Beijing 2022 looks to learn from Pyeongchang

The organisers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics recently concluded a series of talks centring on Pyeongchang 2018 and what can be learnt for Beijing’s showpiece event in 2022. Participants from the Beijing Organising Committee, relevant government departments, venue owners, designers and other stakeholders all took part in the discussions over the past two weeks.

The Olympic Games Knowledge Management programme from the International Olympic Committee provides a significant amount of collective wisdom on the nuances of the operations and how it can benefit future organising committees.

From November 2017 to March 2018, Beijing 2022 sent a total of 254 staff members to Pyeongchang 2018 to get first-hand experience. Some 41 staff members joined a talent exchange programme and were placed in key roles in the local organising committee. Some 144 staff members participated in an observational capacity.

After Pyeongchang 2018, Beijing 2022 began an initiative drive to establish workshops looking to explore specific areas surrounding what they saw at the Games. The discussions, consisting of 21 modules and 107 topics, focused on practical learning and nailed down the knowledge required to start preparing for the Games.

The brainstorming sessions looked at the planning, operational and technical elements of organising the Olympic and the Paralympic Winter Games. Yan Cheng, Head of the Human Resources Department of the Beijing Organising Committee, said that before the trip to Pyeongchang, all of these observers summarised nearly 2000 questions.