About Dr Niki Koutrou
Niki Koutrou, PhD, SFHEA is an Associate Professor of Sustainable Sport Management and Research and Innovation Lead at the University of Sunderland in London. She researches sustainable sport and physical activity programmes, civil society sustainability, sports volunteering, and the social legacies of mega-events such as the Olympics. Funded by the International Olympic Committee’s Olympic Studies Centre, she examined the volunteering legacies of Athens 2004 Games. She has and currently leads several Erasmus+ projects with ENGSO that focus on sport volunteering and environmental sustainability impacts and development of sport volunteer management practices across Europe, and serves as Community of Practice Lead for Sport and Society in the SHARE 2.0 initiative of the European Union.
Research
My research focuses on events management and Olympic studies, alongside mega-sport event volunteering, participation legacies, volunteer management, sports programme evaluation, and sustainability, as well as supervising PhD projects in these areas.
My expertise lies in examining sustainable sports and physical activity programmes, civil society sustainability and volunteering, and sport participation legacies of the Olympics and other mega-sport events.
As Principal Investigator of a project funded by the Olympic Studies Centre of the International Olympic Committee, I explored the Volunteer Legacy and civil society evolution and sustainability stemming from the Athens 2004 Games.
I have evaluated volunteering experiences, outcomes, and legacies of events including the London 2012 Games, the 2017 European Youth Olympic Winter Festival in Turkey, the 2020 and 2022 Games in Tokyo and Beijing, and the 2011 Women’s Rugby World Cup, along with ongoing sport volunteering initiatives for Kent’s Football Association and Sport England’s Stepping Out with Carers project.
My work evaluating the London 2012 volunteer programme has been featured in The Conversation, The Geographical, and the Royal Geographical Society journal. I also provided advice for a French TV article on the Paris 2024 Games volunteer programme. I have served as Workshop Coordinator and Facilitator at the European Sports Platforms (2019 and 2021), the 2017 European Youth Sport Forum, and the International Olympic Academy, among others.
Over the years, I have engaged in research and knowledge exchange activities aimed at bridging the gap between academia and wider society.
I act as a consultant for ENGSO (European Sport NGSO) on sports, volunteering, and sustainability projects funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme of the European Union, including PlayGreen, Be Active for Greener Sports, and CHANGE. In these projects, I support European sporting communities in creating, evaluating, and sustaining initiatives that cultivate pro-environmental attitudes, inclusive practices, and sustainable thinking among volunteers and participants in sport.
Areas of expertise
I was the Principal Investigator of a recently concluded project funded by the Olympic Studies Centre of the International Olympic Committee.
Along with my collaborator, Dr Geoffrey Kohe (University of Kent), I produced a report titled Reawakening Sport and Community Engagement in a Previous Olympic Host City: Capitalising on the Athens 2004 Olympic Volunteer Legacy 17 Years On (Lausanne: IOC, 2011).
I supervise PhD students in the following areas:
- Sustainability in sport
- Volunteering and civil society
- Olympic legacy
- Environmental sustainability in sport
- Human Resource Management at sporting events
Further information
I have recently joined the Editorial Advisory Board of the Event Management Journal.
I also have practical, first-hand experience in sports event management, having been employed by the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Games as a Fleet Scheduler and Volunteer Coordinator.
I had the honour of being a Torchbearer for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Torch Relay and have also volunteered for the Athens 2004 Games and Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Games, blending academic, research, and professional practice effectively.