‘15 Global Challenges’ have been defined and tracked since 1997 by The Millennium Project of the American Council for the United Nations University, in its State of the Future series of annual reports (see: www.acunu.org). The challenges were defined through a Delphi panel approach and are updated annually.
Are there 10 or 15 global challenges for the events sector? Here are my starting-point suggestions, each of which can be the subject of future and policy studies:
1. Terrorism threatens events more than most forms of business, leisure and tourism.
2. All events must become green and environmentally sustainable.
3. Events have to equally benefit residents as well as tourists.
4. Professionalism in event management must be globally implemented.
5. Event planning should be fully integrated with other forms of environmental, community, economic, tourism and leisure planning.
6. Governments at all levels should adopt comprehensive policies and support pro- grammes for the event sector.
7. Events must be valued and evaluated equally in social, cultural, environmental and economic terms in order to be sustainable.
8. Event design, production and management education has to be embedded in Event Studies.
9. The event sector will continue to grow and diversify to the point where the sup- ply of events in many areas threatens to exceed resources or demand.
10. New event types will continue to emerge, giving rise to unexpected challenges and opportunities for policy-makers, planners and managers.
In the spirit of Delphi, a group of expert panel participants could be asked to suggest new challenges (and opportunities could be added), the probabilities of certain consequences occurring within a specified time period and the importance or severity of each con- sequence. Through several rounds, a consensus or majority view would hopefully emerge. Minority or dissenting voices have to be respected and communicated.
Chapter Summary
The patterns and processes that provide a dynamic element to Event Studies include the spatial (geographic) and temporal (history and future studies), as well as knowledge
creation and policy. These forces continuously interact, resulting in some obvious pat- terns and trends, and requiring serious study to detect hidden or emergent ones.
History is more than dates and chronologies, it is systematic exploration and analysis of the origins and evolution of events, their life cycles and possible future states. Without historical knowledge there can be no future studies, and no strategic planning. We should be particularly interested in the fact that many aspects of contemporary event design and programming were established hundreds and even thousands of years ago, yet we know little about who produced them.
Creative event ideas spread over time and space (innovation-diffusion was introduced earlier), as do policies and strategies such as those related to event tourism. Events them- selves evolve, demonstrating a life cycle, with some failing and others becoming institu- tions. There are also globalization forces at work which result in a sense of ‘placelessness’
as some events can appear anywhere without authentic attachment to community or culture.
Taking a geographical approach, there is first the obvious seasonality of events and their distribution in both time and space. This leads to supply and demand interactions which affect opportunities to attend or participate in events, as well as encouraging event tourism. Place identity refers to the association of events with places, and the meaning that communities attach to events. These are largely social constructs that take time to evolve. Place marketing, using hallmark and iconic events, or the ‘festivalization’ of regions, derives from this temporal and spatial intersection. A final concern, one little studied, is the cumulative impacts of individual events, event types, or event-related strategies and policies. Researchers have seldom examined long-term changes attributed to events.
The ‘future’ is also a personal and social construct, with policy-makers trying to shape it, strategic planners hoping to anticipate it, and a lot of people worrying about it.
Through careful analysis of forces and trends we can hope to gain a better picture of possible future states, and we can use tools like scenario making and Delphi panels to assist us. More thought has to be given to the future of events, event management and Event Studies. We get so wrapped up in today’s fast-paced world that it is easy to lose site of the fact that we are collectively causing profound changes on society and the environment.
Study Questions
● Why have planned events become more important globally?
● Discuss Boorstin’s notions of ‘pseudo-events’ and authenticity.
● What themes and issues are explored in ‘event geography’?
● Define the ‘attractiveness’ of events in geographic terms. How can it be measured?
● Is the future just an extrapolation of current trends? Discuss.
● What research methods are used in Future Studies?
Further Reading
Boorstin, D. (1961). The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-events in America. New York: Harper and Row.
Janiskee, R. (1996). The temporal distribution of America’s community festivals. Festival Management and Event Tourism, 3(3): 129–137.
Shaw, G., and Williams, A. (2004). Tourism and Tourism Spaces. London: Sage.
Glenn, J., and Gordon, T. (eds.). Futures Research Methodology, Version 2.0. AC/UNU Millennium Project Publications (CD format, no date).