everything that we do in overlay is on view in this magnificent showcase.

With the approval of Olympic Agenda 2020 in 2014, it became very clear that the Olympic Movement is fully behind the use of existing and temporary venues wherever possible, with the goal of reducing costs, improving sustainability and allowing the hosting of global events to become accessible to a greater number of nations and communities. This is starting to come to fruition - with the forthcoming Games in Tokyo, we’re going to see the first Games designed without an Olympic Park, which will be really exciting.

While the Olympic and Paralympic Games are leading the way on the global scale, this design approach is becoming increasingly adopted by events at all levels. The opportunities that event and overlay design affords for regeneration, activation and innovative design can have a fantastic influence on everyone involved, whether visitors to the events, or residents in legacy. Anyone who saw 2015 The Rugby World Cup at alternative sporting venues across the UK can attest to our industry’s ability to really change the existing conversation or perceived identity around existing venues for major events. The London Stadium and stadiummk were prime examples of new rugby audiences experiencing a venue and having a fantastic experience.

Of course, some sports have a completely unique character, such as the party nature of the beach volleyball tournament, but that is also embraced by temporary design, particularly when the temporary venues chosen are in such spectacular locations like the beach volleyball in the heart of London. During the beach volleyball at both London 2012 and at Baku 2015, dancers would emerge between matches in cheerleader style and energise the audience. Though an elite sport was being played, putting on a spectacular show was also a key part of this event. Temporary overlay design can have a truly special character, all of its own, and that’s what we really aim for at Populous.

Host City: A really exciting project you are working on is Paris 2024, following on from your successful work on London 2012.

Soaad Stott: It seems that Paris 2024 is taking the lead from London on how to do overlay better. As I said, the huge amount of temporary overlay and facilities in London set a real precedent.

Paris is the Park and the design of every venue has some legacy and sustainable content. There were so many meetings; not just with the International Federations, but also with the city and its residents.

A large number of the drawings we produced during the bid phase are actually to demonstrate the plans the stakeholders, local councillors and residents, making sure that everyone was informed and on board with the plans for the Games and for legacy, which forms a major component of the bid we created with Paris 2024.

Most of the venues are already there – we were just making sure the plans were feasible and genuinely workable and what people wanted.

Host City: How does the design of the Olympic Games fit in with the city of Paris?

Soaad Stott: Because there is no Olympic Park in the bid, Paris itself really is the park. It’s very much part of philosophy of these Games, that it’s for Paris as a whole and not just pockets of Paris.

In somewhere as compact as Paris where space is such a premium, there are challenges but definite benefits. There’s an energy and charm that you get from having all the landmarks close together.

As well as historic beauty, Paris also has a modern urban side. We wanted to make sure all these aspects were incorporated and all represented in the designs. One of the brilliant things was being able to locate some of the new Olympic sports in ancient monuments and sites and have the juxtaposing of the modern with the old, beautiful Paris.

We designed it so that every venue would have a similar feel. Everywhere you go you will have the same Olympic experience. The streets and boulevards will also be part of the whole experience of excitement people moving around the city, with parks becoming community activation sites and fan fests. It will be an incredible experience, with the most beautiful and iconic spaces within Paris, such as the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles, being infused with a sporting identity through the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

This exclusive interview first appeared in the Winter 2017 edition of Host City magazine. Sooad Stott spoke at Host City 2017, the largest meeting of sports, business and cultural events

• Twelve events from across 10 local authorities are to benefit from nearly £100,000 of funding from EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate
• Among them are five events receiving funding for the first time, including Cream o’ the Croft in Comrie Croft, Perthshire, and The Eliminator Mountain Bike Festival in Newburgh, Fife
• The National Programme Fund plays an integral role in developing domestic tourism across Scotland by help grow the country’s diverse events portfolio

Nearly £100,000 of funding has been awarded to 12 events and festivals across Scotland from the latest round of EventScotland’s National Programme Fund.

Among them are Cream o’ the Croft and The Eliminator Mountain Bike Festival, two of five events and festivals receiving funding for the first time from EventScotland, part of VisitScotland’s Events Directorate.

Taking place in June and August respectively, and organised by Muckmedden Ltd, the two family-friendly mountain bike events offer more than just your average mountain bike festival. With something for everyone, including mountain bike racing, live music, gourmet food and drink, and wild camping, the two events are the perfect book ends to the summer.

