Delivering a lasting legacy: Universities and colleges to capitalise on Olympic experience

16 January 2013

Following the successful involvement of UK universities and colleges in the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, HEFCE has commissioned Podium, the Further and Higher Education Unit for the Olympic Games to help universities and colleges build on their 2012 experience by making their expertise available to other major events.

Pushing to London 2012 event at Loughborough University.

The contribution of higher education institutions (HEIs) to the Games was recognised as important and wide-reaching, with 94 per cent of the higher education sector involved in at least one Olympic-related project. These included providing student volunteers, playing host to national teams, undertaking groundbreaking research, and continuing programmes of investment towards London 2012’s legacy of sport and community engagement.

Podium will use HEFCE’s funding to:

capture the expertise developed by HEIs through their engagement with London 2012 in a comprehensive record
help maximise the opportunities available to HEIs to engage with organisers of forthcoming sporting and cultural mega-events, including the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.