Intangible learning legacies of the olympic games: Opportunities for host cities

Academic discourse on event legacy (Andranovich et al., 2001; Cashman, 2003, 2006; Getz, 2007; Leopkey, 2009; Hall, 1997; Masterman, 2009; Moragas, Kennett and Puig, 2003; Preuss, 2007) has demonstrated how the success of event legacy relies on a combination of tangible and intangible elements. Hosting the world’s biggest event provides a unique learning opportunity for the multiple stakeholders involved, and host cities have a unique learning opportunity to maximise. This exploratory chapter focuses on how learning can take place as part of the process of staging an event; how current learning methods and mechanisms are applied in the case of the Olympic Games; and identifies how host public sector actors are missing a learning opportunity as major stakeholders. A call is made for increased awareness and strategic planning for Olympic knowledge legacy within host cities.