London 2012 to Paris 2024: How important is social legacy at major international events?

The term legacy means many different things, in the events context it has been used to describe the positive (and negative), planned (and unplanned), tangible (and intangible) impacts an event can leave behind.

In this public lecture, which took place in September 2024, we go on a journey from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the hosting of Paris Games this summer to critically think about the legacies of major international events.

For over a decade, Verity Postlethwaite has developed research on the understandings and governance of legacy, with a focus on how communities in the UK and Japan have used the hosting of events as a catalyst for social change. She shares some of her experiences and research to raise important debates and ongoing questions around the value of events and the value of using the term legacy.