Public Participation and Information Disclosure for Environmental Sustainability of 2022 Winter Olympics

Abstract

As China prepares to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee has committed to making public participation a fundamental part of its broader sustainability objectives. Unfortunately, the existing research on information openness and public participation towards Winter Olympic Games is limited in the perspective of host residents. Therefore, this article aims to understand the information disclosure and public participation, as well as the roles information and technologies (ICTs) play in achieving environmental sustainability. With the help of self-administered questionnaires, data were compiled. The survey was conducted in April 2017 with 650 residents in Beijing and Zhangjiakou via face-to-face interviews to obtain a random and statistically representative sample of host residents. Our findings indicated that only few respondents participated in the limited activities of Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. The respondents’ views on important issues of public participation varied obviously including the participating level, principles, time, ways, mechanism, and influencing factor. The analysis illustrated over 70% of respondents had the positive attitudes towards ICTs roles and functions in Beijing 2022. ICTs have helped the public to obtain information about environmental management and sustainability issues, and to facilitate public awareness and collective action by building new management practices. This study has implications and contributes to the burgeoning literature surrounding the Olympic Games by providing an in-depth analysis of public participation in relation to the theory.