Hello, and welcome!

Mike is a Professeur des universités, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, France; and the Editor-in-Chief of Event Management Journal - the leading academic journal for the study and analysis of events and festivals, founded in 1993, and based in New York (USA). He is also the Editor of Routledge’s book series: ‘How Events Transform Society’.

Over the past 15 years, Mike has held a mix of university and private sector roles. He has been the Director of Research, Intelligence and Education at Trivandi (www.Trivandi.com), where he created the organisation’s flagship training: Major Events 101 (ME101); Head of Department and Reader at the University of Surrey, where he also served as the Director of the UK Olympic Studies Centre; and an Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida (USA) - the #1 UK, European and USA universities for the study of events and festivals. For the past 5 years he has also been part of the Centre for Science and Policy’s network of trusted international scholars (profile) who provide policy advice to governmental and non-governmental organizations, based at the University of Cambridge (UK).

Throughout this period, Mike has been researching, analysing, commentating, writing, publishing, and teaching on the economics and social impacts of staging major events, with the view to improve delivery and leave a sustainable legacy for the communities, people and places that play host. He is the author of 50+ articles, chapters, and thought pieces, and Editor of numerous books, including three in 2025: ‘Events and Society’ (Routledge, 2025), ‘Events and Economic Development’ (Routledge, 2025), and ‘Events and Politics’ (Routledge, 2025). Mike has travelled around the world examining various cases, including the London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020 and now the Paris 2024 and LA 2028 Games, alongside various other events like the Commonwealth Games and regional sports and cultural events. His research has been published in leading journals and funded by large- and small-scale grants from the International Olympic Committee to the European Union, and applied to over 50 consultancy projects across diverse settings, from small festivals to large-scale major sporting events. You can access and read his published research here.

To help disseminate this knowledge Mike has given keynotes and talks around the world; hosted the ‘InsideEvents’ podcast with audio and video interviews to examine contemporary topics and issues in events; written short thought pieces in ‘The Conversation’ and reports for leading agencies like the United Nations; and he often provide media commentary around the economics and social implications of hosting events in publications like Les Echoes to The Guardian and has given interviews and debated live on radio and TV from the BBC to a one-hour debate on Sky News on the global events’ response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. You can find out more about Mike’s keynotes, talks, media work and thought pieces here.

All Mike’s work is available at: www.MikeDuignan.com.