Understanding sustainability paradoxes in event design and management: Insights from Italian event organizers

The present study uses paradox theory to investigate the paradoxes in designing and managing sustainable events by adopting the managerial perspective of event organizers (EOs). In-depth interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 26 managers working in Italian EOs. Thematic content analysis of the interview transcripts was used to identify the paradoxes and underlying dualities that emerge in Sustainable event design and management. The preliminary outcomes reveal four interdependent paradoxes that emerge at both the organizational and interorganizational level.