Sport, cultural events & festivals

Centre members have extensive expertise in sporting and cultural events and festivals. Our work ranges from policy across practice to the impact and evaluation of mega, major and local events on society.  We are interested in the social, cultural and economic impact and evaluation of events and festivals. CCSE members have conducted research evaluation and impact work on London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, Glasgow 2014 Cultural Festival Programme, Glasgow 2014 Commonweatlh Games, Toronto, Parapan Games, 2015, Rio Olympics 2016, 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships and many other national and local sporting and cultural events. CCSE continues to bid for tendered commissions and research grants in these areas, working with a range of international partners. Presently, we are working with colleagues in Canada, USA, Australia, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and Poland. One of our members acted as an expert advisor to the OECD draft recommendation on Global Events and Local Development and is a member of the European Cultural Parliament. 

Our most recent projects in this thematic area include: major UK-Canada research on Leveraging Parasport Events for Sustainable Community Participation (Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for Canada); EventRights, exploring the impact of major sporting events on human rights (European Commission); FESTSPACE, exploring the role of festivals and events in the production of inclusive public space in Europe (Humanities in the European Area); and FestivalsConnect, exploring the relationship between festivals and events in promoting positive EDI outcomes.