Sustainable Academic Innovation Legacy (S.A.I.L.) For Tomorrow
S.A.I.L.-ing from Ancient Olympia to Tokyo 2020 and Beyond
Thessaloniki, Delphi, Olympia & Athens, July 25 – August 1, 2017
The 2017 O4H Praxis took place at the birthplace of the Olympian idea on 25 July -1 August and entailed interactive Olympism in Action workshops, roundtable discussions, symposia and field visits across four Olympian Heritage sites: in Thessaloniki, Delphi, Ancient Olympia, and Athens.
Olympian Civilization and Heritage from Macedonia, Delphi, Ancient Olympia and Athens to Tokyo 2020 and Beyond
The 2017 O4H Praxis started with a symposium at the Thessaloniki Olympic Museum called Sustainable Academic Innovation Legacy (S.A.I.L.) For Tomorrow Forum and aimed to create the foundations for establishing a sustainable academic legacy guided by the 2020 Tokyo Games. The program was conducted by Olympism for Humanity global Allies, in collaboration with the Tsukuba International Academy for Sport Studies (TIAS), the academic arm of Sport for Tomorrow, a Tokyo 2020 Games Project.
The central theme of this forum was aiming at creating foundations that can serve as a bridge between Ancient Olympia and Japan’s Virtues and to infuse this Heritage in the modern world. The purpose was to preserve the Olympian heritage and civilization by making the Olympic idea an accessible, relevant and useful educational tool to help resolve current social challenges.
The Forum hosted 30 invited participants from across the globe who formed the O4HA core team and strategy for the upcoming Games in Tokyo. The focus of this forum was to understand how to create a sustainable humanitarian, inclusive and engaged global environment of support via academic institutions, NGOs, educational agencies and practitioners. By working together, the aim was to create products and services that strengthen people’s aspirational opportunities, community resilience and social welfare.
Forum Theme and Topics
- Olympian civilization literacy and heritage: Concepts and virtues lost in time.
- Olympic and Paralympic education and Olympism in society.
- Futuristic coaching & athletes’ training: Engagement, values & dual careers.
- Integration of visions, virtues and heritage: Olympian heritage, UN 2030 agenda, IOC 2020 recommendations, Tokyo 2020, OVEP, TIAS and SFT.
- Blending arts, education, science and athleticism towards resilience, innovation, peace-building and global citizenship.
Forum Contributions and Vision
- Strategy White Paper and book series initiatives during the 2020 Olympiad
- Framework inspired by Hellenic-Japanese virtues and heritage
- Three keynote addresses, three panels, parallel sessions with four roundtable discussions, workshops and poster presentation sessions
- Formation of a O4HA Global Team and Strategic Planning
- Establish campaign and support of O4HAthlon social innovation champions of change
- Integrated Olympism in Action education framework and guidelines
- Formal and non-formal education curricula for primary, secondary and tertiary educational systems
Central theme and goals related to the 2020 Games
- The role of universities in infusing the Olympian idea and heritage in society by innovating humanitarian community programs, student engagement ventures and courses that address current global challenges.
- The vision of 2020 Games stakeholders, such as Sport for Tomorrow and Tsukuba International Academy of Sport Studies.
- The content and guidelines of Olympic and Paralympic Education (OPE) programs, the Olympic Values Education Programme (V2.0) and IOC president’s 20+20
- The 2030 UN Sustainable Development Agenda.
- The O4H Curriculum and the elements of effective programming that are grounded on robust Olympism for Humanity and Sport for Development Theory, driven by evidence from the field.
Disciplines and Areas of Expertise
An interdisciplinary group of world-leading experts have come together from across the globe to inaugurate and sustain this venture. The team comprises world-leading experts from the following agencies:
Yale University | Olympic Museum of Thessaloniki |
CARDET | Democritus University of Thrace |
TIAS at the Un. Of Tsukuba | Olympic and Paralympic Committees |
Football for Peace | University of Brighton |
University of Cyprus | Panjab University |
They comprise extensive academic and practical field experience in the following areas:
Olympic and Paralympic education | Social and organizational change |
Educational Policy | Community rehabilitation |
Public and community health | Anti-doping |
Peace-building | History and Historiography |
Psychology | Anthropology |
E-learning | Event management |
Arts and sciences | Global education |
Human Rights education | Analytical Sciences |
Cause-related marketing | Intervention design and evaluation |
Global sport policy | Sport & peace-building |
Special education and disability | Instructional design and delivery |
Social innovation & Design thinking | Project management |
Social entrepreneurship | Paralympic Values |
Restoration Games and 2020 steps of Olympism for Hope and Humanity
As a next step of this forum, guided by the richness of the Olympian and Japanese heritage, we have established a number of ventures and a global outreach action plan as a platform for global engagement through our Humanity G.O.A.L.S. and Vision- our 2020 venture with a 2040 Vision.

























A short video of the 2017 O4H Praxis program can be found here.
Applications and engagement opportunities will be announced in April 2023. Stay Tuned!
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