summit 2022
the smartcities & sport summit 2022 is back in Lausanne, the olympic capital, October 24-26. get in the game!
host city: lausanne
The smartcities & sport summit 2022 took place in Lausanne, the Olympic Capital, October 24-26, 2022!
With more than 55 international federations, the City of Lausanne is the home of international sport and is the place where the future of sport is shaped.
As well as being a unique ecosystem, Lausanne has also become the home of international sport, hosting some of the world’s most important events such as the Youth Olympics in 2020 and many more. Next on the list is the eighth stage of the Tour de France which will finish in Lausanne during the summer.
With nearly 300 clubs and 30,000 members, Lausanne “La Sportive” is a city where sport is a way of life. Lausanne keeps this flame alive and develops the practice of sport within the population, particularly among women.
ioc president thomas bach at the opening session of the smartcities & sport summit
We are proud to announce that IOC President Thomas Bach was a Keynote Speaker at the smartcities & sport summit 2022.
During the opening session, the IOC President shared the Olympic Movement’s vision of how cities’ initiatives can bring sport closer to the people and how this is essential in building a healthier society.
summit speakers
Ingunn Trosholmen
Mayor - City of Lillehammer
Ingunn Trosholmen has 11 years of experience as a local politician, 8 years as deputy Mayor and the last 3 as the Mayor. She is also a part of the International Committee for the Norwegian Labour Party. Before elected as the Mayor, she was an adviser on international questions for the County Council. She has also been the director for The Nansen Center for Peace and Dialogue and has worked facilitating dialogue between groups in war-torn societies. From this fall she was elected deputy chair of The Board of Directors in KLP, Norway`s largest life-insurance company.
Raí Souza Vieira de Oliveira
former international soccer player, change-maker
Raí is a former Brazilian international footballer, world champion in 1994, and iconic captain of PSG from 1993 to 1998. Raí co-founded with Leonardo Nascimento de Araújo the Gol de Letra Foundation which works towards the social integration of young people from the favélas through education and sport. He is also the founder and director of the association "Atletas pelo Brasil" which brings together athletes from all disciplines to improve sports practices and promote social transformation through sport in his country.
Pierre Rabadan
Deputy Mayor - City of Paris
Pierre Rabadan is a former professional rugby player and has been the successful captain of Stade Français, an iconic Parisian club. In 2015, he retired from his sporting career and joined Anne Hidalgo’s office as sports advisor to participate in Paris‘ bid for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and to promote the organisation of major international sporting events in Paris. In 2020, he has been elected Paris councillor and appointed Deputy Mayor in charge of Sport, Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Krista Adams
Deputy Mayor - Brisbane City Council
Krista Adams was elected as a Councillor in 2008 and has held a variety of senior management roles across Council. In 2019 Krista was appointed as Deputy Mayor and is also currently the Civic Cabinet Chair for the Economic Development and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Committee. Krista is committed to ensuring Brisbane 2032 leaves a lasting legacy for Brisbane and its residents.
Cindy Medynski
Director, Sport & Culture - Explore Edmonton
Leading the major sport and cultural event attraction team with Explore Edmonton, Cindy Medynski is dedicated to promoting her destination and bringing the world to Edmonton. For over five years, Cindy has been responsible for positioning Edmonton nationally and internationally as a premier event host, and together with her colleagues attracts, markets, and develops sport and cultural events of all shapes and sizes alongside event rights holders.
Mohamed Amine Zariat
Founder & President - Tibu Africa
Through a comprehensive system that successfully brings together youth, parents, teachers, trainers and the public and private sectors in the city, Mohamed Amine Zariat is changing youth’s self-image by institutionalising sports as a means to achieve self-efficacy.
Bugge Holm Hansen
Futurist - Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies
Bugge Holm Hansen is a futurist and the head of the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies' Center for Future-Driven Sports Innovation'. He is deeply engaged in the convergence of sport, society, and technology. Not to mention a world-leading thought leader exploring how the Metaverse and Web3 will affect culture, communities, cities, individuals, and brands.
Charlotte Van Tuyckom
Lecturer & Researcher - Howest University College
As doctor in sport sociology, Charlotte has a profound interest in the sociological-historical-philosophical-policy-related components of sport. She converts her passion for research in blogs and podcasts. She is affiliated as lecturer/researcher with Howest University College (Bruges, Belgium). Her current research interests include the impact of digital innovation as well as sport promotion for generation Z.
Thierry Weil
CEO - FIH
With more than 35 years of experience as an executive leader and a proven track record working at the highest levels of sports administration on the global stage, Thierry Weil was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the International Hockey Federation in March 2018. He thinks the values and respect within all levels of hockey are unique, and firmly believes in the potential of Hockey 5s – the five-a-side format of playing hockey - to boost the growth of the sport worldwide.
