The UEFA championships 2012 are a major event in Poland and the Ukraine. Huge amounts of money are invested, stadiums are built, hopes are high for beneficial effects for the two countries and their inhabitants and for increased attention from Europe and beyond. But are these investments really sustainable? Who makes the decisions? Who pays? Who gains? What are the side-effects on the environment? What can the individual do for a better balance of economic, social and environmental interests? This blog shows results of an international seminar financed by the Polish-German Youth Exchange (DPJW/PNWM) as part of their programme 'Spotkajmy się pojutrze - Treffpunkt übermorgen'.

Thursday, 19 July 2012

The EURO of the Sponsors

The following video film was produced by Isabelle Daniel, Aleksandra Kubica and Stefan Kraneis with the help of Adam Symonowicz:


Football means more than just sports. When UEFA announced Poland and Ukraine as venues of EURO 2012, both countries started to invest in their infrastructures. Plenty of airports, railway stations and public places have been renewed ever since. Poland alone spent 100 billion zloty (ca. 23 billion Euro) on the preparations and realization of the championship. Besides, private investors took EURO 2012 as a chance to make investments in the big Polish and Ukrainian cities. Urban development thus seems to go hand in hand with the hostage of the tournament. Warsaw is a place where urban changes become clearly visible.


Sustainability and urban development

The question is: How long-lasting are those changes? While renewals regarding public transportation or accommodation are specifically meant to be sustainable, other investments only occur throughout the 3 weeks of EURO 2012. Whoever visited Warsaw during EURO 2012, was confronted by the enormous amount of advertisements with which skyscrapers and high-rise buildings are covered. Most of those advertisements refer to the sponsors of the tournament.

Responsibilities and opinions

We wanted to know who made the decision to use public and private spaces as platforms for the EURO sponsors to advert themselves. What happened to the advertising transparents of companies that were there before but not involved in the sponsoring of EURO 2012? What do people living in Warsaw think about the changes EURO 2012 is bringing to their city? How do tourists feel?

In our film, we are also talking to the sociologist Dariusz Świątek of the Polish Academy of Sciences who answers our questions about the socioeconomic impact of EURO 2012 in Warsaw.

--

Die Begegnung "Das Spiel dauert 90 Minuten - und dann?" wird ermöglicht durch die finanzielle Unterstützung des Deutsch-Polnischen Jugendwerks (DPJW/PNWM) im Rahmen des Wettbewerbs "Treffpunkt übermorgen - Spotkajmy się pojutrze".

No comments:

Post a Comment