Master Strategic Event Management

Master Strategic Events Management

2-year professional master’s programme | Part-time | English-taught

Strategic value creation

Events offer enjoyment, inspiration, engagement, and generate economic, social, cultural and strategic value. How can you use all these benefits to approach events as strategic tools, enhancing both the event itself and its impact? In this part-time master in event management, you will learn how to design, personalise and deliver engaging experiences. Because you are already working in the events industry, you can apply the knowledge acquired directly in your professional work and see the benefits of the new approach.

The concept of Strategic Value Creation is at the heart of the programme. Within our learning community, you will work on a final graduation challenge which is relevant to the professional context you operate in. 

Contact us

Do you have any questions left after reading the information on this page? Please don't hestitate and feel free to contact us on strategicevents@buas.nl.

 

 

Why choose Master Strategic Events Management at BUas?

  • We are recognised by WLO as a World Leisure Centre of Excellence
  • The only master’s programme in Strategic Events Management in the Netherlands
  • Focus on events as a tool for strategic value creation
Why BUas?
What Strategic Events Management?

'It is all about value creation within the world of events.'

Peter, student

Programme content
Experience
Bachelor vs master

Study overview

Study programme

After discussing the requirements of event managers with industry representatives, we were able to identify the key areas of knowledge development upon which this master’s programme in event management is founded. Close industry ties like these are typical of our master’s programme. After all, we want to trigger our students to adopt this outlook as well - combining practical experience with our Strategic Value Creation concept to deliver a wide range of value-adding initiatives to individuals, communities, businesses and society at large. 

The professional team of lecturers of our programme will offer students insights into strategy, responsibility, experience design, analysis & marketing, stakeholder management, innovation and strategic value creation. With this knowledge under their belt and upon successful completion of their final graduation challenge, our future event managers should be able to take a holistic view of the value creation potential of events. 

Course details

Our master’s programme, which covers 60 ECTS credits, has a total duration of two years. The concept of Strategic Value Creation is essential in all modules and therefore the central theme during the entire master’s programme. We will explain below what you can expect in each year.

In the first year you will work on the modules Business Strategy, Innovation & Change, Sustainability & Responsibility, Event Marketing and Experience Design. To further deepen your knowledge and expertise you will be working in the M SEM learning community during the entire programme, starting at the beginning of year 1.

In the second year you will be working on the modules Collaboration & Co-Creation and Strategic Value Creation. You will also start preparing for graduation during which you will be working on one or more strategic challenges that are specifically relevant for the professional events context you function in towards your graduation portfolio. 

During the graduation phase you will be working on your graduation portfolio and the implementation of your Value Creation Challenge(s). 

Introduction clips on course modules

Would you like to know more about our course modules? Click on the course module to open the clip in a  new window.

 

Study load en coaching

The Master Strategic Events Management is a two-year, part-time programme. The total study load is 60 ECTS credits. To give you an idea: 1 ECTS credit equals 28 study hours. This amounts to 21 hours of education and independent study per week. You will have classes on campus one day a week (eight hours) so that leaves approximately 13 hours independent study per week.

The Master Strategic Events Management offers students a small-scale environment as the number of students admitted into the master’s programme is limited and lecturers are always there to offer help. For questions about course content, lecturers can be easily reached. Throughout the entire duration of the master's programme, you will be supported by your own coach. The master's programme coordinator is available to help with day-to-day issues. If you wish to discuss personal problems that may be affecting your life as a student, you can contact a student counsellor.

You and your classmates all work in the events industry and you apply everything you learn directly to your own professional work. We collaborate in a learning community of students, events industry professionals, and lecturers. This obviously involves a high study load, but more importantly, it is a chance to gain experience as well as professionalize the events industry in which you will build a network. 

Field trips

Guest lectures are offered regularly during the master's programme and several field trips are organised as well. Since all Master Strategic Events Management students work in the events industry, fieldtrips are sometimes provided to visit each other's companies.

CCO of ID&T

The Netherlands is leading in the electronic music event industry. To keep ahead in the field, we need to educate talented young professionals, especially in the strategic aspects of the work. As a future event manager, for instance, you need to make sure that all stakeholders work together closely and share the same values. This master’s programme will help young professionals to develop the skills to do so.

Martijn van Daalen

CCO ID&T

Our business demands a next-level generation

Today our business is all about event strategy, business models and return on investment of events - all in a rapidly changing environment. It demands a new generation of professionals who embrace the challenge of stepping up to this next level in the leisure industry. I am confident that this master’s programme will help to educate professionals with precisely these qualities and will lead them into this new era.

Michiel

MICE Sales Director of the Venues Division at GL Events, General Manager at World Forum The Hague

It makes you see the bigger picture

This master’s programme gives you the right framework, it makes you see the bigger picture. It gave me amazing knowledge and insights, and I learned that strategic also applies to small things. After graduating I took up more strategic roles and was really ready to carry on. The fact that all assignments were directly linked to my daily work made this programme so tangible and thus useful for me. Module after module, I could apply everything I learned straight away in my job!

Karine

Graduate Master Strategic Events Management

Admission

Students are eligible if they hold a bachelor's degree in for example the fields of leisure, events, tourism, sports, hotel, facility, culture, business or economics.

Please check out the full admission requirements

Application

If you meet the admission requirements, you are invited to apply for this programme. Admission is based on selection. Please check out the application procedure.

Costs 

In the academic year 2024-2025 the statutory tuition fee for this master's programmes is €1,770. In addition to the tuition fee, you will need to take into account additional costs for the purchase of study materials such as textbooks. Read more about study costs.

Your career

The programme of the Master Strategic Events Management focuses on creating strategic value through the use of events. Upon completion you can, for example, take up a career at a festival organisation to ensure that all stakeholder interests are properly considered and served, at a municipality to develop events policies that contribute to an attractive profile, business climate or social cohesion of or in the city, or at a conference organiser to work on the development of new markets. 

After graduation you are entiteld to the Master of Arts degree.

BUas Quiz

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