Cultural Heritage Alliances for Sustainable Urban and Rural Development

Purpose – This paper aims at investigating the potential of creating alliances between cultural heritage in cities and in rural areas for promoting sustainable development at a regional level and in minor rural centers. More specifically, the paper has the objective of better understanding the potential characteristics of governance and management schemes of partnerships between cultural heritage organizations in cities/rural areas. Design/methodology/approach – The research uses a qualitative approach, presenting a case study analysis of the project Terre degli Uffizi, implemented in the Tuscany region (Italy). The case has been selected based on the criteria of relevance and representativeness and analyzed through the triangulation of data as indicated by Yin (2017). Findings – The project Terre degli Uffizi, promoted by a famous museum in Florence, the Gallerie degli Uffizi, and a bank foundation, Fondazione CR Firenze, with the cooperation of the Tuscany region, represents a best practice of partnerships between famous city museum and small cultural organizations located in rural areas. From the analysis, it emerged that, though the project was a top-down initiative, one of its main peculiarities was its flexibility and its capacity to tailor-make the cultural initiatives giving key roles to minor organizations thus creating the basis for cultural ecosystem creation. Originality/value – The results of the analysis contribute to the debate on the cooperation between cultural heritage organizations in cities and rural areas for regional sustainable development, as well as to the reflection on governance systems and management models for unlocking the potential of cultural cooperation for the territory.