26th International IAKS Congress in Cologne at FSB 2019

Name: FSB
Start: 2021-10-26
End: 2021-10-29
Location: Koelnmesse GmbH

The IAKS Congress is THE international meeting place for everything to do with sports and leisure facilities, pools, amenity areas and urban design. The panel discussions, lectures and workshops of the IAKS Congress illustrate the trends in architecture and management that you need to know now and in the future.

How can cities address the global demand to offer more space to citizens for active and healthy lifestyles? How can public authorities promote physical activity, sport for all and recreation to communities with a growing diversity? Social sustainability is key for the future of urban living, and it requires new ways of programming as well as unique and creative solutions for the design, integration and operation of sports and leisure facilities.

Main topic: "Facilitating an active world"

The conference programme featured an international group of speakers providing innovative responses to the demanding challenges of funding development of new sports and leisure facilities that offer relevant, meaningful, and lifestyle-enhancing experiences to all members of the community. Presentations looked at global trends and constraints with the objective of addressing them at the community level.

Active living in sustainable cities

Experts from TAFISA and Evaleo presented the “Global Active City (GAC) programme”. The GAC programme, which is supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), aims at recognizing cities that implement a Physical Activity and Sport for All management system, improving governance and efficiency.

Further information to Global Active City

Programme review IAKS Congress 2019

Tuesday, 5 November 2019

Time

Topic

10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Developing active cities: Global strategies and initiatives
Presentations and discussion with the panelists

Moderator: Tom Jones, Senior Principal, Populous, United Kingdom
Introduction by Dr Stefan Kannewischer, IAKS President
IOC Strategy on socially sustainable development, Michelle Lemaître, Head of Sustainability, International Olympic Committee, Switzerland
The Global Active City Label and the Active Well-Being Initiative, Wolfgang Baumann, Secretary General, TAFISA (The Association For International Sport for All), Germany
Development of sports and leisure facilities in the UK, Charles Johnston, Director of Property, Sport England, United Kingdom

The first congress session is devoted to international, national and local initiatives from around the globe. Experts will present global strategies and planning models to make cities better places for active living.

12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.

Lunch break and visit of FSB

2:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Global active cities: Best practices

Moderator: Tom Jones, Senior Principal, Populous, United Kingdom
Hamburg: The legacy lives on, Christoph Holstein, City Councilor for Sport, Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Germany
Liverpool: A pioneer city walks the talk, Nicky Yates, Strategic Physical Activity and Sport Development Manager at Liverpool City Council, United Kingdom
Richmond: Leading healthy and active lives, Elizabeth Ayers, Director of Recreation & Sport Services, City of Richmond, Canada

The afternoon will see presentations from municipalities that have undertaken significant steps to become “Global Active Cities”. Learn how they developed their strategies to enhance urban planning, offer better activity infrastructure, engage neighbourhoods and design public spaces and streets for more inclusivity and activity! The “Global Active City” programme is part of the “Active Well-Being Initiative” formed by TAFISA, evaleo and the IOC.

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Visit of FSB

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Happy hour for IAKS members and friends
Meet & greet at the IAKS booth

6:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

2019 IOC IPC IAKS Architecture Prizes Ceremony
Awards gala with prize-giving ceremony
The IOC IAKS Award and the IPC IAKS Distinction are the most important international architecture prizes for sports, leisure and recreational facilities. At this Awards Gala Night, the award-winning facilities will be presented to the international public. Representatives from the IOC, the IPC and the IAKS will hand out the prizes in the presence of 300 guests. Prizes will be presented to the award-winning building owners and architects.

Wednesday, 6 November 2019

Time

Topic

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Building stronger active living infrastructure in metropolitan cities
Presentations and discussion with the panelists

Moderator: Conrad Boychuk, Vice President, IAKS, Canada
Best practices from Denver, John Martinez, Deputy Executive Director of Recreation at City and County of Denver, USA
Best practices from Calgary, James McLaughlin, Acting Director, City of Calgary Recreation, Canada
Best practices from Sydney, Matthew McDonald, City Services Strategy Manager, City of Sydney, Australia

Growing a city’s profile around sports and leisure has been an often-repeated goal but few metropolitan cities have been successful in ultimately achieving this. City representatives and planners from Northern America will demonstrate how to build stronger active living infrastructure in metropolitan cities responding to different cultural, geographic and urban settings.

