The Commission for Culture and Olympic Education was created in 2000 to advise the IOC on the best policies and programmes to help the promotion of culture and Olympic education.
Working with the Commission, the IOC developed an Olympic education policy that seeks to provide greater resources to help promote culture and education through sport at national, regional and international level, and particularly at the Olympic Games. Activities related to the education of youth through sport play a key role within the programme.
The IOC also worked closely with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to establish the London 2012 International Education Programme. The team behind the programme provides schools around the world with resources that encourage young people to learn about the London 2012 Games and the Olympic Movement’s values.
Later this year, the 8th edition of the IOC World Conference on Sport, Education and Culture will take place in Amsterdam, in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and in collaboration with the National Olympic Committee of the Netherlands (NOC*NSF). Delegates from 177 different nations will convene to learn more about the importance of sport as a mediator for social and economic development within the context of a sporting, educational and cultural framework.
Another of the IOC’s initiatives is the Olympic Values Education Programme (OVEP), which aims to maintain young people’s interest in sport and encourage them to practise sport, while also promoting the Olympic values.
For IOC President Jacques Rogge, sport helps to facilitate key social benefits: “Sport is a powerful tool for reaching out to today’s young people on all continents and for educating them early on about healthy and responsible behaviour.”
In 2010, the first summer Youth Olympic Games (YOG) took place in Singapore, followed by a winter edition in Innsbruck in 2012. The Games are designed to inspire young people around the world to participate in sport, and to live by the Olympic values. They not only provide an opportunity to participate in sporting competitions at the highest level, they also act as a catalyst for sporting, educational and cultural initiatives thanks to the Cultural Educational Programme (CEP) that runs throughout the Games.
The programme introduces young athletes to Olympism and the Olympic values and raises awareness of important issues such as the benefits of a healthy lifestyle and global challenges.