Projects
1
Development of an Archival Infrastructure
Since its foundation in 1975, the CIPC has accumulated documents that include, amongst others, minutes of the meetings of the annual General Assembly and Board meetings, CIPC Statutes, correspondence with other institutions, information on CIPC membership and its development, description of projects and publications. At present all of this material is decentralized. Therefore, accessibility to these documents is problematic and time-consuming. Additionally, we cannot guarantee that this valuable material is stored according to the basic norms of archives, which have to be followed in order to avoid the gradual erosion of documents. It is the objective of the CIPC to establish centralized archives for its valuable materials and thus follow the usual standards outlined by archival norms. The Olympic Studies Centre (OSC) of the German Sport University Cologne has offered to provide specific archival storage room(s) for the CIPC documents. Staff members of the OSC with archival expertise would provide the correct handling of this academic documentation. Amongst others, a major benefit of this support would be easier accessibility to our documents. This is also a paramount precondition for the future publishing project of the CIPC.
Project period: 2018 – 2020
2
Book on the History of the CIPIC
We plan to write a book on the history of the CIPC. Such a book has not yet been elaborated. A publication of a book outlining the lineage and activities of the CIPC would significantly enhance the understanding of the contribution of the CIPC to the cultural and educational dimension of the Olympic Movement in both the academic and public spheres. As this is an ambitious project, we have to establish a feasible plan taking into consideration strict working deadlines. With the CIPC’s obvious strong links to France and the French Pierre de Coubertin Committee, we desire to publish the book one year before the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in 2024 in Paris.
A precondition for this ambitious project is the availability and accessibility of all the necessary documents. This could only be achieved by a successful setting up of centralized archives as described in point 1 above. The setting up of the archives would demand adequate and strict timing before we can start to work on the book project itself.
Initial meetings to decide the conceptual structure of the book would take place at the end of 2020, followed by research activity in the following year. The allotted time for the writing and the editorial process (2021-2023) would meet the publishing deadline in before the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
3
Directory of the CIPC
The directory will contain standardized information on our members (upon obtaining their permission), on the International Network of Coubertin Schools and National Pierre de Coubertin Committees. We shall have to decide if this publication will have a printed or an electronic format.
Project period: 2019 – 2020
4
Lecture Series on Pierre de Coubertin and the Meaning of his Olympic Idea Today
Students of sport and physical education are relevant target groups that have the ability to shape the future mission and correct understanding of sport within society. This is also important for establishing the correct public perception of the Olympic Movement. However, for this to be achieved students must form a multidisciplinary knowledge base, in order to be able to analyze and promote the values of the Olympic Movement. It is often the case that in lectures on the Olympic Movement, dissemination of knowledge is limited due to curricular specifications. Teaching units on Pierre de Coubertin and above all on the relevance of a modern understanding of his ideas are often omitted. Consequently, the CIPC could provide a solution by offering expert-guided lectures on Pierre de Coubertin and a modern understanding of his principles of Olympism. This would greatly improve the expansion of knowledge on the Olympic Movement. The lectures could be offered to universities as extracurricular activities in sport and physical education departments.
We propose viable methods of delivering the news of this initiative. It could be through the network of academic Olympic Studies Centers where university departments could apply for this service. The CIPC would be willing to send experts to universities and would cover travel to the country and the university. The CIPC has at it’s disposal an international group of experts on relevant subjects in nearly every continent. In order to support the CIPC lectures, a working group within the CIPC should develop content structures and units for the lectures.