From legacy to leverage

There is growing interest in the means to use events strategically for social, economic, and/or environmental purposes. The necessary strategies and tactics are being honed, and the result is a proactive approach to event leverage that is a paradigm shift away from received foci on event impacts. The strategic leveraging of events also differs from typical legacy frameworks because the necessary alliances and policies for sustainable event leverage are not feasible if the responsibility remains with event organizers. Effective event leverage is also constrained by the short-term duration of events. In order to address this issue, event leverage needs to be formulated and implemented in the context of a portfolio of events. Further research is needed to better understand the opportunities, means, and constraints for event leverage.