Events and sustainability: why making events more sustainable is not enough

The special issue dedicated to events and sustainability is introduced here. We provide synopses of the papers, preceded by an introductory essay that examines how event studies has approached the relationship between events and sustainable development. Existing work too often assumes that sustainability means reducing negative environmental impacts with other aspects of the sustainability paradigm neglected. And whilst social issues have risen to prominence in events research generally, this work is usually considered outwith sustainability debates, and without considering environmental and economic interrelationships. We argue that event scholars should examine how events might contribute to sustainable development, rather than merely exploring how individual events could be made more sustainable. Accordingly, there needs to be further work addressing how events might change attitudes and behaviours by promoting sustainable lifestyles, communities and technologies. Following this discussion, we justify the focus on social sustainability in the special issue, clarify what this actually means, and question whether this is always the most appropriate way of framing research on the social impacts of events. Given the timing of the special issue, there is also a short review of how the coronavirus crisis affected the events sector, and what the implications might be for sustainability.