Entrepreneurial Cultural Ecosystems in Rural Contexts: Some Insights from Rural Cultural Centers in France

The debate on cultural entrepreneurship and sustainable development seems to be related mainly to urban spaces, leaving reflections on its role for sustainable development of rural territories rather under-explored. However, there are significant examples of cultural entrepreneurial initiatives in rural areas; the topic seems therefore promising and needs further investigation. The aim of this chapter is to fill this research gap, focusing on a specific type of rural cultural entrepreneurship: the creation of cultural centers in rural territories. The authors carried out a qualitative empirical investigation based on two signif icant case studies of rural cultural centers located in the region of Auvergne-Rhône Alpes in France. The case studies were analyzed according to the case study methodology identified by Yin (2015), based on the triangulation of multiple sources of information. The results underline that these cultural centers thrived in rural areas, thanks to the creation of site-specific cultural entrepreneurial ecosystems, based on the nur turing of peculiar characteristics related to elements that were both endogenous and exogenous to the territory. The research highlighted the peculiarities of cultural centers in rural territories and the characteristics of their ecosystems, providing insights into a promising phenomenon and contributing to the debate on the need for a more balanced development between urban and rural regions.