In 2020 Tokyo will be the host city of the next Olympic and Paralympic Games and their Organising Committee has developed an ambitious programme of social legacies. London 2012 is considered to be one of the most successful Olympic Games in terms of leveraging the event to create a social impact.
The policy forum in which the two SSES academics delivered talks was hosted in the House of Representatives (Parliament) in Tokyo. The participants in the Policy Forum were greeted by Mr Yoshihiro Hayasaka who is a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly. The event provided an ideal opportunity for Japanese and UK researchers to collaborate and foster a collaborative network with which to pursue an agenda concentrated on leveraging this event to the benefit of people with disabilities in Japan.
During this visit to Japan the UK academics also took part in an official dinner by the Nippon Foundation, hosted the President of the Nippon Foundation, Mr. Kazuo Ogura, Former Secretary General Council, Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee.
The invitation of Dr. Pappous and Dr. Koutrou to participate in this event came from Dr Ian Brittain from Coventry University who is the principal investigator of an important research grant which aims to build Japanese research capacity around disability studies and sport to positively impact the lives of people with disabilities from 2020 and beyond. For more info about this project :http://paralegacy2020.net/
Dr. Pappous is the author of two recent publications related to the social legacies of the Paralympic Games:
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1057/978-1-137-47901-3_29
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0193723518781237