Both events have been awarded £5,000 each to enhance the PR and marketing support and activity around the event, including video production and online advertising.

Aaron Gray, Events Director at Muckmedden Ltd, said: “We would like to sincerely thank EventScotland for their invaluable support with Cream o’ the Croft and The Eliminator. The generous funding we have been awarded will allow us to promote both of our family-friendly festivals to all of the UK. The investment also gives us the freedom to significantly improve the quality of infrastructure and entertainment at both venues as we seek to attract not only mountain bikers, but young families and music festival-goers to Highland Perthshire and Fife.”

Also receiving funding is Bonfest, the three-day rock music festival that celebrates the life and music of the AC/DC legend Bon Scott. Held in his home town of Kirriemuir, and organised by Scottish charity DD8 Music, this is the third year the festival has received funding from EventScotland. Over that time the funding has helped the festival expand its offer and increase its attendance, with a record attendance of 6,000 from 27 countries turning out across the three days for last year’s festival. This year the festival has been awarded £9,332 towards increasing the capacity and quality of the campsite as well as for staging in Bellies Brae car park, next to the Bon Scott Statue, that will showcase young bands as part of Scotland’s Year of Young People 2018. 

Graham Galloway, DD8 Music Chairperson, said: "DD8 Music are delighted that Bonfest is being supported for the third year by the National Programme Fund. The fund has enabled the festival to grow significantly over the past few years, and we would have found this very difficult to achieve without the help and support of EventScotland. As a youth music charity, we are very excited to be one of the many amazing Year of Young People events happening all over Scotland, which are celebrating the talent and ambition of our upcoming generation."

The National Programme Fund supports the strategic development of events which occur outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow, with the aim of driving tourism, delivering economic impact for local communities and generating media profile for Scotland. Since 2008, EventScotland has invested more than £3.9m into 363 events across the country. Building on existing event activities, extending marketing reach and enhancing the on-site food and drink offer are just some of the ways funding is put to use by events and festivals.

Paul Bush OBE, VisitScotland’s Director of Events, said: “We are delighted to be funding these 12 amazing events and festivals from the latest round of EventScotland’s National Programme Fund. Taking place across 10 local authorities between May and October, these events and festivals will bring real impact by attracting visitors and driving economic impact in their local area.

“The National Programme Fund plays a vital role in maintaining Scotland’s reputation as the perfect stage for events and it is through events like these that we can ensure we continue to have a dynamic events portfolio that benefits everyone.”

The full list of events receiving support from Round 37 of EventScotland’s National Programme Fund are:

With PyeongChang 2018 just around the corner, the following Winter Games might seem a long way away – but four years is a short time in the Olympic movement.

According to the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, all venues will finished by the end of 2019, in time for test events in 2020.

The Beijing 2022 Olympic Games will feature 26 venues, all of which are under construction. Some of these are being repurposed after hosting the 2008 Olympic Games. Others, mostly in Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, are being built from scratch.

Speaking at World Winter Sports Expo in Beijing, Irina Gladkikh, Winter Sports Director, IOC said: "There is a great progress across all areas. The IOC president attended the opening of the China National Games where he took the opportunity to visit several Olympic venues of the 2022 winter Games. And the IOC president was very excited about progress in the venue development.

“The sport department of the organising committee is working in close collaboration with the IOC sport department and they are doing a fantastic job.

“We are also delighted to see that the Winter Olympic federations are heavily involved in the Games planning and delivery in the venue development progress, in the test event planning and building a good strong team to deliver the Games. The international federations bring great knowledge and experience and they do share your vision for the great Games, for the great legacy and for the growth of winter sports in China and the global promotion of China as a winter sports destination.”

Risto Nieminen, President, Finnish Olympic Committee and Member of IOC Coordination Commission for Beijing 2022, expressed Beijing’s readiness with an allegory from Canadian Paralympic athlete Chantal Petitclerc, winner of 13 Paralympic gold medals.

“I was listening to her presentation in Montreal in a Congress in 2012 and she was explaining about her career and told her life story, and her progress to be in the Paralympic Games in Beijing in 2008 where she won five gold medals in wheelchair racing.

