Effective stakeholder engagement strategies for funding the cultural sector: the role of collaborative governance

Collaboration is seen as a strategic success factor for multi-stakeholder organizations, such as those in the arts and cultural sector. In cultural organizations, this participatory approach is encouraged by various international agencies like UNESCO (2002, 2005) and is part of the good governance principles promoted by international institutions (Fischer, 2006; International Monetary Fund, 1997; OECD, 2007). To support an extended participatory approach in cultural contexts, different actors need to be brought together from the public and private sectors, industry associations and local communities (Farinosi et al., 2019; Platteau & Abraham, 2004; Stern & Seifert, 2009). These considerations are even more relevant for cultural events, which can be considered a powerful incentive to bring stakeholders together and find new forms of collaboration between public and private partners and with local communities (Van Niekerk & Getz, 2018).
The topic of collaborative governance has seen growing interest in the academic literature over the past 10 years (Ansell and Gash, 2008; Batory & Svensson, 2019; Emerson et al., 2012; J. Hartley et al., 2013; Waardenburg et al., 2020), but the literature on collaborative governance in the arts and cultural sector is quite limited and rather recent (Donelli et al., 2021; K. Hartley, 2018; Jeon & Kim, 2021), and can be developed further. In particular, the possible linkages between collaborative governance and funding have been scarcely considered, especially if we take into account the fundamental roles of fundraising strategies and the system of relations with external funders in the success of a cultural organization (Herrero & Kraemer, 2020; Vecco et al., 2021). The development of the debate on these issues seems possible by considering the theoretical framework of collaborative governance in the context of managing the system of relations with funders (Betzler, 2015). In particular, this analysis appears particularly interesting if it focuses on cultural events, which present characteristics useful for this study (Cabral & Krane, 2018), such as management by objectives, timing monitoring, and cost analysis profiles (Getz & Page, 2019).
Starting from these considerations, this work’s research question is whether the theoretical framework of collaborative governance can be considered useful and effective for the study of the conditions that make the management of relationships with funders effective, also with the development of collaborative platforms or arrangements (Ansell & Gash, 2018; Lahat & Sher-Hadar, 2020). In particular, this work examines the concept of collaborative governance as a process of making, implementing, and funding cultural programs through analysis of a case study of a cultural event: Parma 2020+21 – the Italian Capital of Culture.
The case study is considered with an explorative aim (Scapens, 2004) through an embedded perspective (Yin, 2018). It represents a preliminary investigation for subsequent research aimed at evaluating its generalization. The case study describes the form of collaborative governance adopted by Parma, the Italian Capital of Culture in 2020 and 2021, and seeks to identify the reasons why Parma implemented a new model of governance for managing and funding cultural initiatives related to the Italian Capital of Culture program. The case is interesting for an international audience both for the governance architecture that could be reproduced in the case of other similar events and for its similarities with the European Capitals of Culture initiative, which began in 1985 to encourage economic development of the cultural sector and strengthen European identity and is one of the most important programs of European cultural policy. The Italian project is a direct descendant of the European one and was started in 2014 on the initiative of the Italian Ministry of Culture, with the same aims of European action. The capitals of culture are cities selected through a competitive call that must submit an annual cultural program to be partially funded by the public administration.
The case of Parma 2020+21 fits perfectly into the presented framework of collaborative governance. In considering the actors who prepared and realized the program and the complexity of the cultural agenda, as well as the societal structures formed around it, governance became not only an issue between the Italian State and the “branded” city with its local authorities. In the case of Parma, a more creative, mixed partnership emerged that transcended spatial-administrative hierarchies, initiating co-operation along a more horizontal, relational network. This model of collaborative governance, in line with the collaborative governance framework, provided for the establishment of a public-private committee for the implementation of the programme, in which local authorities, private funders and private cultural institutions worked together. In this case, new elements were introduced, such as a clear division of roles between local authorities and the committee, a joint working table for the management of funds, and co-production with private cultural institutions. All the local stakeholders were, in different ways, involved in the process. The Parma 2020+21 program required an investment of 17 million euros, which included 8 million euros of public funds and 9 million euros in private funds donated by the stakeholders involved in the governance process.
As an exploratory study, this work calls for the opportunity for further and subsequent deepening of the analysis in other cultural event contexts, with the possibility of extending the analysis to the governance systems of artistic and cultural organizations as a whole.

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