Measuring Social and Economic Impact of Large Scale Cultural Events: A Social Network Analysis

Abstract

Organisation of large scale or mega cultural events requires not only skilful managerial techniques, but also an integrated evaluation approach taking into account such aspects as the cultural, economic, social, political, and environmental context. Mega cultural events can be characterised by complex objectives, diverse funding sources (EU, public, private), a multilayer structure of planned results and effects. All that obviously encumbers evaluation of mega events. The initiative of the European Capital of Culture is one of major large scale European cultural cooperation projects, taking into consideration its budget and the diversity of its programme that exceeds the scope of any other cultural event. In 2014, Riga was chosen to be one of the European Capitals of Culture. Latvia had recently overcome an economic recession; in this context substantial public investment in culture required an additional focus on evaluating the economic impact of Riga 2014 programme. Research is based on the assumption that social network analysis has a great potential in evaluation of cultural impact, as culture incorporates the very idea of a network through which new ideas and creativity are channelled.

How to Network Culture: The Analysis of the Ecosystem of Latvian Music Field

“…These relationships within a social network can encompass personal connections, professional affiliations, the exchange of resources (such as information, goods, or money), interactions, and more [Tabassum 2018]. SNA represents a perspective, paradigm, or framework, rather than a theory or a methodology [Laķe, Tjarve & Grīnberga 2015]. It is founded on the premise that social life primarily emerges from relationships and the patterns they create.…”

“…Visualizing a network becomes challenging when dealing with large and complex networks [Scott 2012]. A study conducted by the author of this paper, focusing on the Riga 2014 programme as part of the European Capital of Culture initiative [Laķe, Tjarve & Grīnberga 2015], found that visualization can be beneficial when nodes include their attributes within the network structure. Additionally, it was concluded that supplementary measures are necessary for a thorough analysis of a network structure.…”