“In the end of her presentation she showed us a video in which she was achieving her greatest victory in the 100m in the Paralympic Games. It was so exciting, because she only won in the last metre. Everyone jumped up from the audience and started applauding.

“And then she said, thank you for applauding but this is not the reason I came here today to tell my life story. And thanks for the empathy – she was paralysed when she was 13 years old – but that’s what I need either.

“She said, I came here to tell you to understand that I didn’t win the gold medal in the 16 seconds you just saw – I won it in the 16 years I spent preparing for it. And if you have respect for me, don’t have respect because of the 16 seconds, but because of the 16 years I spent trying to achieve my goal.

“And I think this is the essence of sport. It’s not about the victory, it’s not about the instant wins – it’s about the pursuit. It’s about giving everything you have and trying your best, and that’s where the respect comes from.

“We all understand that China will achieve the goals. I know we will build every facility that is needed. But at the same time, we need to be cultivating the winter sports culture behind it, understanding that it’s not the instant victories –  it’s the long-term pursuit, trying your best at building the culture that actually makes the result.

“My second remark is about the very extraordinary thing we have to understand about winter sports. Snow and ice include a very playful, joyful element. Every time you see a kid in the snow – and that includes me at my age; when I see snow and ice it makes me want to place – every kid wants to play with the snow and ice.

“That makes winter sports very special, because lots of winter sports are not only about skills but about having fun and playing, and that’s part of the winter sports culture that’s unique. It makes people want to play – it’s very joyful and very playful sport. That makes it a sport for all. That is something that’s very necessary to understand when we are building facilities, that it is sports for all.

“And it includes the fact that winter sport is always open to new forms of sport. We know that China is very strong in new sports and is open for creating new forms of sport, and that’s very necessary for the development of sport in our society.

“My third remark comes to the issue of sustainability. When we are building facilities and speeding up building, we have to keep up the sustainable ideology. Every method that we are using must be sustainable and the process of planning must be very sustainable so that we are not building anything that’s not necessary or that has no real use. I know that here for Beijing 2022 we are not building anything that does not have a plan for using it as a sports facility for the future.

“To conclude, it’s very much about building and cultivating a winter sports culture, involving a joyful element, remembering winter sports is a fun sport for all, and it’s about understanding youth and new sports in a sustainable environment.”

This comments in this article were made at World Winter Sports Expo in Beijing in September 2017 and first appeared in the Winter issue of Host City magazine.

[Source: Losberger De Boer] Arnout de Hair succeeds Berndt Zoepffel who steps down from his current position as CEO and will be joining the Supervisory Board of Directors of the company.

The Supervisory Board is grateful to Berndt Zoepffel for his contribution to the successful growth of Losberger De Boer. "Losberger De Boer has undergone an impressive development under the leadership of Berndt Zoepffel since he joined the company in 1996. The merger with De Boer Structures in May of 2017 was an important milestone in a period of strong internal and external growth. Today, Losberger De Boer is a leading global player providing a wide range of products and services to many highly recognized customers.

The merger between Losberger and De Boer is a major step in becoming a leading provider in temporary space solutions and we are on the threshold of a new phase in the further development of our company. We came to the conclusion that in the coming years, strong emphasis will be placed on the further integration of the various companies that were acquired during the last few years to fully benefit from all the available capabilities. Arnout de Hair has shown strong leadership during the transition of De Boer into a strong and profitable company. We are convinced that with him we have a very good candidate to fulfil that future role at Losberger De Boer.”

Peter Rijkoort, current Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of the Losberger De Boer Group, will be appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Losberger De Boer on 1 February 2018.
He will then step down from his position in the Supervisory Board of Directors. Peter Rijkoort has extensive international experience and has built a strong track record in senior management positions at various companies. He was a member of the Supervisory Board of Directors of De Boer Structures from 2010 until 2014 and is acting Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Directors of Losberger since 2016.

Arnout de Hair joined De Boer Structures in 1998 and was appointed as COO in 2001 and as CEO of the company in 2012. After the merger with Losberger, he was appointed as COO of Losberger De Boer. Arnout de Hair has built extensive operational and general management experience during his various senior management roles at Losberger De Boer. He studied Economy and Logistics at the Royal Military Academy and Business Administration at IBO, the Netherlands.