The contribution of festivals and events towards the achievement of the United Nations sustainable development goals

Abstract

Background to the special section By addressing economic, social and environmental issues, festivals and events are delivering short- and long-term benefits for stakeholders as well as society. According to the United Nations (UN), implementing innovation is the key to facilitating sustainable development and to address complex global issues related to society, the economy and/or the environment (United Nations, 2021). The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted by all UN member states in 2015 as a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. The SDGs listed below, which are integrated, recognise that action in one area will affect outcomes in others, and that development must balance economic, social and environmental sustainability. The festivals and events industry will require creativity, knowhow, technology and financial resources from all of society in order to achieve these ambitious targets in their contexts. The 17 SDGs can be clustered into the following five areas of significance (Visser, 2015): (1) People: no poverty (SDG1); zero hunger (SDG2); good health and well-being (SDG3); quality education (SDG4); gender equality (SDG5); and clean water and sanitation (SDG6). (2) Prosperity: affordable clean energy (SDG7); decent work and economic development (SDG8); industry, innovation and infrastructure (SDG9); reduce inequalities (SDG10); sustainable cities and communities (SDG11); responsible consumption and production (SDG12). (3) Planet: climate action (SDG13); life below water (SDG14) and life on land (SDG15). (4) Peace: peace, justice and strong institutions (SDG16). (5) Partnership: partnerships for the goals (SDG17). Festivals and events have an opportunity to respond to the SDGs as a driver of societal change and business growth. As Jones (2018) claimed, “we are at a moment in time where events can be critical players in the global effort and act as a monumental pivot to a sustainable future that we so desperately need” (pp. xix). This should be of even greater significance in the post-coronavirus disease 2019 (post-COVID-19) period of recovery for the industry. Yet, despite the advances in awareness of sustainability and the SDGs, the event literature on these topics is still limited and narrow in focus. Mair and Smith (2021) noted a need for research on the potential of events as tools for promoting, provoking and delivering sustainable development. They called for further work to address how events might change attitudes and behaviours by promoting sustainable lifestyles, communities and technologies. A journal special issue on this topic highlighted the need to go beyond merely making events more sustainable, to consider how events might contribute to the wider sustainability agenda (Mair and Smith, 2021).