Transformation of event management in the context of armed conflict: new formats and security priorities

Abstract

The field of event management has undergone significant evolution over the past decades, transforming from the classic organization of festive or corporate events into a strategic tool for social, cultural, and economic communication. However, recent challenges, including the full-scale war in Ukraine, have fundamentally changed the approaches to planning, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness of event initiatives. The war has made adjustments not only to the security context, but also to the very essence of events: now they are becoming a space for psychological support, charity, volunteerism, cultural resistance, and civic unity. In such conditions, event management requires new approaches to organizing events, taking into account risk factors, travel restrictions, information security requirements, ethical aspects and sustainability. Instead of large-scale festivals and concerts, local initiatives, online formats, hybrid events, mobile exhibitions, as well as solidarity and support actions are coming to the fore. A new type of event culture is being formed, which focuses on content, values, and impact on the social state of society. The purpose of this article is to analyze the transformation of event management in the context of military conflict, identify new formats for holding events, and outline security priorities that determine the modern practice of event organization in Ukraine. The focus of the study is the adaptability of the event industry to crisis conditions, the role of events in shaping national resilience and social cohesion, as well as practical cases from the Ukrainian wartime experience. The relevance of the topic is due to the urgent need to rethink the role of events in crisis conditions and form new management models that take into account the specifics of war as a social and informational phenomenon. The article is based on an interdisciplinary approach, combining knowledge from management, sociology, communications, and security studies.