We’re not here today, gone tomorrow. We’re going all-in, and that means putting benchmarks in place for holistic, sustainable major sporting event management, and creating a lasting impact around five key dimensions: environment, economy, society, health, and culture. The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU World University Games aim to create a positive and sustainable legacy. To not only clarify the concept of legacy but also to guide it, specific fields of impact have been identified in which the legacy of Rhine-Ruhr 2025 will develop.
Legacy refers to the creation of long-term added value that endures beyond the event itself. In addition to the lasting memories of participants and visitors, the emphasis is on generating sustainable future values and initiatives that benefit local communities, international guests, and sports culture. The objective is to establish new standards for the holistic and future-oriented management of major sporting events. To make this more tangible, futurologist Anja Kirig has analysed five key areas of impact that are essential for the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 Legacy, which everyone can actively influence through sustainable actions.
1. Environment
Global climate change as a megatrend is having a drastic impact on all areas of our lives. This development is in the process of changing the fundamental structures of society. In today’s world, it is therefore essential to incorporate environmental sustainability into all corporate and organisational decisions.
Climate change and other ecological crises are a global phenomenon that affect all areas of our lives. While sustainability measures often focus on short-term, measurable results, such as the carbon footprint or waste avoidance, a legacy can be created by making the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games a multiplier of ecologically sustainable action and thinking. This could be material and immaterial results, a permanent conversion of the energy supply of sports facilities or a sustainability strategy that can be used as a blueprint for other major sporting events.
2. Economy
An economic transformation towards a sustainable ‘next economy’ can be decisively influenced by the potential of a major event such as the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games. With such a far reach, the event has the opportunity to act as a platform on which companies can establish and realign themselves. The FISU Games can therefore serve as a catalyst for a significant trend transformation.
The discussion about a different way of doing business and working has reached the centre of our society worldwide. The ‘next economy’ offers different approaches, but is united by the realisation that current practices are no longer sustainable for the planet and its more than 8 billion inhabitants. A major event such as the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games has the potential to catalyse a turnaround by providing a platform for companies and innovations.
3. Society
Socio-cultural change processes describe the dynamic development of society, which can be seen in various areas such as culture, social structure, values and norms. These processes are crucial for understanding the impact of measures on society and shaping them accordingly. The focus here is on creating a positive, sustainable effect that helps shape the changing values of our society.
We can observe transformations wherever there are emotional discussions about values and norms in society, where culture and social structures are being dissolved and reinvented. These socio-cultural, non-linear trends are crucial when it comes to the impact of measures on society and therefore our future. Social transformations offer the opportunity to help shape a future worth living. This is precisely where the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games measures focus, by starting to generate positive future value.
4. Health
A transformation is emerging that is broadening the understanding of health. It is no longer just about purely genetic aspects, but also about lifestyle, social, economic, structural, political and environmental aspects of health. This leads to a shift in the focus from individual health and performance to a systematic, holistic understanding of health that pursues a common quality of life goal.
Health is a global need, but its understanding is changing in correlation with changing values and social transformations. Health is viewed in a multidimensional way. It begins with individual biological conditions, depends on lifestyle and is influenced by social, economic, political and ecological aspects. Demographic change is turning the desire for a long ‘life span’ into the desire for a long ‘health span’. This means that the understanding of health as the opposite of illness is finally being abandoned. It is all about quality of life and preventative measures. The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games can already generate legacy here through their role model function as representatives of an active lifestyle and the organisation of the 2025 FISU World Conference.
5. Culture
With targeted measures and initiatives in the cultural sector, the Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games have a considerable chance of creating a legacy. However, this requires a consideration of certain current transformations in the socio-cultural field. A combination of global diversity and local innovation is essential for a new, future-oriented way of thinking.
The Rhine-Ruhr 2025 FISU Games combine sport, science and culture. They combine local strengths with global togetherness. This combination of international diversity and regional innovation is the basis for future-orientated thinking. It is important to take characteristics, diversity and identities into account without sacrificing the power of togetherness and cosmopolitanism - this is precisely where the FISU Games come in with measures and promote diversity. It is essential to allow critical discourse in order to leave a legacy in thought and action.
