Sustainable Design in Event Design: Opportunities and Limitations

Abstract

Abstract-Events offer valuable economic, social, cultural and educational benefits, and potential growth in tourism for many international destinations. As society gains a greater understanding about these impacts, events are being challenged to become more accountable for their managerial decisions and to produce outcomes which are more sustainable on multiple criteria and have positive environmental impacts. The purpose of this study was to discuss sustainable design in event design. Literature review will be conducted in this study as the research methodology. The aims of this study are (1) to discuss the opportunities of sustainable design in event design; (2) to discuss the limitations of sustainable design in event design. Lastly, findings from this study will provide insights on the opportunities of sustainable design in event design to develop better sustainable events in the future and limitations that have to overcome before a sustainable event been organize. IndexTerms-Sustainable design, Event Design, Opportunities, Limitations. I. INTRODUCTIONThe event industry has experienced extraordinary growth over the past decade in terms of the number, diversity and popularity of events on offer. Events offer valuable economic, social, cultural and educational benefits, and potential growth in tourism for many international destinations. Until very recently however, little attention has been paid to the impacts that events have on the natural and built environment. Events often involve the creation of new infrastructure; they can occur in environmentally-sensitive locations, require transport of attendees, goods and services and other scarce resources in large quantities. As society gains a greater understanding about these impacts, events are being challenged to become more accountable for their managerial decisions and to produce outcomes which are more sustainable on multiple criteria and have positive environmental impacts.So what does it mean to design according to "sustainable" principals? Sustainability since the early 1990s has emerged as a societal "mega-trend" supported by all major sectors of the economy after World Commission for Environment and Development (WCED) prepare a document entitled Our Common Future introduced its definition says in a few words the following: sustainable development that meets of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs [1]. There are many viable sustainable design models that provide guidance in implementing this overarching goal. This paper firstly Manuscript received May 15, 2013; revised July 8, 2013. S'harin Binti Mokhtar and Yi-Shin Deng are with the National Cheng Kung University, Tainan City, 701 Taiwan (e-mail: sharin2901@gmail.com, yishin.deng@gmail.com).considers the current literature on events and sustainability, and secondly, discuss the limitations and opportunities of the Sustainable Design on its application in event design, which ultimately result in both strong academic outcomes and practical skills deve...

Evaluating the greening agenda of festivals: The case of Sinulog

“…However, on this note, festivals are often deemed threats to the natural environment as they draw a large number of attendees to a specific space and time while utilizing resources (Zifkos, 2015). The event industry is compelled to be more responsible in its managerial decisions and create positive environmental impacts (Mokhtar, Deng, 2014). In their work, Yamagishi, Gantalao and Ocampo (2022) found that most festival organizations, at least in their conditions, have a myopic green management agenda denying salient environmental threats linked to managing festivals.…”

“…The event industry is compelled to be more responsible for creating positive environmental impacts (Mokhtar, Deng, 2014) and in the event industry, stakeholders are increasingly interested in adopting green initiatives to enhance competitiveness (Mankaa et al, 2018;Whitfield, Dioko, 2012). Green events incorporate sustainable measures and practices in their management and operations (Laing, Frost, 2010;Martinho et al, 2018;UNEP, 2009).…”

“…Considered part of a pressing trend, several event organizations and managers aim to reduce their adverse environmental impacts but have limited knowledge of how to start (Ahmad et al, 2013;Laing, Frost, 2010). Organizations are willing to inculcate these sustainability practices into their events, however, some are reluctant because participants are unwilling to spend more to cover the cost of these green measures, and sponsors are less supportive due to the lack of information and knowledge about sustainability (Mokhtar, Deng, 2014). Among several sustainability issues relevant to events, waste is considered a priority for large events with many attendees (e.g.…”

“…Na całym świecie odnotowano wzrost liczby wydarzeń, w których organizacji skutecznie rozwiązano problemy związane z zagrożeniem dla środowiska (Ahmad i in., 2013), czego przykładem może być Byron Bay International East Coast Blues and Roots Festival (Bluesfest) w Australii (Laing, Frost, 2010) lub festiwal Burning Man w USA (Kozinets, 2002;Sherry, Kozinets, 2007). Przemysł eventowy stoi obecnie przed wyzwaniem wzięcia na siebie większej odpowiedzialności za ograniczenie negatywnego wpływu, jaki wywiera na środowisko naturalne (Mokhtar, Deng, 2014). Jednakże organizacja imprez kulturalnych pozostawia wiele do życzenia, jeśli oceniać ich wkład w gospodarczy, społeczny i ekologiczny rozwój destynacji (Getz, 2017).…”

“…Globally, the growth of events has been reported to effectively address environmental concerns (Ahmad et al, 2013); such as the Byron Bay International East Coast Blues and Roots Festival (Bluesfest) in Australia (Laing, Frost, 2010) and the Burning Man Festival in the USA (Kozinets, 2002;Sherry, Kozinets, 2007). The event industry is now challenged to be more accountable in curbing its negative impacts on the environment (Mokhtar, Deng, 2014), however, organizing events has left much to be desired when evaluating its contribution to a destinations' economic, social, and environmental development (Getz, 2017).…”