Local Sport Event Policies and Sustainability: A Puzzle Approach

Abstract

As demands for more sustainable ways of living increase, organisers of sport events have come under increasing pressure to adapt. At the same time, more and more national and local event policies increase the demand for events. These two trends raise the question of how policy makers can combine the demand for events with a sustainable way of living; a question that so far has been subject to little research. The present paper analyses the conceptualisation of sustainability in all local policies relating to events in Norwegian municipalities. The paper is based on the analysis of policies covering 22 municipalities and includes both general development plans and more specific policies on events in its analysis. The analysis shows that all the municipalities have adopted a “broad” conceptualisation of sustainability, i.e., pursued a development, which should not limit the possibilities of future generations, in their general development plans. Although the general development plans serve as a basis for every other policy, the paper also shows that the municipalities in the specific policies for events often had “narrow” conceptualisation of sustainability, i.e., focusing on making local events reoccurring and/or increasing the capacity for hosting external events. The findings emphasise the relevance of looking at the local level when conducting future studies on events and sustainability and suggest that the practitioners acknowledge the complexity of reconciling demands for more events and increased sustainability.

Sustainable behaviours of physical activity and sport practitioners – scale validation

“…As well known, sport and physical activity is a very important tool for sustainable development (Campillo-S anchez et al, 2021;Hugaerts et al, 2022). Not only from the point of view of sports management and organization through the implementation of sustainable practices (Jensen, 2021), or through physical and sports activity itself, improving the health of the practitioners, but also by using sport and physical activity as a platform to influence participants/spectators to engage in more sustainable behaviours (McCullough et al, 2020). Along the same lines as the different official bodies highlight the importance of the role of sport in sustainable development:…”

“…, 2022). Not only from the point of view of sports management and organization through the implementation of sustainable practices (Jensen, 2021), or through physical and sports activity itself, improving the health of the practitioners, but also by using sport and physical activity as a platform to influence participants/spectators to engage in more sustainable behaviours (McCullough et al. , 2020).…”

Analysis of the contribution of sport events to sustainable development: Impacts, support and resident's perception

“…Currently, there is social and institutional interest in promoting sustainable development, both in sporting events and in other high-impact social concentrations [ 35 ]. There are various contributions from both sport-related (International Olympic Committee, International Federation of Association Football) and non-sport-related (United Nations) international bodies that have developed theoretical frameworks to promote sustainable development in sport.…”

“…The SDGs aim to become common reference points for all nations and potentially also for event policies. Indeed, as Jensen [ 35 ] points out, goals such as 11 (“Sustainable Cities”) and 12 (“Responsible Consumption and Production”) have already been used as a framework for analyzing the local impact of major sport events [ 36 , 37 ]. In this regard, Ziakas [ 38 ] highlights the need to adopt a ‘holistic’ approach to sustainability that ensures a balance of economic, social and environmental prosperity when analyzing or developing sport events.…”

“…In contrast to research that show the reverse, particularly with relation to mega sport events, there are currently fewer studies indicating that sporting events contribute to the sustainability of societies [ 35 ]. In the context of small and medium-sized events, the contributions of Taks [ 3 , 39 ] have discussed the sustainable development of small and medium-sized events versus mega-events.…”