Embedding sustainability dimensions in university collections management: a “scientific journey” into a natural history museum

Purpose – The purpose of this research aims at extending the knowledge on whether and how universities include sustainability dimensions in managing their collections. Precisely, the study focusses on the creation of a university museum (UM), as an embryonic stage of life during which management concerns both strategic and operational issues. Design/methodology/approach – Sustainability is envisioned as a multifaceted concept, composed of the economic, cultural, environmental and social dimensions. Resorting to an acknowledged theoretical model for sustainable development in museum management, a qualitative interpretative study is carried out, gathering data from multiple sources. The empirical setting is the University of Pavia, which has recently created a new Museum of Natural History (Kosmos). Findings – Results highlight how sustainability dimensions intertwin in UM creation. Moreover, the economic dimension emerges as a basement for the others. Value for the community, expressed in economic terms, must be ensured in UMs creation as well as throughout its entire life, in order to support cultural, environmental and social sustainability. Research limitations/implications – Focussing on the embryonic stage of UMs life allowed to consider how sustainability is embedded in relevant strategic and operational decisions. Nevertheless, scholars are encouraged to replicate the study in other stages of UMs’ life, in a way to provide insights on its dynamics. Practical implications – University collections managers can benefit from this research by acknowledging the role played by the economic dimension of sustainability. Notwithstanding their mission, universities should pay attention to extracting economic value from the management of their collections, as a means to ensure innovative and sustainable management on the cultural, environmental and social respects. Furthermore, this research suggests how a higher education system is able to create a new museum by relying on interdisciplinary competencies, which support sustainability since the embryonic stage. Originality/value –This research contributes to the cultural heritage management literature by proposing an updated version of the sustainable development model for museums, which highlights the different relevance of the sustainability dimensions with particular regard to the UM creation and managemen

Of, By, and For Which People? Government and Contested Heritage in the American Midwest

Two government-owned and managed heritage sites in Indiana, USA, offer an opportunity to explore the role of governments in adjudicating the competing paradigms of value and contested uses. Strawtown Koteewi is a Hamilton County park and Mounds State Park is part of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources statewide park system. Each site has come under scrutiny in recent years. Strawtown Koteewi is one of the most significant sites in the area for understanding the history of Native peoples. After almost a decade of archaeological excavations, several Native American groups, under the auspices of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), initiated repatriation processes for the recovery of human remains, and some objected to the ongoing archaeological research. At Mounds State Park a coalition of citizens opposed a planned dam project intended to ensure a safe and plentiful water supply and to spur economic development in the area. In each case, the government entities have had to navigate the political landscapes of competing claims about the sites. These case studies expose the fissures between authorized heritage discourse and the paradigms of meaning among the diverse constituencies of the sites, and they highlight the tenuous position of public governance in privileging competing cultural, economic, and social interests. While not unique, the state and county agencies’ positions within these fields of power and their strategic choices reveal some of the barriers and constraints that limit their actions as well as the deep-seated ideologies of policies that perpetuate settler colonial politics in the control and interpretation of indigenous heritage

Dalla pianificazione aziendale al budget strategico

Dopo aver inquadrato la pianificazione aziendale nell’ambito della funzione di controllo, il presente lavoro si sofferma sul significato dell’aggettivo strategico attribuito al concetto medesimo e procede alla descrizione del relativo processo approfondendo le fasi concernenti la formulazione delle strategie e la redazione del piano industriale e del conseguente budget strategico. Per evidenziare il ruolo della pianificazione per la gestione del cambiamento interno/esterno all’azienda viene presentato un caso di applicazione del piano industriale e budget strategico di un’azienda operante in un settore particolarmente innovativo come quello della TV Digitale Terrestre. Da tali evidenze empiriche sono emersi alcuni spunti di riflessione riassunti nelle conclusioni del presente capitolo

Controllo e reporting nelle aziende-Parco: il caso del Tuscan Mining GeoPark

La crisi economica ha aggravato maggiormente le condizioni nelle quali le aziende culturali sono chiamate a svolgere le proprie funzioni (conservazione e valorizzazione dei beni culturali e paesaggistici), con un budget finanziario sempre più limitato. Per evitare le spiacevoli conseguenze che possono derivare da un atteggiamento passivo nei confronti della crisi da parte dei soggetti a cui è affidata la gestione di “risorse comuni”, è auspicabile un ripensamento collettivo sul ruolo che tali aziende rivestono per lo sviluppo socio-economico delle comunità locali sia attuali che future. In tale ottica, presentiamo il caso del Tuscan Mining Geopark che, fin dalla sua istituzione, ha operato in condizioni di “omeostasi” con l’ambiente di riferimento, facendo propri i principi della cultura del controllo. La forma di reporting applicata dall’azienda – Parco in esame costituisce un primo output di quel processo di “controllo creativo” sul quale si fonda il management della reputazione

Analisi del profilo gestionale-finanziario dei musei indagati

Analisi delle performance di alcune realtà museali toscane

L’acquisizione di risorse finanziarie dall’ambiente

Raccolta di esercitazion

Un nuovo strumento di governo responsabile del territorio: l'ecomuseo

Il capitolo illustra i caratteri identificativi dell'ecomuseo come modello di governance e gestione del patrimonio culturale di un territorio, attraverso l'analisi di casi empirici

Le amministrazioni pubbliche a supporto delle aziende turistiche: esperienze a confronto

Lo studio intende illustrare il ruolo che le amministrazioni pubbliche svolgono in relazione allo sviluppo del turismo inteso come mezzo attraverso il quale si accede al godimento dei servizi culturali caratterizzanti il patrimonio di un particolare contesto ambientale