Can hosting an Olympic Games really be sustainable?

About: As Paris prepares to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, questions about its sustainability have come into focus. The organisers of Paris 2024 promote it as being the greenest Games ever, but with major construction projects, along with super-charged international travel from athletes and spectators, how can these Games, and ‘mega-events’ more broadly, be truly sustainable activities? This talk looks at the Games’ sustainability outcomes – andconceptualises them over both the short and medium term. Doing so provides insights into the opportunities for legacy outcomes to mitigate the inherent unsustainable nature of hosting a mega-event.

About the speaker: Dr Tony Heynen is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia. He is Director of the Sustainable Energy program, which educates postgraduate students to be leaders in the transition to clean, innovative global energy solutions.Tony has two principal areas of research. Firstly, he and his team examine issues around access to modern, reliable and affordable forms of energy, particularly in remote communities. Tony also researches strategies to achieve sustainability targets and emissions outcomes, with a focus on mega-events such as the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

WHEN? July 3rd, 5 p.m.

WHERE? TUM Think Tank

Leveraging ICOS Cities - Pilot Application in Urban Landscapes (PAUL) - Towards integrated city observatories for greenhouse gases: currently covers Munich, Paris and Zurich.

Potential to develop a collaboration between School of Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland (UQ) in Brisbane, Australia and the Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, Hochschule für Politik (HfP) at the Technical University of Munich.

Host or Publisher Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, TUM