Lauren Kocher
Senior Manager, Youth Sport - Greater London Authority
Lauren is Senior Manager of the Youth Sport team at the Greater London Authority. On behalf of the Mayor of London, Lauren's team delivers sport for social outcomes to underserved young Londoners through grant funding and targeted investment with partners such as NFL, Comic Relief, Sport England, London Marathon, and Laureus. She has worked in the non-profit and youth sectors for over 20 years, both internationally and focussed in the UK and is a project management consultant and trainer for non-profit and voluntary organisations.
Kaveh Mehrabi
Athletes' Department Director - IOC
A Beijing 2008 Olympian and former international badminton player, Iran-born Kaveh Mehrabi joined the IOC Sports Department in December 2014 to lead the section in charge of relations and engagement with athletes and athlete-related programmes. Following the creation of the IOC Athletes’ Department in 2021 as part of the implementation of Olympic Agenda 2020+5, Kaveh was appointed as the Director of the Department.
Lucy Mills
Co-Founder & Consultant - READY
Lucy Mills is the co-founder of READY which specialises in innovation, tech and web 3.0 to supercharge women's sport. She has worked in sport and social impact in Europe and Africa over the past 16 years, including the past 4 years at FC Barcelona. Lucy is a board member of Lewes Football Club in the UK and sits on various advisory boards for initiatives that promote girls and women's rights in and through sport.
Leonardo Bottaro
Head of Brand & Strategies - Volleyball World
A passionate and creative marketeer known by his ability to design and implement brand building and brand engagement plans across different industries. Professionally, he spent the past 10+ years in international brands covering Retail, Brand, Sports Marketing and Digital roles. His professional and personal learnings allow him today to navigate with confidence inside the sports and lifestyle industries and give him the courage to design strategies with audacious objectives.
Abigail Whiteley
Vice President - QuidditchUK
Abby Whiteley is the Vice President of QuidditchUK, the British national governing body for quidditch. A decade of playing quidditch since its earliest roots in the UK have given her unique insight into the development of grassroots sport into a full ecosystem. A two-time national champion and one-time European champion, Abby has worked tirelessly to promote quidditch in the UK and overseas, building a volunteer-led sport from the ground up.
Jaime Navarro
International Delegate - LaLiga
Jaime Navarro is LaLiga's Delegate for Central Europe, where he is representing and leading the international business development of the competition and its 42 clubs in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia. With ten years of international professional experience, he is an experienced professional in the management of a wide range of activities, projects and institutional relationships of a sports property.
Charissa Tynan
Director General - International Federation of Muaythai Associations
Charissa started at IFMA over a decade ago, segueing into sports administration from a background in TV production when she stepped into the lead sport administrative role after the position became vacant. Over the years, she has been involved in the development and evolution of the sport and IF. She is most passionate about IFMA's vision that puts youth & its athletes at the centre of its work and strong belief in transformative power of sport.
Francesco Anesi
Ambassador - Global Sports Innovation Center powered by Microsoft
Francesco is Ambassador of the “Global Sport Innovation Center/GSIC powered by Microsoft”, Co-Founder of “FIGC Youth Lab” (a laboratory of innovation, empowering the youth/grassroots dimension of the Italian Football Association) and a passionate educator at the “Scuola dello Sport”. Francesco is a bridge-builder, working on sport, innovation and sustainability (because, as Isaac Newton warned: “We build too many walls and not enough bridges”).
Meagan Loyst
founder - gen z VCs
Meagan is the Founder of Gen Z VCs, the largest and fastest growing community for Gen Zers in Tech/VC with nearly 15,000 global members & now a movement. Known as the “Queen of Gen Z VC” by her peers and the press. She is also featured in the 2022 Forbes 30-Under-30 list, as a LinkedIn 2022 Top Voice, and won the 2022 Rising Star Award from the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Meagan is passionate about increasing diversity in VC and serves on the advisory board of Girls Who Invest.
Chris Szubski
Liveability Planner
Chris is a strategist for City Liveability and Sport Urbanism. The fundamentals of his strategic approach are centred on sports and health, city planning, neuroscience, politics and governance, index analysis and systems thinking. His Sportify Cities reports and guidelines are designed to enhance city liveability through the incorporation of guiding city sportification principles into city planning.
Mia Salvemini
Lead Consulting - Two Circles
Mia has been working in the field of sport and social responsibility for over six years, with particular focus on social inclusion, gender equality, and environmental impact. With Two Circles, Mia works with clients on purpose driven partnerships, recognizing the growing need for greater commitment and accountability from both sponsors and sports organizations to authentically carrying out social and environmental impact initiatives.
