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number of training areas next to the Olympic Village, which is very important
for the athletes and for the transportation system and for the security issues, as
well. Because every time an athlete is being transferred, you have to be punctual,
you have to think about transportation, you have to think about police protection,
you have to think about medical protection, you have to think about a lot of
things.
Now, the social dimension from Sydney was to examine the social impact
because of the Games, to promote dimensions, which improve the functioning
of the city for people with disabilities, and to promote volunteers, provide
some added value to the human dimension. So, those were the lessons from
Sydney.
So, we came back, we developed a special Committee in the Ministry of
Culture, together with other Ministries, for the examination of the social impact
of the Games, that is, for poor people, for homeless people, for people who
are immigrants in our city and they have to be dealt with in a different manner,
for people who are being living in parts of the city without having special right
to be living there and we have to remove them, so as to construct a venue. And
we are doing that in close collaboration with the local municipalities, so as to
avoid a social uprising on the one hand, and also to give some solutions for these
people, as well. The Olympic Village will be given to workers after the Games -
it is not going to be sold to a private company — but the workers — social people,
will use it.
Major areas of Athens will be transferred one way or another — this is a very
difficult exercise, I have to admit — for people with disabilities. Athens is a little
bit hostile for people with disabilities.
We tried to introduce the volunteer movement into the public. Again, as
President Filaretos said, we have to do a lot of work in that, because the spirit of
the people in Greece is not very close to providing work for nothing. So, we have
to develop a momentum, we have to develop a new mentality. We are trying to
do that through the schools. We have introduced in the schools, in every single
school of the country; a special course that is called Olympic Education. In every
single school, 5,000 schools all over the country. And that cost a lot of money,
but it was a very solid intervention. A number of materials have been produced.
So, in every school, two or three hours a week, they have a special session about
the Olympic Education and the Olympic Games. And also to develop a number of
employment opportunities, especially for young people with technical capacities
and expertise.
City versus country: The lessons: Sydney practically collected everything in
the city - pretty much — but you have to integrate the other parts of the country
to the Olympic Games. It is not the Games of Sydney or it is not the Games of
Athens, it is the Olympic Games of Greece. They are taking place in Athens,
but they have to be, in a sense, for the whole country and for all citizens. So,
what we did is that we have a venue for football in four more Greek cities,
we have been developing a network of training camps in the other parts of the
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