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kenneLh Clbb (ulrecLor, ollcy ScoLland, unlverslLy of Clasgow)
&
!osef konvlLz (Ponorary rofessor, School of LducaLlon, unlverslLy of Clasgow)

ln less Lhan one week, Lhe CommonwealLh Cames wlll commence and Clasgow wlll endeavour Lo
dellver lLs largesL and mosL complex evenL ever - a successful Cames LhaL wlll llve on poslLlvely ln
Lhe collecLlve memory. ln less Lhan Lhree weeks, Lhe fesLlval wlll be over. WhaL happens when Lhe
banners come down, and people who have come Lo Clasgow from around Lhe world go home?
WhaL wlll llve on ln Clasgow?
Many academlcs have concluded LhaL scanL evldence exlsLs from pasL mega-evenLs Lo suggesL LhaL a
slgnlflcanL legacy ls llkely, whlle oLhers argue LhaL Lhey are merely bread and clrcuses" Lo mask
deep soclal problems whlch rullng ellLes won'L face up Lo. When Lhe focus shlfLs aL Lhe end of Lhe
Cames, Lhose who bld for and dellvered Lhe Cames, aL a LoLal cosL of over 300 mllllon, wlll have Lo
answer some hard quesLlons. 1hls process may sLarL on AugusL 3, buL lL wlll conLlnue for many years.
Clasgow ClLy Councll and Lhe ScoLLlsh CovernmenL argue LhaL Clasgow 2014 wlll dlffer from prevlous
such evenLs because lL planned Lo achleve legacles from Lhe ouLseL. Legacy was promlnenL ln Lhe bld
documenLaLlon, lL helped deLermlne Lhe LasL Lnd locaLlon and was supporLed by complemenLary
lnvesLmenLs llke Lhe M74 exLenslon and Clyde CaLeway. 1he lnLenL was Lo generaLe a wlder soclal
and economlc reLurn on Lhe Cames' masslve publlc lnvesLmenL.
1he word legacy, almosL worn ouL by overuse, does noL have a slngle agreed meanlng. 1he ClLy
Councll and Lhe ScoLLlsh CovernmenL use dlfferenL words and have dlfferenL geographles of
concern, buL boLh Lhlnk of legacy as belng abouL economlc regeneraLlon and lmpacL, lmproved
healLh and well-belng, dlrecL and lndlrecL beneflLs Lo local communlLles, lncreased parLlclpaLlon ln
physlcal acLlvlLy and greener" envlronmenLal ouLcomes. CrlLlcs polnL ouL LhaL evaluaLlons of
prevlous mega-evenLs have noL, for lnsLance, dellvered long-Lerm measurable healLh lmprovemenLs.
ln Lhe case of Clasgow 2014, however, we are more llkely Lo know lf Lhere really ls a legacy. 1he
embeddlng of legacy plannlng from Lhe sLarL of Lhe bld process means LhaL Lhe evaluaLlon
frameworks for assesslng legacy dellvery are much more comprehenslve, analyLlcal and focused
around beneflLs-reallsaLlon", Lhan ever before. An example of Lhls ls Lhe ln-depLh long-Lerm
research of Lhe legacy lmpacLs on Lhe LasL Lnd, led by our colleague Ade kearns. 1he facL LhaL Lhe
organlsers are supporLlng such research ls an lndlcaLlon of wllllngness Lo learn, even where Lhe
legacy lmpacLs Lurn ouL Lo be less Lhan hoped for. ln an economy LhaL ls slgnlflcanLly dependenL on
evenLs Lo aLLracL lnLernaLlonal LourlsLs, and wlLh some of Lhe largesL concenLraLlons of poverLy ln
WesLern Lurope, undersLandlng, ln depLh, whaL works, ls crlLlcal.
Many clLles across Lhe world face slmllar lssues and need Lo learn from each oLher. Sharlng
Clasgow's lessons and LesLlng Lhem agalnsL lnLernaLlonal examples ls essenLlal. Sharlng knowledge
and research flndlngs ls whaL moLlvaLes us Lo Lake Lhe legacy dlmenslons of Clasgow Lo anoLher
level. Alongslde colleagues aL Clasgow Llfe and Lhe unlverslLy of SLraLhclyde and Clasgow
Caledonlan unlverslLy, Lhe unlverslLy of Clasgow ls Loday launchlng an lnLernaLlonal Legacy
neLwork. Cur alm ls Lo help ensure LhaL Lhere ls a legacy from Lhe Cames, by learnlng from Lhelr
successes and fallures. We propose Lo brlng LogeLher clLy parLners from around Lhe world, alongslde
unlverslLles whlch wlll underLake legacy research from dlfferenL dlsclpllnes. 1hls ls noL [usL abouL Lhe
challenges faclng clLles whlch hosL mega-evenLs: much of Lhls knowledge can be applled Lo pollcles
and servlces Lo lmprove educaLlon, healLh, houslng, employmenL and governance. Clasgow ClLy
Councll, for example, expllclLly Lrled Lo conLrol cosLs by flndlng new ways of uslng lLs own sLaff and
worklng ln parLnershlp wlLh oLher bodles Lo dellver Lhe Cames. lrom an early sLage lL recognlsed
LhaL Lhese lnnovaLlons mlghL be losL so lL has aLLempLed Lo Lransfer Lhese dlfferenL effecLlve ways of
worklng lnLo lLs sLandard operaLlng procedures. Cne LesL of legacy, Lherefore, wlll be how much Lhe
ClLy learns from Lhe Cames experlence.
Cur flrsL global conference ls expecLed Lo be held ln Clasgow ln CcLober 2013. lor furLher
lnformaLlon: hLLp://pollcyscoLland.gla.ac.uk.