Work and Employment for the Heritage: System Analysis of an Economic Asset for an Innovative Welfare Model

Abstract

In this essay, which starts from the current scenario triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and from the impact it has had on various sectors, the Authors lay the foundations for the study of a welfare of the heritage to accompany the cultural welfare through the creation of a model of integrated management of the same (heritage) both in aspects related to the enhancement and in those inherent in the process of cultural innovation, aiming attention at an international audience. A welfare that bets on the creation of “ecosystems” of welfare of the heritage able to connect to European clusters for a participatory management of the same, in the renewed scenario of economic recovery where the combination of culture and employment is central. All is analysed and contextualised in the welfare dimension/view. This essay, according to a definitive methodological approach in the opening paragraphs, reviews the value of culture and heritage in the European scenario - including a focus on the National Recovery and Resilience Plan - along with the themes of sustainable development and cultural indicators 2030, passing through the analysis of cultural activators and circular business models. In the second part, the effects of the pandemic on cultural employment are analysed, as well as scenarios of new professionalism in the job market in the sectors of heritage and culture, without neglecting the focus on the relationship between tourism and culture. According to a circular path, which is connected to the incipit of the essay that at the beginning refers to the Assembly of “Gli Stati Generali del Patrimonio Italiano” (The General States of the Italian Heritage), the Authors outline the perspectives de iure condendo also related to the workshop activities of the Assembly and to the need to iitiate among stakeholders (public and private) a continuous and participatory confrontation in order to promote, on the one hand, a new and sustainabe entrepreneurship of cultural heritage, and on the other hand, structural policies aimed at creating employment. Keywords: Cultural heritage; Welfare; Employment; Economic asset.