Events at CCSE
On 3rd December 2025, CCSE colleagues Prof David McGillivray and Prof Gayle McPherson, spoke at a Summit which launched the Glasgow 2026 Story of Change. The event engaged a broad range of stakeholders with a call to action to join them to maximise the benefits of Glasgow 2026. It was a moment to mobilise stakeholders, workshop participants and the Glasgow 2026 Legacy Network and to support Games Partners, business leaders and communities to work together and kick start the Commonwealth Sport Foundation’s fundraising campaign.
The OC launched its Story of Change which set the OC’s focus for the impacts they are seeking to achieve and the positive difference they intend to deliver through Glasgow 2026. CCSE worked in partnership with the OC to lead a co-creation process to develop the Story of Change.
We’re inviting attendees to join us as part of the Legacy Network and will be developing a programme of activities for the network to take place throughout 2026. More information on the Story of Change, including the document itself can be accessed here.
Hosted on our Paisley Campus from 10-12th July 2024, the LSA conference brought together approximately 160 scholars and stakeholders from 30 different countries.
The conference took place at UWS for the first time in a decade under the theme: (Re)claiming Leisure: Rights, Responsibilities, and Resistance. The event sought to bring together inter- and multidisciplinary perspectives on leisure, events, tourism and sport and, to explore their relationship to global challenges. Specifically, it aimed to initiate discussion on the importance of Rights, Responsibilities, and Resistance as they play out in the transformation of society. The Scientific Committee invited researchers, educators and practitioners, and others, to submit abstracts for papers, posters, workshops, panels and productions such as performances, short-films, and other artistic expressions inspired by (but not exclusive to) the following sub-themes:
- Sub-Theme 1 – Leisure and (Human) Rights
- Sub-Theme 2 – Leisure and Resistance
- Sub-Theme 3 – Responsible Leisure
- Sub-Theme 4 – Re-imagining Leisure
- Sub-Theme 5 – Inclusive Leisure
- Sub-Theme 6 – Responsive Leisure
- Sub-Theme 7 – Open
This symposium was an opportunity to reflect upon, and discuss, the value of cultural regeneration though the lens of Renfrewshire’s Future Paisley investment. Future Paisley has sought to draw upon Paisley and Renfrewshire’s unique and internationally significant story to develop an exceptional programme of cultural events and activity and, use targeted investment to deliver positive change.
Discussion focused on the opportunities and potential difficulties of using culture and creativity as economic and social catalysts. Panel discussion considered how cultural regeneration programmes such as Future Paisley can go beyond earlier critiques of culture-led approaches to deliver more positive impacts for the places that invest in them and, for the people who live and work there. The symposium sought to provide a platform to explore the value of place partnerships between local government, the third sector and research institutions in informing policy and evaluating success.
The Power of Sport & Physical Activity Conference was held at Easterhouse Sports Centre in June 2024.
A decade has elapsed since the Commonwealth Games was held in Glasgow. This conference looked at the lasting impact the event had on the city, seeking and developing a collective understanding of its impact and legacy.
This event was organised in partnership with Spirit of 2012, Inspiring Scotland, Actify, Basketball Scotland, Evaluation Support Scotland, Scottish Sports Futures, and University of the West of Scotland.
Speakers included Maree Todd MSP, Minister for Social Care, Wellbeing & Sport and Forbes Dunlop, Director of sportscotland.
Part of the ongoing FestivalsConnect project, funded by Spirit of 2012 one (of seven projects supported within their Moments to Connect framework), we hosted a workshop aimed at festival and event organisers/policy makers to explore the role of festivals and events, sporting and cultural, in producing positive equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) outcomes.
The 2023 symposium took place on 8th June 2023. The event focused around Understanding & Measuring Value in Culture, (Sport) Events & Tourism. To find out more about the programme, click here.
The launch event for our Spirit of 2012 supported #FestivalsConnect project took place in April 2023. This work explores the ways in which festivals and events foster connected & cohesive communities. Find out more about the event here: tinyurl.com/2p84davy
CCSE Deputy Director – Professor Sandro Carnicelli – gave his inaugural lecture on 4th March 2023. The topic of his lecture was “Caring Capacity: Tourism & Education in the Age of Destruction”.
This symposium, part of the EventRights research project took place on 20th June 2022 We had a fantastic speaker line up discussing a range of fascinating topic areas related to sport events and human rights.
Our 2022 annual symposium took place on Wednesday 22nd June 2022.
Over the course of the lpandemic and beyond, we have seen a renewed focus on localism and the importance of our local places as a feature of the disruptive effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Mobility has been restricted, events attendance moved online, and people found a greater appreciation for their local blue, grey and green spaces.
The 2021 edition of the Open Mind Summit will take place on Friday 8th October, 2021. This year’s theme Mental Health for All embraces three subthemes: Nature for All, Connections for All and Justice for All. The programme this year will reflect these themes, with 3 keynote speakers, a morning panel discussion and a range of workshops. There will also be an opportunity to get involved in shaping the future of Open Mind Summit and take part in our first ever community of practice session as we develop into a network. Find out more and book tickets here.
CCSE is delighted to present a Virtual Conference on May 27th 2020, with contributions from academics, policy makers and practitioners from the UK, Europe and North America to talk about how we navigate a future for the festivals and events sector.
We will post details about how to join in shortly, but in the meantime please save the date May 27th 2020, 13:15- 16:15.
FESTSPACE event- 14 June 2019
FESTSPACE is a HERA-funded project which focuses on how festivals and events enable or restrict access to, and use of, public spaces, including the extent to which they might effectively host interactions and exchanges between people from different cultural, ethnic, socio-economic and socio-demographic backgrounds. It explores how festivals and events affect the inclusivity of Europe’s urban public spaces. With a focus on Western European cities (Glasgow, London, Dublin, Barcelona & Gothenburg) that are dealing with significant demographic changes arising from in-migration, the project seeks to contribute to closing research gaps, advancing theoretical and methodological approaches and, to create impact through close collaboration with influential academic and non-academic partners and stakeholders from across Europe. Over the next two years, the project will address three inter-related questions:
*What different types of festive public space exists across Europe and what lessons can we learn about inclusivity from these models?
*How do festivals and events affect who uses outdoor and indoor urban public spaces and how they interact within them?
*What are the enduring effects on inclusivity of festivals and events staged in public spaces?
To launch FESTSPACE, we are hosting a day-long symposium comprising talks and facilitated discussions aimed at exploring some of the contemporary issues outlined above. Stakeholders from across the events, planning and participation spectrum are invited to participate in what we hope will be a day of insightful dialogue and debate.