Partenariato pubblico-privato per la conservazione e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale costruito

Considering that Italian cultural policies are very often a function of public funding and in the light, also, of the constant shortage of government funds, this study aims at fostering some preliminary reflections on feasible sector-specific models aimed at managing public built cultural heritage projects that are still to be defined in detail, and do so with special reference to one of the institutional options available, namely that of public-private agreements. Even though well-established views have it that the conservation of cultural heritage as common goods pertains to the purview of the public sector alone, the adoption of such hybrid contracts is nonetheless supported by some recent, sound theoretical models and institutional as well as judicial opinions. Partnership tools are well diversified and still in the process of being defined, which is especially true in the cultural heritage field. Yet, some thorough analysis of the first operations being implemented may well help identify the strengths and weaknesses to each of the strategies adopted. Also, the significant potential that partnerships bear warrants that public and administrative policies undergo some thorough review, mainly so in order to foster efforts to involve actors not usually interested in such endeavours or used to cooperating with other entities by conveying the importance of culture in the local economy.