Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games legacy: final evaluation report April 2018

Chapter 8: Sustaining Legacy and The 2018 European Championships

The development of legacy strategies for Glasgow and Scotland spanning a ten-year period was a clear recognition and commitment from the Games partners that persistence would be required after the Games to ensure that legacy was sustained and maximised. The way legacy activity has been sustained has taken different forms across the themes. Overall the importance and benefits of working together across sectors and geographies in order to lever the maximum social and economic legacy from major events has been recognised by Games partners and continues to inform planning for the 2018 European Championships.

Figure 5 - Improved Partnerships and Organisational Capacity

'It would not be an exaggeration to say that Festival 2014 transformed how Glasgow Life works with partners across the arts and cultural sector. The requirement for cultural content, which was both locally accessible and of international quality, led to new approaches in the way we worked with communities, stakeholders and the cultural sector. The Festival 2014 concept was so embraced by the sector, residents, businesses and audiences alike that we have retained and developed it for the Glasgow 2018 European Championships

The success of Festival 2014 has been a key factor in helping us to establish a new creative partnership with the City of Berlin, where institutions of international standing have the confidence and trust to collaborate with Glasgow on joint works such as the British Council funded 'Mix a City' music project. Following a gap of more than 20 years since Glasgow was hailed as the City of Culture, our thriving cultural sector and the success of Festival 2014 have helped to reinforce Glasgow's position on the international stage.'

Jill Miller OBE, Director of Cultural, Glasgow Life.

For Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government, a key element of maximising the legacy from 2014 was the decision to use the capacity and partnerships to create and deliver, along with co-host Berlin, a completely new multi-sport event.

The learning, skills development, sector development and experience from the XX Commonwealth Games have been key to developing the concept and plans for 2018. For example, the experience and learning from Festival 2014 has influenced the development of the cultural programming (Figure 5).

Further, in contrast to the Olympic and Commonwealth Games model which requires the establishment of a separate company to manage the event (known as an Organising Committee) Glasgow 2018 delivery is being undertaken by a dedicated team based within Glasgow City Council's Chief Executive Department.

In order to ensure continuity between 2014 and 2018, the legacy governance structures which were established for Glasgow 2014 were refocused to oversee the development of legacy projects and action plans for the 2018 European Championships. To assist with planning, a Knowledge Transfer Workshop was hosted in Glasgow in 2015. The event, which was attended by over 70 representatives from legacy partner organisations, provided an opportunity to reflect on the Glasgow 2014 evaluation findings, what had worked well, opportunities missed and priorities for a 2018 legacy.

Following the workshop, the membership and remit of the legacy groups was reviewed and refreshed, with the groups then developing their own action plans. In addition to new projects, partners have sought to refresh existing Glasgow 2014 programmes. For example, many Glasgow 2014 education projects focused on cultural connections between Glasgow and Commonwealth nations. Education Services have been able to tailor these existing learning materials to focus on European cultural connections.

National and local legacy partners and the Glasgow 2018 Team in have also used their collective experience and lessons to address missed opportunities, such as the achieving a more diverse and representative collection of volunteers for Glasgow 2018, maximising the use of civic spaces such as George Square and additional actions to maximise trade and investment opportunities with Europe.

A final note

This final report on the Glasgow 2014 legacy demonstrates that with effective planning, governance and delivery legacy effects are possible, but not automatic or guaranteed. Depending on the social and economic challenges faced by a potential host city or nation, hosting major events can be used a 'catalyst' for what national and local government and their partners seek to achieve. An honest assessment of what can be directly achieved by hosting a major event and what might be possible with the right support or additional investment is critical. Ambitious claims about long term economic impact and population level changes in physical activity may need to be tempered, while other impacts on, for example, international reputation, civic pride and regeneration (where that applies) are potentially achievable. The early planning of the Glasgow 2014 legacy and careful thought about the long term contribution of Games investment have been acknowledged nationally and internationally and the experience has been invaluable in preparing for a new multi-sport event in 2018.