OMERO promotes debates and researches in the sphere of urban studies, and on the cultural, economic, social and geographical dimensions of mega- events. The research center has been originally created with the aim of investigating various aspects of the XX Turin 2006 Olympic Winter Games, and it developed relations with the International Olympic Committee of Lausanne and with various Olympic research centers.
Over the years, OMERO has expanded its research fields beyond mega-events, in order to embrace wider urban phenomena related to tourism, diversity, culture, urban regeneration, smart cities and sustainability.
The story of the research center
As in other cities that hosted the Olympics, a permanent research center on Olympic events was set up in Turin in view of the XX Winter Games on the initiative of Luigi Bobbio, Piervincenzo Bondonio, Egidio Dansero, Chito Guala, Alfredo Mela, Sergio Scamuzzi and Anna Segre.
The research center begun with the organization of the international conference “How a city can win or lose the Olympics” in 2001, which led to the publication of an edited volume the following year. Thanks to the financial and organizational support of Torino Incontra (the congress center of the local chamber of commerce), the group carried out investigations on the attitudes of the population regarding the Games, on Olympic heritages, and on development strategies, eventually organising a second conference in 2003 and a second edited book.
OMERO has been officially recognised as an interdepartmental research center of the University of Turin in 2012.
OMERO cooperated and still works with a number of networks and research centers. Locally, the list includes the Municipality and Metropolitan Area of Turin, Piedmont Region, Giorgio Rota Committee, Torino Olympic Park, IRES Piemonte, Unione Industriale, ENI Foundation, Salone del Libro, Turin Cultural Foundation. At the international level, it is possible to mention IOC of Lausanne, Athens Institute for Education and Research, LA84 Foundation Los Angeles, International Center for Olympic Studies of the California State University, Drextel University Philadelphia, International Tourism Studies Association, International Society of City and Regional Planners, European Association for Sport Management.
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All images are subject to copyright. Credits (from the top): Shufat, Jerusalem © Davide Locatelli, 2016; Rotterdam © Alberto Vanolo, 2019. OMERO’s logo: created by Roberto Rota | Aterote