Bigger, better, more expensive: This seems to be the slogan of every large-scale sport event, no matter if it is the Olympics or the FIFA World Cup. Often, infrastructure built disintegrates unused after the event, with no perspective of long-term investments ahead.

The abandoned buildings (and huge invested amounts) of large scale sport events are arguably investments that stand in contrast to the UN Development Goals (especially Nr. 1 No Poverty, Nr. 4 Quality Education, Nr. 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities).

In this session we will in a first part have a look at the past and the lessons learned thereof. In a second part we will learn about environmental issues of infrastructure planning.

Speaker:

• Thomas Wehrli, Pachmann Attorneys at Law (Switzerland)

Past experience and outlook in connection to the UN Development Goals

Speaker:

• François Carrard, former Director General International Olympic Committee (Switzerland)

3-sentence wrap up and moderation of questions to Mr Carrard.

Introduction of Mads Fuglesang and Paul Bassett

Speaker: Martin Foerster

• Oslo 2022 – The environmental side to infrastructure planning: A real live example.

Speaker: Mads Fuglesang, Selmer (Norway)

• Overview of the Oslo Olympic bid and the environmental infrastructure planning

Speaker: Paul Bassett, Mason Hayes & Curran (Ireland)

• The Green new Deal – Are green building standards (BREAM, LEES or DGNB) the solution for sport facilities?

An introduction to green building standards and how they could be applied/are applied to sport facilities

Introduction:

• Thomas Wehrli, Pachmann Attorneys at Law (Switzerland)

Panel discussion

Moderator:

• Laura Manz, Kellerhals Carrard (Switzerland)

Speakers:

• José Miguel Algorta, ESTUDIO ALGORTA & Asociados (Uruguay)
• Thilo Pachmann, Pachmann Attorneys at Law (Switzerland)
• Marco Gardino, R&P Legal (Italy)

How could large-scale sport events help to reach the UN Development Goals?

• Strict rules e.g. on literacy, poverty etc. before making investments in large scale sport events?
• Give guidelines on expropriation of land for project works?
• Labour regulation? i.e. Qatar football stadiums
• Pressure of sponsoring?

What could be meaningful sustainability standards for large-scale sports events?