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Managing risks for the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships

Åre 2019 partnered with 4C Strategies to enhance its organisational resilience in case of unexpected events before and during the World Championships.

Background: The FIS Alpine World Ski Championships bring together the world’s top skiers every two years, dating back to 1925. With around 75 countries participating and over 800 million global viewers, the Championships are the second largest winter sports event, following the Olympic Winter Games. 4C Strategies was an official supplier to the Åre 2019 Championships, providing risk, business continuity and crisis management services.

Challenge: Building a resilient world championships with the capability to effectively respond to unexpected and limit potential disruptions.

Solution: A robust training and resilience program for risk, business continuity and crisis management, powered by Exonaut®.

Benefits: By developing Crisis Management, Enterprise Risk Management and Business Continuity Management frameworks through a series of workshops, exercises and training events, participants felt a sense of ownership and progression within the Åre 2019 resilience program. This helped provide a more resilient foundation to limit potential disruptions and incidents during the event.

Customer: Organising Committee of the Åre 2019 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships.  

An integrated approach to risk and resilience

Since early 2017, 4C Strategies worked together with the Åre 2019 organisers to build a resilient foundation for a successful Alpine World Ski Championships. As official suppliers, 4C devised risk, business continuity and crisis management strategies and procedures in all key areas that had to function without interruption, even during unexpected incidents.

“Our partnership with 4C Strategies provided us with international risk management expertise combined with local know-how. With over 800 million people watching, there is no room for error.”

A series of risk workshops were held with different departments to inform the development of Åre 2019’s Enterprise Risk Management framework. The framework encompassed each phase of the risk lifecycle – identification, analysis, evaluation and treatment – and was integrated within a wider resilience program of business continuity and crisis preparedness. Taking a proactive approach to risk and contingency planning was a key factor in ensuring a successful event.

Exonaut Risk Manager

These services were complemented with Exonaut Risk Manager, 4C’s software solution to deliver a structured, systematic and integrated approach to event-related risks. By digitalising the risk management lifecycle, the Åre 2019 leadership team received an overview of their risk status before, during and after the Championships. Exonaut Risk Manager forms part of the Exonaut readiness management platform, with fully integrated solutions for incident managementbusiness continuity, compliance management and training and exercises.

Ensuring the continuity of critical processes

Continuity of products and services in the event of disruptions cannot be taken for granted. It requires a clear understanding of critical processes, a strong operational resilience framework, and well-exercised Business Continuity plans to minimise the impact during incidents.

Prime examples included the operation of the Åre power supply and ski lifts under all circumstances and in all weather conditions. During the preparation and construction periods, Åre 2019 conducted regular tests of crisis and contingency plans while various scenarios were discussed and verified to ensure that critical processes across the organisation would not be disrupted. The resilience frameworks were then stress tested during the 2018 Audi FIS Ski World Cup Finals and the 2018 FIS Junior World Championships in preparation for Åre 2019.

“What made Åre 2019 unique was the massive media exposure. The world was watching, and nothing could be allowed to go wrong. We focus on working with clients with high expectations, and Åre 2019 fit the bill.”

Delivering resilient events on a global scale

4C Strategies has extensive experience in preparing for high-profile events such as Åre 2019, and has completed similar projects with the London Olympics, Swedish royal weddings, the Eurovision Song Contest, and diplomatic visits by heads of state.

“Thanks to the extensive preparation together with 4C Strategies well before the Championships, we could rise to the occasion and further elevate our performance,” stated Niklas Carlsson.

Åre 2019 in numbers

  • 11 medal competitions
  • 600 riders from 74 different nations
  • 100,000+ visitors
  • 800 million+ TV viewers worldwide
  • 1300 international media representatives on-site
  • 1400 volunteers
  • 18,500 meters of safety net set around the raceways

Discover how you can build your risk, business continuity and crisis management capability with our expert services. Book a free consultation with one of our consultants to discuss your requirements.

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