6th Symposium: Sport Mega Events and Sustainability – The Winter Olympics (online), 2021

On December 21, 2021, the 6th Sino-German International Academic Forum on Sports Development was held in a combination of online and offline formats. The forum was co-organized by the Institute of European Sport Development and Leisure Studies at German Sport University of Cologne and the School of Management at Beijing Sport University, and in cooperation with the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, the Institute for Humanistic Exchange in Sports, and the Academic Journal Society of BSU. The theme of the forum was ‘Sport Mega Events and Sustainability: The Winter Olympics and Paralympics 2022’, and six experts from both universities discussed the topic of sustainable development of mega sporting events through keynote speeches and panel discussions.

The head of the Institute of European Sport Development and Leisure Studies at the German Sport University of Cologne, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mittag introduced the background of the forum. He said that since the first Sino-German International Academic Forum on Sport Development was held in 2012, the academic exchange between the two universities has been deepening. The 6th Sino-German International Academic Forum on Sports Development coincides with the 40th anniversary of the partnership between the two universities, and the opening of the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing.

In the opening remarks, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Stephan Wassong, member of the IOC Olympic Education Committee, and the head of the Institute of Sport History at the German Sport University of Cologne, said that the cities of Beijing and Zhangjiakou have fully embodied the concept of sustainable development in the preparation of the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games. As the Beijing Winter Olympic Games are about to open, it is significant to hold this forum to explore the path of sustainable development in mega sporting events. He hoped that experts and scholars could apply the concept of sustainable development to the practice of sports event preparation. Later on, Prof. Gao Feng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Executive Vice President of Beijing Sport University, said that the year of 2021 is the 40th anniversary of the inter-university cooperation between Beijing Sport University and German Sport University Cologne. The in-depth cooperation between the two universities in personnel training, scientific research and exchange of teachers and students is a model of Sino-German cooperation in the field of sports education and has also built an important bridge for cultural and sports humanities exchanges between China and Germany. In his words, the 6th Sino-German International Academic Forum on Sports Development, responding to the vision of ‘Sustainable - to the future’ of the Winter Olympics, and will discuss how to make the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games a global sustainable event. He hoped that the forum would promote the development of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games as a global model of sustainable development.

The forum featured three topics, including sustainable development, Paralympics & cultural value, and media perspective.

Dr. Till Müller-Schoell, Senior Research Associate of the European Institute for Sport Development and Leisure Studies at the German Sport University of Cologne, focused on the concept of sustainable development and the historical experience of the Olympic Games from a political perspective, arguing that sustainable development includes economic, socio-cultural and ecological dimensions, and that it is important to focus on each of the sustainability goals of the Winter Olympics from a political perspective. Prof. Zou Xinxian from the School of Management of Beijing Sport University discussed the relationship between the Winter Olympic Games and the sustainable development of snow and ice sports with the case of the sustainable development of the Lillehammer 1994 Winter Olympic Games, focusing on the specific strategies and effectiveness of the development of snow and ice sports in China during the preparation of the Beijing Winter
Olympic Games.

Through a comparative analysis of the development of sports for people with disabilities in China and Germany, their achievements in the Paralympic Games and the social effects achieved, Univ.-Prof. Dr. Jürgen Mittag from the German Sport University of Cologne, , believes that the participation of people with disabilities in the Olympic Games is beneficial to the social prestige of athletes and also promotes social care, and that attention should be paid to the group of athletes to create conditions for their development. Associate Prof. Zhang Aihong from the Beijing Sport University analyzed from a cultural perspective that China has integrated into the Winter Olympic Movement through ice and snow sports. The Beijing Winter Olympic Games promoted the harmonious coexistence of people and nature, the unity of all ethnic groups, and the concept of "harmony and difference" advocated by China, which is conducive to the unity of the Olympic Games.

In terms of media perspectives, Jörg-Uwe Nieland, senior associate researcher at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies at the German Sports University of Cologne, focused on the relationship between major sporting events and the media. He emphasized the impact of the new structural transformation of the public sphere on the medialization of sport from the perspective of political science and communication and examined the impact of major sporting events during and after the new crown pneumonia epidemic. He also provides an in-depth analysis of the challenges of major sporting events and media during and after the New Crown Pneumonia epidemic. Prof. He Xinghui from the School of Journalism and Communication of Beijing Sport University took the news coverage of the Paralympic Games by People's Daily from 1984 to 2021 as the research object. By analyzing the news discourse construction of the coverage of the Paralympic Games in different historical periods, she proposes to rethink the social value and function of the 2022 Beijing Winter Paralympic Games, to improve the media coverage of the Paralympic Games, and to build an inclusive society through different news discourses.

The panel discussion after the keynote speeches focused on the policies of sports development for people with disabilities in both countries, media strategies and the impact of the epidemic on the sustainability linkage of mega sporting events. The experts agreed that in nowadays world, sustainable development has been integrated into all fields and is closely related to life, and the two universities should continue to focus on sustainable development issues and explore the relationship between sporting events and sustainable development through academic seminars in the future.

The forum was moderated by Prof. Li Shengxin, the Vice Dean of School of Management at Beijing Sport University and Wu Danlin, Assistant Researcher of the Institute of European Sport Development and Leisure Studies at German Sport University Cologne. Zhang Yaning, Branch Party Secretary of the School of Management at Beijing Sport University, Wu Jun, Deputy Director of the Office of International Exchange and Cooperation, and Sun Xiao attended the forum.

Agenda