Written by Dr Geoffery Kohe and Dr Niki Koutrou.

University of Kent Sport Management and Policy Senior Lecturer, Dr Geoffery Z. Kohe, along with Dr Niki Koutrou (Honorary Academic in Sport Management), have had a substantive new report published on the development and sustainability of sport and volunteer cultures within post-Olympic city spaces. Entitled ‘Reawakening sport and community engagement in a previous Olympic host city: Capitalising on the Athens 2004 Olympic Volunteer Legacy 17 years on’, the report has been produced as part of the International Olympic Committee Olympic Studies Centre’s Advanced Research Programme.

Following from Dr Kohe and Dr Koutrou’s expertise and research in Olympic Games legacies, sport organisation politics and volunteer management, the report contributes a critical examination of how sport, volunteer and wider third-sector organisations are currently positioned to service the city’s diverse contemporary needs. Offering the most recent critical interrogation of stakeholders’ experiences of the sport mega-event’s frequently lauded positive legacy, the work also provides original insights into the realities of sector work and civic development in post-Olympic Games environments.

The project has been based on extensive archival and documentary research, qualitative surveys, and extensive interviews carried out with 19 sport, civil society and third sector professionals and organisations in Athens, Greece, and Europe. Interviews included former and current national and civic political figures, sustainability and volunteer sector professionals, organisational leaders within the Athens 2004 Organising Committee or the wider Olympic movement and sport, and large charitable/philanthropic organisations who held or were currently responsible for sector delivery and resourcing.

The data led to several key findings and recommendations, including the significance of human resource investments, landscape and stakeholder mapping, development of strong leadership structures, effective resource management, good governance, contextual responsiveness, and capacity building. In immediate and post-Olympic/sport mega-event planning, the findings underscore the need for more specific long-term planning, consultation, and involvement of the existing volunteer sector in community engagement beyond the event, and resourcing to sustain sector interest and momentum. Beyond sport, the research contributes to modelling how more sustainable cross-sector partnerships can be built and maintained to support a wider array of humanitarian needs and concerns.

With the project carried out during the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, the findings also now hold extra resonance in affording insights in how sport and volunteer sector resilience could be established, and sustainability fostered among organisational networks. As Dr Kohe and Dr Koutrou note: ‘the experiences of cities such as Athens in finding ways to support third-sector work in times of increased adversity and uncertainty are shared across the world. Of particular importance we found in our research was the ability of organisations to remain optimistic, engage in collaboration, mobilise and share  human, social capital and resource and build capacity to strategically mitigate and ameliorate a whole variety of local and global challenges’.

Following recognition of their work by the IOC and regional sport and sustainability stakeholder Dr Kohe and Dr Koutrou are now continuing their collaborations and research across wider Europe.

The report is freely available via the link below.

Olympic World Library – Reawakening sport and community engagement in a previous Olympic Host City : capitalising on the Athens 2004 Olympic volunteer legacy 17 years on / Niki Koutrou, Geoffery Z. Kohe – Detail (olympics.com)

Dr Geoffery Z. Kohe is Senior Lecturer in Sport Management & Policy at the University of Kent’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Working with Olympic and professional sport bodies, his recent work on the Olympic movement and the professional sport industry has examined sport museums and heritage production, sport mega-event legacies, organisational cultures, and sport workers’ experiences.

Based at the University of Bournemouth, Dr Niki Koutrou is an Honorary Academic in Sport Management at the University of Kent’s School of Sport and Exercise Sciences. Working with global and regional sport and third-sector stakeholders, her work covers sport mega-event legacies, sport volunteering and volunteer cultures within the United Kingdom and wider Europe.

From Martin Atkinson | Director of HR and Organisational Development

Yesterday was the first day of a second period of national strike action by members of the University and College Union (UCU) over pensions and over staff pay and conditions. The strikes are scheduled for: 

1. 14 to 18 February and 21 to 22 February
2. 28 February to 2 March 

Teams have been working together across the University to minimise any disruption to students and staff, with further information available on the student webpages. There is also guidance for those UCU members who intend to join the strike action.  

As I have outlined before, these are national disputes over which we have limited influence – however, we take them all very seriously here at Kent and are continuing to work constructively with local union colleagues on the things we can change.  

While recognising differences in opinion, I was pleased that we were able to keep disruption to a minimum during the strike days in December and hope for the same constructive approach during the coming days. As I said before, we all want what is best for Kent and will continue our talks with the Union to find resolution at a local level, while working hard to make real improvements to life at work for all our staff. 

We will keep you updated with any developments during the period of industrial action.    

The Medway Learning and Teaching Festival is jointly organised by the University of Kent, University of Greenwich and Canterbury Christ Church University. The aims of the festival are to share, celebrate and promote best practice across the Medway campus.

This year the festival will be held on Thursday 15 September on the Medway campus.

