To read this content please select one of the options below:

Reconnecting with place through events: Collaborating with precinct managers in the placemaking agenda

Alexandra Coghlan (Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia)
Bev Sparks (Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia)
Wei Liu (Department of Tourism, Sport and Hotel Management, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Australia)
Mike Winlaw (Surfers Paradise Alliance Limited, Gold Coast, Australia)

International Journal of Event and Festival Management

ISSN: 1758-2954

Article publication date: 6 March 2017

1093

Abstract

Purpose

Whilst academic research can capture an existing sense of place, the act of placemaking through strategies such as events depends upon the attitudes and actions of precinct managers and event organisations. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the collaborative research process between researchers and a precinct manager that highlighted an event’s ability to contribute to placemaking within that precinct.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the results of this event experience study, informal interviews with the SPA research partners, secondary data and a longitudinal, reflective account of the research collaboration, the research process itself was investigated to see how it assisted in the (re)design of the event within the precinct manager’s placemaking strategy to encourage a family-friendly, beach-centred culture within the precinct.

Findings

It is proposed that the research results combined with a collaborative research process itself facilitated a shift from the business imperative on the event’s economic performance indicators to a broader discussion of the event’s role in shaping local’s (and visitor’s) perceptions of place, and allowed a broader discussion of the role of events in driving a “liveability” and/or placemaking agenda, complementing the economic impact agenda, for the precinct manager.

Practical implications

The paper suggests how and why it is important for academics to work collaboratively with precinct managers to translate the concept of placemaking into the actual design of events within a place. To do so requires the researchers to bridge the gap between theory and practice. For the concept to be translated into action, greater attention was drawn to the placemaking role of events, positioning it along economic impact measures as a valuable outcome of events.

Originality/value

Few co-authored studies, representing both researchers and practitioners exist within the events sector, and this study contributes towards understanding process of research impact, by considering the forces capable of delivering a placemaking agenda through a precinct’s event portfolio.

Keywords

Citation

Coghlan, A., Sparks, B., Liu, W. and Winlaw, M. (2017), "Reconnecting with place through events: Collaborating with precinct managers in the placemaking agenda", International Journal of Event and Festival Management, Vol. 8 No. 1, pp. 66-83. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEFM-06-2016-0042

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles