With five years to go before the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, there are mounting expectations for the Cultural Olympiad.

Yet merely holding a one-off cultural event would be meaningless. We need to clearly identify what we hope to achieve through the Cultural Olympiad and what kind of legacy we want to leave behind. The London 2012 Cultural Olympiad was unprecedented in scale and content. What impact has it had on UK society?

At this symposium we welcome Deborah Bull, Director of Culture at King’s College in London, who will give a keynote speech on the social impact and legacy of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Following this, we will examine the social significance and role of the Cultural Olympiad from a wide variety of perspectives including its influence on cultural policy and the creative activities of artists, as well as ripple effects on regional revitalization, social inclusion, education, tourism, industry, and the economy, as we look at the direction in which the Tokyo 2020 Cultural Olympiad should aim and examine the challenges and prospects