Eliciting the Dynamics of Leading a Sustainable Event: Key Informant Responses

Abstract

Within the event management literature relating to network development and festival sustainability there is a paucity of research that analyzes the perception of festival sustainability by festival leaders. After an initial review of the context of sustainability, network theory, and an identification of the changing set of competencies for effective leadership, an exploratory and explanatory investigation is made to elicit and identify the critical factors that key informant festival leaders associate with sustainable festivals. The main purpose of this study is to attain a greater depth of understanding of festival leaders' attitudes towards the dynamics of creating and directing sustainable festivals. Indepth interviews with five elite festival leaders helped to generate the elements of a repertory grid from which a "triading" method was used to elicit constructs. Of the constructs identified, the most significant relate to four areas: the event subject focus; the leadership; the funding; and the organizational culture. The research also revealed that festival leaders conceive sustainability not as an environmental concern, but as a matter of festival survival. Suggestions are then drawn as to the future role of the repertory grid method in identifying and managing stakeholder visions, and future lines of research investigation and application.

Signals and Signposts of the Future: Literary Festival Consumption in 2050

“…For event planners and directors -who will continue to have a myriad of social, economic and political stakeholder responsibility (Ensor et al 2011;Moital et al 2013), the capacity to involve representatives in scenario thinking will be increasingly important and may aid sustainable development (Cavagnaro et al 2012). The involvement of specialist researchers and facilitators will equally be vital.…”

Sustainability Everywhere: Problematising the “Sustainable Festival” Phenomenon

“…Kruger and Saayman (2012) hold that a "sustainable" festival is a festival that can remain competitive and successful over the long term. Employing a repertory grid method, Ensor et al (2011) conducted in-depth interviews with elite festival directors in order to capture their perceptions of festival sustainability. In their exploratory and explanatory study they found that the majority of festival leaders interpreted sustainability as a matter of a festival's ability to survive, rather than any environmental concern.…”

“…In the field of event practice, an increasing number of music festival organisers, worldwide, are currently claiming that they can recognise and, essentially, address the potential negative externalities of their events by embedding the notion of "sustainability" into the management of such festivals. By calling attention to their "sustainability" credentials, they either label their festivals as "sustainable" or emphatically promote the events' contribution to "sustainability" (Ensor, Robertson, & Ali-Knight, 2011;Quinn, 2006;Raj & Vingali, 2010). Sustainability, however, is a discursive notion, which lacks a single, universal definition.…”

Is This for Real? Authentic Learning for the Challenging Events Environment

“…In their exploratory research comprising depth interviews with festival directors from the UK and Australia, Ensor, Robertson and Ali-Knight (2011) found that leaders gave environmental and social sustainability a much lower value than their other managerial goals. Similarly, Mair (2011) reflects on the failure of managers of business events to address environmental issues (most particularly their contribution to global warming).…”

“…It is important that creativity and innovation are seen as separate but related elements. So while creativity relates more particularly to the generation of ideas (Berridge, 2010), innovation is the process of their application (Ensor, Cottam, & Band, 2001;Ensor et al 2011). This to say that together they are about forming ideas, then designing applications and testing and applying them in the context in which they work.…”