Bertacchini, Enrico

In 2012, the book Cultural Commons: New Perspectives in the Production and Evolution of Cultures proposed to analyze tangible and intangible cultural expressions under the perspective of the commons and outlined a research agenda aimed at advancing the understanding of these shared resources, their inherent social dilemmas and related community-governance models using the Ostrom’s Workshop analytical tools. A decade later, it is necessary to critically assess whether this agenda has genuinely evolved or remains fragmented and underdeveloped across key areas of inquiry.
This contribution questions how scholars have advanced the discourse in three fundamental areas. First, how has the complexity in defining cultural resources influenced the adoption and application of the cultural commons framework across different disciplines? Second, while some of the literature has adopted a community-based governance perspective, has this approach been adequately tested and expanded empirically, or does it remain conceptually limited? Third, how have collective action and social dilemmas that challenge the sustainability of cultural resources been operationalized and empirically investigated?
To interrogate these questions, we use insights from bibliometric analysis as an instrument to map the intellectual trajectory of the field. By identifying and examining the scholarship produced over the last decade, we aim to uncover whether the original research agenda has been followed, ignored, or redefined. Preliminary results suggest that while specific themes have been explored, the field lacks cohesive theoretical and empirical development.
In conclusion, we identify areas of stagnation and potential future directions, including the need for interdisciplinary approaches and a critical rethinking of the cultural commons research agenda to address the evolving challenges of managing shared cultural resources.

This research project employs the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, augmented by the Network of Adjacent Action Situations (IAD-NAAS), to examine the empirical applications within the territorial contexts of Italian UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The World Heritage List remains the most effective international instrument for the protection of cultural and natural heritage. However, World Heritage Sites frequently display deficiencies and fail to achieve territorial impacts associated with such a prestigious designation. To illustrate, one of the most frequently debated issues pertains to the governance of the site and the active participation of local stakeholders.

The decomposition of the complex management of the sites into constituent elements provides an innovative perspective through which to represent the problematic dynamics of WHL implementation. The research identifies the IAD framework as an effective interpretative instrument of the conditions that influence the rules within the governance of sites. Furthermore, the framework is enhanced by the Network of Adjacent Action Situations (NAAS), which acknowledges that the observed Action Situations are frequently interconnected and interdependent. Consequently, it is essential to analyse not only their individual components but also the relationships that characterise them. The introduction of the IAD-NAAS also includes the division of AS according to governance tasks, thus enabling this tool to represent common property administration situations within the territorial context.

The study begins from these premises to systematically apply the IAD-NAAS to European UNESCO sites, particularly those in Italy, with the aim of clarifying polycentric governance dynamics and identifying potential development paths that would enhance the impact of heritage on the territory. A cross-analysis of data from the Periodic Report, one of the monitoring systems used by UNESCO, is being conducted with the objective of constructing an analytical model representing the governance dynamics of the sites and the various resources that comprise them. The model will categorise these elements according to the specific governance tasks to which they are relevant and link them to the factors that impact the site. The findings will subsequently inform an innovative representation of the roles and resources associated with cultural heritage.