RT info:eu-repo/semantics/article
T1 Co-creating value: the events sustainability index for a rural case
A1 Díez Hernández, Julieta
A1 Antón Maraña, Paula
A1 Moreno Molina, Adrián
K1 Event management
K1 Value co-creation
K1 Triple bottom line assessment
K1 Rural music festival
K1 Plan-Do-Check-Act framework
K1 Creating shared value theory
K1 Desarrollo rural
K1 Rural development
K1 Festivales musicales
K1 Music festivals
AB PurposeThis study tests a synthetic, multistakeholder framework for evaluating the sustainability of music festivals, fine-tuning it to rural settings, overcoming the traditionally accepted treatment of economic, sociocultural and environmental impacts separately to provide a synthetic contextualized and commensurable score.Design/methodology/approachBuilding on the triple bottom line and creating shared value perspectives, the framework integrates heterogeneous indicators into a single index which normalizes data for commensurability, incorporates both captured and uncaptured value, and applies stakeholder-informed weighting aligned with locally prioritized sustainability development goals (SDGs). Operationalized through a Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle, the method was piloted in the AlpakaFest, volunteer-driven cultural festival set as a Regional Social Observation Lab in Hacinas (Spain), combining resident (N = 64) and participant (N = 470) surveys, expenditure data and carbon footprint analysis.FindingsThe framework successfully integrates economic, sociocultural and environmental data into a single Events Sustainability Index, capturing both tangible and intangible value. Its application to AlpakaFest highlights the strong sociocultural benefits of rural festivals while exposing trade-offs between economic gains and environmental impacts.Practical implicationsThe approach equips organizers, policymakers and local stakeholders with a decision-support tool to benchmark festival impacts, identify sustainability trade-offs and embed continuous improvement into event governance. It also broadens the scope of event management research by demonstrating how small-scale, rural festivals can act as laboratories for sustainable development.Originality/valueBy synthesizing diverse impacts into a transparent, comparable index, this study advances beyond one-dimensional evaluations and responds to recent calls for frameworks that operationalize co-creation and shared value in rural event settings.
PB Emerald Publishing
SN 0025-1747
YR 2026
FD 2026-03
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11684
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10259/11684
LA eng
NO The financial support received by the Spanish Universities' Ministry under the University Teachers' Training Programme (FPU/00605-2021 and FPU/00606-2021)
DS Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Burgos
RD 23-may-2026