Tanya Heimlich-Ng Yuen
Partner & Senior Director - BCW SPORTS
Tanya is a Senior Director at BCW Switzerland where she works with a broad range of international clients in developing and implementing communications strategies. She specializes in leading teams around major international sports events, focused on bidding & hosting. She has led several bid campaigns to success, including the China 2019 FIBA Basketball World Championships, the Pan-American Games in Lima 2019, Denmark and Germany’s bid for the IHF World Championship 2019 and EURO 2024. Most recently she led the Lausanne 2020 YOG media team.
Leonardo Bottaro
Head of Brand & Strategies - Volleyball World
A passionate and creative marketeer known by his ability to design and implement brand building and brand engagement plans across different industries. Professionally, he spent the past 10+ years in international brands covering Retail, Brand, Sports Marketing and Digital roles. His professional and personal learnings allow him today to navigate with confidence inside the sports and lifestyle industries and give him the courage to design strategies with audacious objectives.
Arnaud Mourot
FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN - PLAY INTERNATIONAL
Arnaud founded the NGO “Play International” in 1999 and now chairs it. He has also contributed to the development of many Social Businesses in France, especially in the field of handicap and employment. A member of the French Olympic Wrestling Team during 10 years and graduate from ESCP Business School, he has been involved in the social and humanitarian sector since he finished his studies. He is also a global VP at Ashoka, the largest global network of Social Entrepreneurs and leads its Changemaker Companies initiative.
Laura van Walsem
Sports Director - City of Amsterdam
Laura is particularly enthusiastic about the value that sport and physical activity can have for the citizens of Amsterdam. She is committed to getting as many people as possible involved in sport and exercise, especially those who need it most. To this end, she believes that optimising the use of public space is an important part of the solution, as are forms of education where children sit less and special programmes for target groups and neighbourhoods where there is currently too little exercise.
Sola Aiyepeku
Executive Chairman - Lagos State Sports Commission
Sola Aiyepeku presently serves as the Executive Chairman of the Lagos State Sports Commission where he is leading the charge to rebuild Lagos sports foundations and deepen access to sports infrastructure across Lagos to provide a strong platform on which a thriving, socially responsive and commercially viable sporting culture can be built in Lagos. He has conceived & executed several high impact sports programs. Sola is a happily married Chemical Engineering graduate father of 4 who loves cartoons & creativity.
Mark Ward
Chief Marketing & Communications Officer - Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
Mark is a senior marketing and communications professional with over 22 years’ experience. In that time, he has led teams to deliver award-winning campaigns around the world on behalf of Local Organising Committees, International Federations, National Football Associations, and elite sports teams. He is currently the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee.
Craig Harvey
Commercial & Marketing Communications Manager - Rugby World Cup 2021
Craig has a diverse background in the corporate and sporting worlds, as well as experience in the arts. A former cellist, he has worked in global corporate roles in the UK and Australia before returning home to NZ Rugby. In his current role Craig leads an exceptional team creating fan engagement and commercial activity. The women’s Rugby World Cup is currently underway with the opening match day setting a world record for attendance at a women’s rugby event as well as welcoming a new audience to the sport.
Carla Wuhrer
Project Director – PROPROJEKT Switzerland
Carla is a Project Director at PROPROJEKT, a strategic consultancy focusing on construction, planning, urban development and major events, and the company’s representative in Switzerland. She specialises in the field of sports where she is working on a wide range of projects, from developing long-term sports tourism or sports event strategies to bidding, planning and delivering major sports events, all with the aim to make sport sustainable, accessible and impactful.
Henk Stokhof
Head of Sport Policy and Development Department - City of Amsterdam
Henk started his career as a sports teacher, working with children with severe behavioural problems and developed skills that have served him well to date. After specialising in sociology, Henk became a city manager in various fields. He is now heading the city's departments for sports policy and development. Henk: “It is a joy to stimulate the people to do sports and to promote physical activity, helping to develop programs both for elite sports and sports for all and to promote a profitable sports infrastructure with state of the art contemporary sports facilities.”
Lee Parker
Senior Programmes and Grants Manager - Laureus
Lee is a Sport for Development specialist with over 10 years in working in community-based intervention through sport. He heads up Laureus Sport for Good’s place-based community led initiative called ‘Sport for Good Cities’ which ranges from New Orleans to London and Delhi. Lee’s role is to ensure that, through collaboration and a ‘bottom up’ approach, each community is influencing the top-level decisions that affect them whilst also accessing high quality sport programs that address the communities self-identified local issues.
