Blog 3 Columns

  • The new Olympic golf course: Risks vs. benefits?

    The new Olympic golf course: Risks vs. benefits?4

    The new golf course for Rio Olympics has been the cause of huge controversy between the city`s government and the activists, leading to the movement “Occupy Golf”. The government claims that the new golf course inside the nature reserve has increased the biodiversity, but the protesters are right to be worried about the risks of such an intervention.

    READ MORE
  • Keeping Europe secure requires new thinking

    Keeping Europe secure requires new thinking0

    On the 21st of April the EU Council adopted the Passenger Name Records Directive, a security mechanism which enables law enforcement and national security agencies to access the personal data of everyone flying into and outside of the EU. This includes addresses, names, credit card information and details on accompanying passengers, even minors.

    READ MORE
  • Ready, Set, Go: Fighting Olympic Corruption

    Ready, Set, Go: Fighting Olympic Corruption0

    The preparation of the Olympic Games ends on a false note. In recent weeks, numerous scandals flooded news outlets all over the world. Be it the recent doping revelations, inconsistent awarding procedures or domestic cases of corruption that started with Petrobras and led to the impeachment of President Dilma Roussef. However, there is a straightforward solution for the IOC (International Olympic Committee) to mitigate the scandals related to the construction of the Olympic infrastructure: transparency in public procurement procedures.

    READ MORE
  • Bread and games and evictions

    Bread and games and evictions0

    The defeat of the Brazilian team at the hands (feet?) of the German Mannschaft two years ago is etched in our collective minds. The match – though remarkable – had little to do with that. What stuck was the reaction of the public and the images of heartbroken football fans that went around the globe. They showed a nation that had betted a lot on football – and lost.

    READ MORE
  • Rio 2016’s Unenduring Legacy

    Rio 2016’s Unenduring Legacy0

    The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have been heralded from the start as ‘legacy games’. One key component of the Rio 2016 legacy plan is increased sport participation for low-income children and youth, with a number of public programs set up, and substantial funding channeled, toward this goal. One month before the Games are scheduled to begin, however, this legacy has yet to leave a lasting mark.

    READ MORE
  • The Rio Olympics: Green or a Greenwash?

    The Rio Olympics: Green or a Greenwash?1

    Rio won the honour to host the Olympic Games on the idealistic promise it will leave a “sustainable legacy”. There is, however, a distinct difference between the ideal and the reality when the Olympic Sustainable Management Plan fails to combat the booming Brazilian illegal wildlife trade. The international community are on one hand promoting Rio as green, but on the other accepting their contribution to what the UN has recently found to be ‘an unprecedented threat to wildlife’ by allowing Rio to host the world’s biggest international sporting event.

    READ MORE

The School of Public Policy at CEU