11:00 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Properly operating leisure infrastructure in small and mid-size cities
Workshop to discuss challenges and exchange expertise

Moderator: Maria Keinicke, Founder and partner, KEINGART, Denmark (tbc)
Experts: Elizabeth Ayers, Director of Recreation & Sport Services, City of Richmond, Canada
Holger Kortbaek, Head of Sports Facilities, Municipality of Gladsaxe, Denmark

The planning and development of a leisure-oriented infrastructure in small and mid-size cities is always challenging. Funding is not always easy to secure but once the investment has been made, the objective of maintaining an ongoing relevance and responsiveness to community needs defines the overall success of the initiative. The initial capital investment may pale compared to the ongoing costs for maintaining and improving that leisure infrastructure. This workshop will look at these challenges and the complexities of dealing with an ever-evolving community of users and the challenges of funding.

12:00 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch break and visit of FSB

1:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Building stronger active living infrastructure in small and mid-size cities
Presentations and discussion with the panelists

Moderator: Conrad Boychuk, Vice President, IAKS, Canada
Why recreation facilities are so important in small communities, Mark Hentze, Vice President Recreation and Culture, HDR Architecture, Canada
GAME’s approach to inclusive street sports communities and facilities, Mikkel Selmar, Head of Facilities, GAME, Denmark
Combined facilities as catalysts for activating the neighbourhood, Mike Hall, FaulknerBrowns, United Kingdom

The second session of the day will focus on small and mid-size cities. Typically having fewer resources, smaller cities often find it more challenging to offer settings that are active and inclusive. Learn from experiences of Canadian, Danish and British operators and architects how you can succeed in creating modern and appealing, financially and socially sustainable leisure facilities!

2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Properly operating leisure infrastructure in big cities
Workshop to discuss challenges and exchange expertise

Moderator: Henrik H. Brandt, Consultant in sports and leisure, idkon.dk, Denmark
Experts: Shaun Dawson, Chief Executive, Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, United Kingdom
Thomas Beyer, Former Head of Sports Department of the City of Hamburg, Germany

The ongoing migration of people to large urban centres has created a challenge in terms of developing an appropriate sport and leisure infrastructure. Often large urban areas suffer from outdated indoor and outdoor facilities that are difficult to effectively program and even harder to maintain. The process of developing and maintaining meaningful programmes and facilities is complicated because of ongoing growth and the diversity of expectations. This workshop will look specifically at the unique challenge of meeting the needs to growing metropolitan areas and enhancing the liveability factor.

3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Coffee break and visit of FSB

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Happy hour for IAKS members and friends
Meet & greet at the IAKS booth

Thursday, 7 November 2019

Time

Topic

10:30 a.m. - 12:00 a.m.

Indoor recreational facilities for future generations
Presentations and discussion with the panelists

Moderator: Karin Schwarz-Viechtbauer, Director, Austrian Institute for School and Sports Facilities (ÖISS), Austria
Carla Madison Recreation Center in Denver, Katie Barnes, Principal and Partner, Barker Rinker Seacat Architecture, USA
Recreation Centre Development in Calgary, Andrew Tankard, Partner, GEC Architecture, Canada
A new approach for sustainable building concepts and innovative funding methods?, Mike Lawless, Director, LA Architects, United Kingdom

“Indoor recreational facilities for future generations” is the challenging title for the first session of the third congress day. Sports halls are one of the fundamental building blocks of a community’s sports and leisure infrastructure but their design and programming need to evolve to meeting an ever-broadening range of expectations and users. An international panel will show strategies for activating leisure elements into traditional sports hall concepts, as well as how to realize integrated concepts for recreation, cultural and social uses.

12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m.

Lunch break and visit of FSB

2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Social and financial sustainability for public pools
Presentations and discussion with the panelists

Moderator: Karin Schwarz-Viechtbauer, Director, Austrian Institute for School and Sports Facilities (ÖISS)
Public Pool Development: The right order of decisions, Darryl Condon, Managing Principal, HCMA, Canada
Economic sustainability: Optimising financial planning to get best value, Dr Stefan Kannewischer, Kannewischer Management, Switzerland
Operating models: Choose the right one for your pool, Gar Holohan, Founder and Executive Chairman of Aura Holohan Leisure Group, Ireland

Decision-making processes for public pools should start by defining socio-economic outcomes and political goals of a new project. Only after knowing why we build a new pool, we should discuss what we build. Another key for success is creating a business feasibility study. What is the benefit and logic of regional planning? Why should we calculate and know all life-cycle costs of a project? Finally, there are different operating models available, including PPP and revenue models. Sometimes municipalities want to sell outdoor or sports pools, but not every operating model is reasonable for every type of pool.

