A Five Capitals Investigation Into Festival Impacts
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Richard Fletcher A five capitals investigation into festival impacts Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Master of Science by Research De Montfort University Date of submission: January 2013 Minor revisions completed: June 2013 Sponsored by the Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development ABSTRACT The impact of festivals on contemporary society has proven, through ongoing investigation, to constitute a wide-ranging and highly contrasting set of costs and benefits. The Five Capitals model (Porritt, 2005) presents a comprehensive framework to guide the sustainable development of all products and services, that will be of particular interest when applied to the great variety of festivals, and their associated impacts. A framework will be developed, through which festivals can consider the range of impacts they have on natural, human, social, manufactured and financial sources of capital. The research approach of various festival organisations and of individuals working around festivals is considered throughout, how is knowledge gathered, what do ordering structures create, and what structures are created by this? The framework is applied in as much detail as possible to one festival, demonstrating a practical outcome, discussing the overall value of an integrated approach to reporting and finally suggesting future approaches. This research touches on wider contemporary issues, such as the practical workings of multi or inter-culturalist policies, costs/benefits of mega-events (such as the Olympics, European Capital of Culture), the growth of creative and cultural industries, methods of raising specific awareness of sustainable issues, and working effectively across the intersection of the Third, Public and Private sector agendas 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would of course like to thank all my family and friends (near, far, past and present) for support and encouragement throughout the process of putting together this research, and for their far greater support and encouragement throughout the longer, ongoing process of simply being alive. I done good. That covered, the following acknowledgements are for those individuals who have greatly assisted with specific elements but have not necessarily been referenced in the text. Mark Lemon, for taking me on as my principal tutor, providing much needed qualitative direction to my more quantitative roots, suggesting the Five Capitals model in the first place, introducing me to the work of Bent Flybjerg and John Law, his patient and encouraging support, not to mention making me a better writer, for example highlighting a tendency to ramble on in never ending sentences such as this rather lengthy one: and bad habits around punctuation: particularly colons. The Arts and Festivals Management team at De Montfort University, not only for my undergraduate degree, but subsequently for being a friendly and professional group of colleagues. Particularly Christopher Maughan for his remarkable commitment and endless curiosity; but also for forgetting to lock the door and allowing me to sneak back in to academia while no one was looking. The team at the Institute for Energy and Sustainable Development, for being open and impressively collaborative when it comes to interdisciplinary work. It has been of great use coming from a modest, vocational field such as arts management to have access to the people and knowledge in stand-alone research centre. And of course for sponsoring this research. Everyone I’ve worked with/for, on or around festivals, particularly the Tech department at De Montfort Hall, and also C Venues at Edinburgh Fringe, the Leicester City Council Festivals and Events Team and the Festaxi family. For slogging it out, laughing our asses off, or just having a coffee and reading the papers between turnarounds. To all the clients and contacts who have engaged us for research, not only for the work, but for the moments of real discovery and insight, both large and small. Everyone at Greenlight festival for sucking me back into ‘doing events’. Forum for the Future and Julies Bicycle for not only being key references and data sources within the research, but for providing inspiration and encouragement to all researchers within your respective fields. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................................. 3 Table of Figures ...................................................................................................... 7 Chapter 1. Measuring sustainable development .............................................. 9 1.1 From environmentalism to sustainable development ..................................... 9 1.2 Reconciling problems of accountability ........................................................ 14 1.3.1 Overview of festival impacts ...................................................................... 19 1.3.2 Summary of festival impacts .................................................................. 24 Chapter 2: Methodology ............................................................................... 26 2.1 Theoretical approach ................................................................................... 26 2.2 Aims and objectives ..................................................................................... 29 2.3 Literature review .......................................................................................... 30 2.4.1 Festival reports ......................................................................................... 33 2.4.2 Questionnaires ...................................................................................... 36 2.5.1 Interviewees .............................................................................................. 38 2.5.2 Interviews .............................................................................................. 39 2.6 Personal knowledge ..................................................................................... 41 2.7 Initial framework ......................................................................................... 42 Chapter 3: The context of festivals ............................................................... 43 3.1 Historical context......................................................................................... 43 3.2 Festival research .......................................................................................... 44 3.3 Attendance monitoring and reporting .......................................................... 47 Chapter 4: Festivals impact on the Five Capitals.......................................... 49 4.1 Natural capital ............................................................................................. 50 4.1.1 Fuel for energy....................................................................................... 52 4.1.2 Fuel for transport .................................................................................. 61 4.1.3 Water conservation, emissions and waste .............................................. 70 4.1.4 Waste materials ..................................................................................... 78 4.1.5 Total emissions ...................................................................................... 87 4.1.6 Framework – Natural capital ................................................................. 90 4.2 Human capital ............................................................................................. 92 4.2.1 Positive and negative impacts on human capital .................................... 95 4 4.2.2 Material impacts .................................................................................. 104 4.2.3 Non material impacts .......................................................................... 115 4.2.4. Framework – Human capital ............................................................... 122 4.3 Social capital ............................................................................................. 124 4.3.1 Crime and safety ................................................................................. 128 4.3.2 Proactivity and education in a social context ....................................... 138 4.3.3 Voluntary labour ................................................................................. 147 4.3.4 Bonding and bridging capital ............................................................... 156 4.3.5 The carnivalesque ................................................................................ 162 4.3.6 Spectacle, alienation and simulacra .................................................... 169 4.3.7 Framework – Social capital .................................................................. 174 4.4 Manufactured capital ................................................................................. 176 4.4.1 Fibres, metals and plastics .................................................................. 179 4.4.2 Electrical equipment ............................................................................ 188 4.4.3 Framework – Manufactured capital ..................................................... 196 4.5 Financial capital ........................................................................................ 197 4.5.1 Sustainable art? .................................................................................