How do cultural institutions and festivals contribute to sustainable development? An interpretive review of the academic and practitioner literature
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Copyright (c) 2025 Stefano Rodighiero, Carlo Fusari, Fabrizio Montanari, Davide Sordi
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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.13138/2039-2362/3718Abstract
This paper explores how cultural institutions and festivals contribute to sustainable development by combining insights from academic and practitioner literature. Through an interpretive review of 81 academic articles and 33 practitioner documents, we identify two main findings: 1) three mechanisms – connecting, caring, and empowering – through which cultural institutions and festivals generate value across economic, cultural, social, and environmental dimensions; 2) four policy areas – value creation, equity and resilience, education and training, and participatory governance – across which policymakers leverage cultural institutions and festivals to pursue sustainability-oriented policies. By bridging scholarly and practitioner perspectives, the study provides a more nuanced understanding of the multifaceted role of culture in advancing sustainable development and offers relevant insights for researchers, policymakers, and cultural managers.
Questo studio esplora come le istituzioni culturali e i festival contribuiscono allo sviluppo sostenibile, integrando prospettive provenienti da studiosi e practitioners. Attraverso una review interpretativa di 81 articoli accademici e 33 documenti practitioner, abbiamo ottenuto due principali risultati: 1) tre meccanismi – connecting, caring ed empowering – attraverso cui le istituzioni culturali e i festival supportano le dimensioni di tipo economico, culturale, sociale e ambientale dello sviluppo sostenibile; 2) quattro aree di policy – value creation, equity and resilience, education and training, and participatory governance – rispetto ai quali i policymaker fanno leva su questi attori per promuovere interventi orientati alla sostenibilità. Collegando la prospettiva accademica a quella practitioner, lo studio approfondisce il ruolo complesso e multidimensionale della cultura nello sviluppo sostenibile, offrendo spunti utili per ricercatori, decisori politici e operatori culturali.
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