Local authority provision of environmental planning guidelines for event management in Ireland

This paper discusses the environmental impacts generated by hosting events. More specifically it focuses on the case study of assessing the provision of environmental planning guidelines by Local Authorities to manage the environmental impacts of events in Ireland. In order to determine which Local Authorities provided environmental planning guidelines, a quantitative methodology in the form of a content analysis approach was utilised to investigate every Local Authority in the Republic of Ireland. Analysis has revealed that few Local Authorities are providing planning guidelines for event management, which focus on environmental concerns. As such, the realization of the need to provide environmental planning guidelines to manage the environmental impacts of event management within Local Authorities has not been recognised nationwide. As a result the need for coherent guidelines and policies with sustainable indicators within Local Authorities is vital to further develop, grow and advance the event sector in Ireland. This paper concludes that while the low levels of environmental sustainability in Local Authorities for event management is worrying; it offers an opportunity to be improved by adopting and utilising best practice indicators in environmental policies and guidelines for event management.