As part of the EU-financed research project CARNIVAL, the six-member team of the Chair of Health and Sport Management was present in Rio de Janeiro during the Olympic and Paralympic Games to collect empirical data on sustainable behavior and the environment. Anna Mei Habitzreuter, Christina Raaz, Izabella Wojtas, Jana Seidenath, Lucia Steininger, and Malte Jess were living and working in Rio de Janeiro from the period of July until September and were able to experience first-hand the influence of the Olympic Games in the daily life of the Cariocas (people who are from Rio de Janeiro) and to understand more about the consequences of this event on individual sustainable practices.
Within the different projects, the group measured the air quality in Rio de Janeiro before, during and after the Olympic Games, for example, and collected data about the consciousness of different stakeholders (host population, spectators, volunteers) with regard to environmental and sustainable behavior, as well as the perception of the Olympic Games as being a platform to proliferate environmental awareness - in agreement with IOC intentions.
The results will help the group to achieve its main objective: to create awareness of sustainability in an individual level and to shift the focus of sustainability in the Olympic Games from macro implementations, such as infrastructure (e.g., zero waste venues), to individual sustainable practices. This is important so that such mega-events can be better planned in the future, taking advantage of its impact on the different stakeholders.
Whilst in Rio de Janeiro, the group was also able to meet scholars within the stream of research on mega-events by attending the 8th International Sport Business Symposium organized by Prof. Holger Preuss (University of Mainz) in cooperation with Prof. Lamartine Da Costa (Rio de Janeiro State University). This helps prepare the project outcomes; first publications will follow soon.
Contact
Chair of Sport and Health Management
Prof. Dr. Jörg Königstorfer
Secretary: Mirjam Eggers
Uptown Munich Campus D
Georg-Brauchle-Ring 60/62
80992 Munich Germany
Phone: +49.89.289.24559
Fax: +49.89.289.24642
info.mgt@sg.tum.de