Scotland’s events industry is playing an ever-increasing role in the life of the nation with one-off events such as the Commonwealth Games or the Ryder Cup – alongside recurring major events like T-in-the-Park, the Edinburgh International Festival or Celtic Connections – attracting large numbers of tourists to the country each year, creating jobs and generating significant economic growth.
New ideas emerge constantly so the sector is in constant need of well-trained, highly-capable and creative practitioners.
The first requirement of any event management programme is to produce graduates who are capable of operating in the sector, planning, delivering and evaluating events. This is reflected in the structure of such programmes with most institutions teaching key elements such as event operations, risk management, event planning, finance and marketing.
In order to fully understand the complex nature of the events sector, we also need students to understand the strategic and political environment in which events increasingly operate. Areas such as event policy and event impact play a vital role in enabling students to be able to not just organise stand-alone events, but to develop or link to broader events programming.
I strongly believe there is also a need for our students to engage with more than the practical and strategic elements of events. They need to develop an awareness of the ‘critical event studies’ terrain which asks students to think about how social and theoretical issues around ideas such as lifestyle, identity and consumption shape our understanding of contemporary events. It is vital that we go beyond the ‘how to’ approach to events and challenge our students to reflect on existing knowledge, preconceptions and assumptions about our sector, creating graduates who operate as ‘philosophical practitioners’; professionals who are able to transform their own knowledge and with it the industry as a whole.
Developing professionals who can reshape the sector is a challenging process. It is also one which cannot be the preserve of universities alone. Rather, it should come through partnership between academia and industry. Focusing on teaching textbook theories alone cannot prepare students for a life in industry; at the same time work experience in basic roles with little opportunity for real development leaves students with a degree, some basic practical know-how but no means to link either together.
Students must learn concepts and theories and they must gain a practical grounding in the operational basics, but these cannot be exclusive or unconnected.
Rather, we must pay greater attention to opportunities for real-life projects which allow students to link theory to practice through innovative assessments or classes linked to meaningful work experience. Innovative work-based learning models, such as those within UWS’s own MSc International Events Management programme, need to be cultivated and grown.
Employers benefit also, by engaging with new ideas and shaping the next generation of talented practitioners who will work in their organisations. For me, this is the future of events education in Scotland. It is a future which our universities are eager to embrace and I would encourage any employer who has not yet done so to contact their local institution and do the same. You will almost certainly receive a warm welcome and reap significant benefits for you, your organisation and our industry.
Dr Daniel Turner is the Senior Lecturer in Events Management and Cluster Leader for Marketing, Events and Tourism at the University of the West of Scotland.
Related
![NOEA[1]](https://eventsbase.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/NOEA1.png "NOEA Announces New Partnerships for 2023")
