The sources and interpretation of Olympic Law

In this article, Mark James and Guy Osborn discuss how the relationships between the various members of the Olympic Movement are governed by the Olympic Charter and the legal framework within which an edition of the Olympic Games is organised. The legal status of the Charter and its interpretation by the Court of Arbitration for Sport are examined to identify who is subject to its terms and how challenges to its requirements can be made. Finally, by using the UK legislation that has been enacted to regulate advertising and trading at London 2012, the far-reaching and sometimes unexpected reach of Olympic Law is explored

Festival City Futures: Reflections and Conclusions

This concluding chapter reflects on some of the key themes highlighted by previous chapters, but it also aims to look forward by examining how city festivals and festival cities may develop in the future. The chapter explores one of the most important dimensions of the book – the ways festivals and events might help to produce more inclusive public spaces. The authors explore whether the social and cultural value of festivals may be (re)prioritised over the economic agenda which has dominated in recent years. The contested nature of city festivals and urban festive spaces is also discussed at length, and the chapter also covers the importance of analyses that can capture the affective and sensorial effects of urban festivity. This provides the basis for a wider review of the methods employed by the authors of the chapters that feature in the book. Inevitably, given the timing of the book, there is also an attempt to highlight the implications of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the ways that urban festivity may be affected in the medium and longer terms. The chapter concludes by summarising the contribution of the book, and by making some suggestions for future research that would help us to better understand the relationships between festivals, public spaces and social inclusion

The Sanctity of the Village Green: Preserving Lord Denning's Pastoral Vision

The Sanctity of the Village Green: Preserving Lord Denning's Pastoral Visio

Festivals and the City: The Contested Geographies of Urban Events

This book explores how festivals and events affect urban places and public spaces, with a particular focus on their role in fostering inclusion. The ‘festivalisation’ of culture, politics and space in cities is often regarded as problematic, but this book examines the positive and negative ways that festivals affect cities by examining festive spaces as contested spaces. The book focuses on Western European cities, a particularly interesting context given the social and cultural pressures associated with high levels of in-migration and concerns over the commercialisation and privatisation of public spaces. The key themes of this book are the quest for more inclusive urban spaces and the contested geographies of festival spaces and places. Festivals are often used by municipal authorities to break down symbolic barriers that restrict who uses public spaces and what those spaces are used for. However, the rise of commercial festivals and ticketed events means that they are also responsible for imposing physical and financial obstacles that reduce the accessibility of city parks, streets and squares. Alongside addressing the contested effects of urban festivals on the character and inclusivity of public spaces, the book addresses more general themes including the role of festivals in culture-led regeneration. Several chapters analyse festivals and events as economic development tools, and the book also covers contested representations of festival cities and the ways related images and stories are used in place marketing. A range of cases from Western Europe are used to explore these issues, including chapters on some of the world’s most significant and contested festival cities: Venice, Edinburgh, London and Barcelona. The book covers a wide range of festivals, including those dedicated to music and the arts, but also events celebrating particular histories, identities and pastimes. A series of fascinating cases are discussed - from the Venice Biennale and Dublin Festival of History, to Rotterdam’s music festivals and craft beer festivals in Manchester. The diverse and innovative qualities of the book are also evident in the range of urban spaces covered: obvious examples of public spaces – such as parks, streets, squares and piazzas – are addressed, but the book includes chapters on enclosed public spaces (e.g., libraries) and urban blue spaces (waterways) too. This reflects the interpretation of public spaces as socio-material entities: they are produced informally through their use (including for festivals and events), as well as through their formal design and management

A call centre and extended checklist for pre-screening elective surgical patients – a pilot study