The theme for 2022 is Student Voice and how we can best listen and respond to those we hear and those we do not hear. This is a consistently strong theme in the sector and a priority for all three universities and collaborative partners. The Student Voice has been brought increasingly into focus since we have moved back to on-campus teaching and are working together to create a vibrant student and staff experience in Medway.

As in previous Medway Learning and Teaching Festivals, the event enables us to reflect on our own development needs and career aspirations as we start the new academic year. Attending or presenting can help colleagues to evidence professional development or maintain ‘good standing’ for Advance HE.

Call for workshop proposals

We are now inviting practitioners, researchers, students and staff to offer ideas for sessions ranging in length from 20 minutes to an hour. Co-authored presentations with students are particularly encouraged.

We welcome contributions on practices that:

• Foster student engagement on-campus
• Promote communities of learning, student belonging and inclusion
• Demonstrate collaborative approaches to learning and teaching
• Facilitate authentic engagement between staff and students

Please send the proposed title and brief summary of your session to Annikki Laitinen A.Laitinen@kent.ac.uk by 17:00 on 17 June 2022.

Kent Unicorns, a netball team made up of staff from the university, are taking on the BRIT challenge for February to raise vital funds for student mental health charities. 

The team are walking, running, swimming, or cycling to contribute towards Team Kent Uni in covering 2022 miles from 1^st February – 3^rd March.  This initiative is being coordinated by Kent Sport to raise vital funds for student mental health charities.

The team boosted their total by 70 miles through a Power Hour on Thursday 10^th February, where they creatively adapted their usual training session with spin bikes and drills to increase the distance.

‘Mental health is something that we cannot ignore and should be supporting, especially at universities. I am delighted that the Unicorns can participate and get involved in such a worthwhile cause’ – Emma Marku, Vice-Captain and Internationalisation Officer.

Kent staff are encouraged to get involved in the challenge.  More details can be found at https://www.kent.ac.uk/sports/brit-challenge

You can also donate to the challenge by visiting the JustGiving link on the British Inspiration Trust (BRIT) Challenge website https://www.justgiving.com/britishinspiration

If you are a member of staff interested in playing Netball, come along to ALL Active Social Netball every Monday lunchtime, 12.30-1.30pm in the Sports Centre. Kent Sport membership required. Minimum membership £2 per session with pay to play membership. For more information, please see website or follow @ALLActiveKent on Facebook, twitter, Instagram or TikTok for updates.

Following the award of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature to Emeritus Professor Abdulrazak Gurnah we have great pleasure in celebrating this wonderful achievement with a display of his works in the Templeman Library Welcome Hall.   

Running from 10 February until 15 April, you can take your own journey to ‘Paradise’ and explore his stories of love and war, politics and history: in short, of human nature and the human heart in its infinite complexity.  

His books, some of which were first drafted in the Templeman Library, have touched millions worldwide and shine a light on human experiences that are so often ignored. The Nobel Committee awarded this year’s Prize to Professor Gurnah for ‘his uncompromising and compassionate penetration of the effects of colonialism and the fate of the refugee in the gulf between cultures and continents.’ 

We are very excited to share the collection with our students, staff and visitors to the Library in-person or online! You can browse and borrow any book from the display or discover more in our digital resources list of e-books. 

In an exclusive, sold out appearance at the Gulbenkian Arts Centre on Thursday 24 February 2022, Nobel Laureate & Professor Emeritus of English and Postcolonial Literatures Abdulrazak Gurnah returns to Kent to reflect on his life, writing, and sense of place and belonging. This event will be live streamed on the University’s YouTube channel so you will still be able to enjoy Professor Gurnah’s talk.

Our children’s holiday camps for 5 to 12 year olds are coming back and they’re bigger than ever!

We’re now including non-traditional sports plus games and activity sessions in the daily timetable, including Nerf, Drums Alive, Mini Golf, New Age Kurling and much more. Your child will still receive professional coaching in traditional sports, such as football, rugby, and cricket, with all sessions being delivered by experienced and DBS verified camp staff, providing the perfect way to keep your 5 to 12-year olds entertained over the school holidays.

EasterZone

Our next children’s holiday camp is EasterZone on Monday 11 to Thursday 14 April 2022. You can book your child’s place here.

Booking and payment

Booking and payment for EasterZone 2022 is easy and can be completed through our EasterZone online store. A booking form will need to be completed for each child you wish to book on our holiday camps. Spaces can be booked either for individual days or the full four days. Spaces are limited so book your space early.

EasterZone 2022 prices

Late pick-ups are available from 3pm to 5pm and include staff-led fun games and creative activities.

If you have any questions about our children’s holiday camps, please email sportsdevelopment@kent.ac.uk or call 01227 816391. Alternatively, please contact us if you would like to be added to our mailing list for future camps.