Abstract
This paper proposes a tripartite framework of transportation, transformation and translation to conceptualise the circulation, mutation and impacts of mobile policies as translocal, socio-material networks. Drawing on material from semi-structured interviews, participant observation and documents it considers the value of this framework by examining the mobility of the sustainability agenda of the Winter Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi, Russia. The paper shows how sustainability policies were packaged and mobilised to flow to Russia ( transportation), how ineffective governance arrangements, a lack of institutional controls and time pressure altered them ( transformation) and how the results fell far short of initial bid commitments ( translation). As such, it sheds light onto the multiple immobilities and mutations that come with the attempts to mobilise policies.
Highlights
In February 2014, the city of Sochi on the Russian Black Sea coast and the northern fringe of the Caucasus Mountains hosted the XXII OlympicEuropean Urban and Regional Studies 22(2)as the epigraph suggests, the Olympic Games in Sochi were meant to set the bar for sustainability in Russia
When in July 2007 Russia was awarded the right to host the mega-event, the vision for Sochi 2014 stated that the Games would be hosted ‘in a sustainable, inclusive, environmentally responsible manner’ and that ‘all key Olympic infrastructure locations have been selected to ensure maximum sustainability and legacy’ (Bidding Committee Sochi, 2006: 17, 19)
Felling of trees, mining of gravel for construction from the river bed and straightening of the river altered the runoff regime and resulted in a severe increase in the risk of spring floods, prompting the development of new evacuation plans (North Caucasus Environmental Watch, 2013; Novaja Gazeta, 2011; Ševčenko, 2013). It was only after concerted pressure and repeated visits from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and national and local non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as the personal intervention of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, that the major companies involved in construction could be talked into signing up to a memorandum of understanding for restoring the Mzymta basin
Summary
In February 2014, the city of Sochi on the Russian Black Sea coast and the northern fringe of the Caucasus Mountains hosted the XXII OlympicEuropean Urban and Regional Studies 22(2)as the epigraph suggests, the Olympic Games in Sochi were meant to set the bar for sustainability in Russia. This paper constitutes an inquiry into the mobilisation and transformation of sustainability knowledge and policy for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The remainder of the paper sets out to demonstrate this conceptual value added empirically for the case of the mobilisation of sustainability policies for the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi 2014.
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