BACKGROUND: Novel approaches to preoperative assessment and management before elective surgery are warranted to ensure that a sustainable high quality service is provided. The benefits of a call centre incorporating an extended preoperative electronic checklist and phone follow-up as an alternative to a clinic attendance were examined. METHODS: This was a pilot study of a new method of patient assessment in patients scheduled for elective non-cardiac surgery and who attended a conventional preoperative clinic. A call centre assessment, using a Computer-assisted Health Assessment by Telephone (CHAT), paper review by an anaesthetist, and a follow-up phone call if the anaesthetist wished more information, preceded the conventional preoperative clinic. Summaries from the call centre and clinic assessments were independently produced. The times spent by call centre staff were recorded. The 'procedural anaesthetist' (who provided anaesthesia for each patient's actual surgery/procedure) documented an opinion on whether the call centre assessment alone would have been sufficient to bypass the preoperative clinic if the patient were hypothetically undergoing laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This opinion was also sought from a panel of four senior anaesthetists, based on patient summaries from both the call centre and preoperative clinic, but expanded to three hypothetical operations of different complexity – cataract removal, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and total hip replacement. RESULTS: Call centre assessment followed by clinic attendance was studied in 193 patients. The mean time for CHAT was 19.8 (SD 7.5) minutes and, after review of CHAT summaries, anaesthetists telephoned 45.6% of cases for follow-up information. The mean time spent by anaesthetists on summary review and phone calls was 3.8 (SD 3.9) minutes. Procedural anaesthetists considered 89% of the patients under their care suitable to have bypassed the preoperative clinic if they were to have undergone cholecystectomy. The panel of senior anaesthetists judged 95-97% of patients suitable to have bypassed preoperative clinic for cataract surgery, 81-85% for cholecystectomy and 79-82% for hip replacement. CONCLUSIONS: A call centre to pre-screen elective surgical patients might substantially reduce patient numbers attending preoperative anaesthetic assessment clinics. Further studies to assess the quality of such an approach are indicated. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ANZCTR ACTRN12614000199617.Guy Ludbrook, Richard Seglenieks, Shona Osborn, and Cliff Gran

Athlete activism at the Olympics: challenging the legality of Rule 50 as a restriction of freedom of expression

Since Colin Kaepernick began taking the knee during the American national anthem to protest social injustice and inequality in the USA in 2016, athletes across a range of sports and from diverse national backgrounds have used their high media profiles to draw attention to the causes that they support. The International Olympic Committee, however, has maintained its stance that politics and sport should not mix, and that human rights should not be used as a tool to undermine the political autonomy of sport. Rule 50(2) of the Olympic Charter states that, “No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas”. Anyone in breach of this provision may be disqualified from their event and have their Olympic accreditation removed, a position that was reinforced by the guidance issued to athletes prior to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Using examples of athlete activism at Tokyo 2020 as case studies, this chapter will analyze whether any of these exercises of the right to freedom of expression were in breach of Rule 50(2). It will then examine whether the application of Rule 50(2) at Tokyo 2020 is compatible with Article 10 European Convention of Human Rights and the likely outcome of any challenge before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Swiss Federal Tribunal, and the European Court of Human Rights. It concludes by arguing for a complete overhaul of Rule 50(2) so that it promotes, rather than prohibits, freedom of expression

The festivalisation of London’s Parks: the friends’ perspective

London’s parks are used regularly as venues for festivals and events. A wide range of occasions are staged every year: from multi-day music festivals to community fun days. The attractive and flexible spaces that park settings provide, and their symbolic role as representative civic spaces, mean they are obvious venues. In the period 2010­–2019, the number of events staged in London’s parks grew with new commercial festivals introduced to help compensate for funding shortfalls. This led to concerns about disruptions to everyday use and about the impacts of large-scale events on the environmental condition of parks. Given the potential for positive impacts, but also the noted concerns, this chapter explores the range of festivals staged in London’s parks and assesses the range of impacts they have. The report is based on a survey of ‘Friends of Parks’ groups undertaken in the Spring of 2020. The survey asked representatives from Friends groups about events that were staged in their parks in 2019. The findings showed that there were many perceived positive impacts of festivals and events, especially when local groups were involved in planning and organising them. However, concerns were expressed over the increasing number and size of commercial music festivals and the ways these reduced park accessibility, damaged park environments and disrupted park use, affecting the status of urban parks as accessible public spaces. The chapter concludes with a series of recommendations regarding the regulation and management of festivals which are relevant to public parks in London and beyond.</jats:p