Alessio Punzi
Head Of Running & Mass Participation - World Athletics
In the business of running and mass participation since 2008, Alessio is World Athletics’ go-to person for all things distance running – from competition management to course measurement, from campaigns to virtual, from masters to trail running – and in general for all relationships with the running industry. Alessio has previously held positions in marketing, competitions and development at European Athletics, UCI, the Rome Marathon, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Liverpool Marathon and the European Cyclists’ Federation.
Serena Lusk
Chief Administrative Officer - City of Richmond
Serena Lusk is the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Richmond in British Columbia, Canada. Richmond is home to the Richmond Olympic Oval, a legacy venue of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, and is a certified Global Active City. Serena has lead the implementation of a number of initiatives in Richmond with a focus on youth, sport, active living, and community wellness. Her previous work experience includes National and Provincial Sport Organizations. Serena has an MBA in sports business.
Sergey Nifontov
General Secretary - World DanceSport Federation
Sergey Nifontov presently serves as the WDSF Secretary General since 2021. A Standard and Latin dancer since the age of 5, Sergey knows the sport inside-out. In addition to being a well-respected WDSF Sports Officer in Spain, he is also a WDSF Chairperson and a former WDSF Adjudicator A and PD Adjudicator. In 2010 he co-founded a course of studies at the Conservatorio Superior de Danza de Alicante.
Virginie Faivre
Executive President - Lausanne Olympic Capital
Born in Lausanne, Virginie Faivre is an Olympian and three times World Champion in freestyle skiing. She was appointed in 2019 as President of the Organising Committee for the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games. As a member of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympics Coordination Commission, she puts her enthusiasm and extensive experience to the benefit of youth sports. Virginie is involved in a wide range of projects in her region and country. Recently nominated, she will now serves as the President of the Lausanne Olympic Capital.
Lisa Getz
MAS Sport Management Student - AISTS Sport Management Academy
CSR professional with 13 years of experience creating and maintaining a global donor base and operating programs with a focus on youth and development in Asia and Africa, including 10 years of experience in China with multiple international NGOs. Avid trail-runner and cyclist passionate about leading community athletic activities, especially those contributing to the development of youth in general and deprived children.
Dr Farah Palmer
MEMBER NEW ZEALAND RUGBY BOARD & CHAIR NEW ZEALAND MĀORI RUGBY BOARD
Dr Farah Palmer is a lecturer in the Department of Management at Massey University and a former captain of New Zealand's women's national rugby union team, the Black Ferns. In December 2016 Farah was appointed as the first female board member for Rugby New Zealand. Farah holds a Doctor of Philosophy and a Bachelor of Physical Education (First Class Honours) from Otago University. Farah was previously a Member of the Ministerial Taskforce on Sport, Fitness, and Leisure (2001). She has won several awards and scholarships including Maori Sportswoman of the Year Award in 2002 and Women’s Rugby Player of the Year at the 1998 New Zealand Rugby Awards.
Renu Yadav
Community Coordinator - Laureus
Renu is trained psychotherapist and expert in community-based development programs in India with 13 years of experience working in the development sector with different target audiences on diverse theme areas such as HIV/AIDS, health & nutrition and Sexual Reproductive health. Renu leads Sport for Good in Seemapuri, Delhi ensuring that, through collaboration , the community is driving change through sport. Renu also has a flair of sport and, as a volleyball player, excelled as Best Sport Woman of the Year in her college.
relive the summit
Watch our Youtube channel!
Do you want to go deeper into a particular topic that was discussed at the smartcities & sport summit 2022? You can find all the videos of the sessions here.
summit venues
Royal Savoy Hotel
The legendary Royal Savoy Hotel & Spa is the official hotel of the smartcities & sport summit. It is located in the vibrant Ouchy district of Lausanne, just a stone’s throw away from the train station and Lake Geneva
The historic Royal Savoy Hotel & Spa was originally built in 1909 and after an extensive renovation, reopened its doors in 2015.
With its unique silhouette and fascinating heritage, the Royal Savoy is an integral part of Lausanne’s skyline and history.
Beaulieu Sports Hall
Ideally located in the heart of the Olympic Capital, the Beaulieu Sports Halls hosted the welcome cocktail of the smartcities & sport summit.
The Beaulieu Sports Hall offer a wide range of physical and sporting activities for the entire population, proposed by various actors in Lausanne’s sports scene. It is a concrete expression of the City of Lausanne’s policy on the development of associative sport and the promotion of sport and physical activity for all.
Hotel Beau-Rivage Palace
The smartcities & sport summit gala dinner took place at the Beau-Rivage Palace on the shores of Lake Geneva with a view of the Alps.
The Beau-Rivage Palace has never closed its doors since 1861, and over the years has been host to many illustrious guests.
Victor Hugo, Charlie Chaplin, Coco Chanel, Nelson Mandela and Tina Turner are just a few of the many famous guests.
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