Third Sector Organisations and Cultural Sustainability: A Qualitative Research Study in the Tuscany Region
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7346/-fei-XXIII-02-25_05Keywords:
Cultural Cooperatives, Cultural Sustainability, Cultural Welfare, Sustainable Development, Well-beingAbstract
The role of third sector organisations in achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and promoting integrated sustainability processes is widely recognised in the literature. However, the academic debate still pays little attention to third sector organisations that are active in the field of cultural services, and promote sustainability in its cultural dimension in practise. This paper presents the results of a qualitative study conducted on the basis of interviews with seven cultural cooperatives in Tuscany that are committed to heritage enhancement, community engagement, and cultural welfare. The study, an exploratory phase of a broader research programme, made it possible to identify certain characteristics of cultural services that are significant from a sustainability perspective and meaningful in a context characterised by the emergence of new welfare paradigms. Using a hermeneutic approach, the research also brought to light the perceptions of the stakeholders involved in relation to the issue of cultural sustainability, and offered insights into an area still largely unexplored by educational research.
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