2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Activating the public realm for all ages
Workshop to discuss challenges and exchange expertise

Moderator: Harald Fux, Founder and partner, RAUMKUNST, Austria
Experts: Theis Bavnhoj Hansen, Team leader recreation, City of Faaborg Midtfyn, Denmark
Matthew Lappin, Senior Associate, David Lock Associates, United Kingdom

The objective of creating active communities goes well beyond the development of indoor and outdoor spaces for sports and leisure programmes. Providing opportunities spontaneous or leisurely activity, done on one’s own terms either individually or socially, is key to an active, meaningful and stimulating public realm. Different cultures respond to, or take advantage of public space in very unique ways. This workshop looks at walkability and sometimes “swim-ability” in the public realm, broadening the scope and definition of urban active living.

4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Ice rinks for leisure and physical activity
Presentations and discussion with the panelists

Moderator: Karin Schwarz-Viechtbauer, Director, Austrian Institute for School and Sports Facilities (ÖISS)
Evolution of community ice rink design as a tool for physical and social interaction, Viktors Jaunkalns, Founding partner, MJMA Architects, Canada
All-season recreation and sports pavilion as an economic, functional and appealing approach for ice rinks, Jim Kalvelage, Partner, opsis architecture, USA
Attractive and sustainable leisure ice experiences, Peter Hirvell, Managing Director, AST Eis- und Solartechnik, Austria

In the afternoon session, ice rink experts from Northern America and Europe will exchange ideas how to develop the planning and design of ice arenas beyond the traditional model. The international panel will provide examples of successful single-pad and multi-pad ice facilities for sports and leisure use, as well as community-scaled spectator arenas that bring an aspect of entertainment into the market.

4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Making schoolyards places of active living for all
Workshop to discuss challenges and exchange expertise

Moderator: Wolfgang Becker, Rif University Centre, Austria
Experts: Laura Munch, Realdania foundation, Denmark
Anne Dorthe Vestergaard, Owner, VEGA landskab, Denmark

Schoolyards are one of the first places we learn to play and their design can have long-term benefits on both how we learn, and how we remain active. While investing in children’s play is one of the most meaningful investments society can make, the benefits of an “area for playing” are something that ideally is available to a larger part of the community. Schoolyards can provide a uniquely accessible opportunity for those who have a more informal approach to active living. This workshop looks at some innovative approaches to schoolyard design as part of a larger and broader active realm.

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Happy hour for IAKS members and friends
Meet & greet at the IAKS booth

Friday, 8 November 2019

Time

Topic

10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Diverse and successful activity areas
Presentations and discussion with the panelists

Moderator: Henrik H. Brandt, Consultant in sports and leisure, idkon.dk, Denmark
The planning of skate parks between subculture and the Olympics, Veith Kilberth, Partner, Landskate, Germany
Skills Park Winterthur: Programming, designing and operating urban activity areas for the youth and for the young at heart, Roger Rinderknecht and Robin Schneider, Skillspark, Switzerland
Activating underutilized urban spaces, Darryl Condon, Managing Principal, HCMA, Canada
Impacting health through public space provision,Bryce Hinton, Senior Landscape Architect, CONVIC, Australia

Skate and bike parks have become a global trend seen in both developed countries and those lacking a robust sports infrastructure program. How can they satisfy at the same time the demands of a future Olympic discipline as well as being socially relevant? The popularity of urban and sub-urban activities like parkour, bouncing and trampoline has initiated private investors to build indoor centres as commercial activity. What are their challenges and success stories?

12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Lunch break and visit of FSB

Download IAKS Programme 2019

IAKS Programme 2019 (.pdf)

IAKS News

IAKS Future trends 2020 for sports and leisure facilities

Review and impressions IAKS Congress 2019

Against this backdrop, the IAKS Congress was an immense success. Taking “Facilitating an active world” as its central theme this year, the congress focused on global trends and presented pioneering projects in the areas of sports and leisure facilities, pools, amenity areas and urban design. Over the four days of the congress, 41 international experts from nine countries presented architectural and operational solutions for athletic peak performance, health consciousness and an active lifestyle. Around 470 participants from 36 countries listened to lectures on subjects such as attractive exercise spaces, sustainability, financing models and economic benefits.

IAKS Congress Contacts

IAKS International Association for Sports and Leasure Facilities
Eupener Str. 70
50933 Köln
Deutschland
Tel. +49 221 1680 230
Fax +49 221 1680 2323
Write an e-mail
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