Ivar K. Lunde (Norway), Convenor of the working group that developed the standard, explains that what makes it so valuable and unique is that it will be a product of the lessons and learnings of many cities and event organizers worldwide.
“Attracting international events is seen by many cities as a way of promoting themselves on the global stage, but doing it successfully is a huge affair,” he says.
“In most cities, they start the planning from scratch, without the benefit of the shared expertise and best practice of others. This standard will bring together such learning for everyone to benefit from.”
Lunde says that the standard addresses all the key elements of preparing for, executing, and evaluating a major event in a sustainable and secure manner. The use of ISO 22379 will therefore not only improve the success of large-scale events but enable cities to host them in a way that also contributes to many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
It will furthermore help cities decide whether to host an event or not, as it enables them to identify the real risks and costs that will be involved early in the process, prior to the final decision. ISO 22379, Security and resilience – Guidelines for hosting and organizing large citywide events, provides guidelines and expertise on how to manage risks, public safety, and service continuity during a wide-scale event.
It is the first international standard of its kind, bringing together the knowledge and know-how of experts involved in hosting or planning major events such as the UCI Road World Championship in Bergen 2017, the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the Winter Olympics in Beijing 2022, the Winther Olympics in Milano Cortina 2026, the Berlin Marathon, and many more. ISO 22379 is a necessary complement to ISO 20121, Event sustainability management systems – Requirements with guidance for use, which provides a framework for making an event sustainable at the social, economic and environmental levels. ISO 22379 was developed by ISO technical committee ISO/TC 292, Security and resilience, the secretariat of which is held by SIS, ISO’s member in Sweden.