Strategic collaborative process for cultural heritage

Recent developments within national and supranational policies in Europe have come to understand cultural heritage as a "common good" that is pivotal to the sustainable development of territories and communities. In doing so, EU policies nudge member states to adopt participative approaches to development, to invest on citizens' and stakeholders' identification with the local cultural heritage, and to work together for its conservation. This article starts with a purview of the current debate, both in academia and in policy-making circles, about the interpretation of cultural heritage as common. In this context the article highlights the importance of the use the collaborative processes and defining/adopting approaches and tools for activating a strategic chain of "knowledge and planning". The paper defines a framework - so called Strategic Value Chain for Cultural Collaborative Process - that highlights the potentials of using IAD Framework (by Elinor Ostrom) of collaborative processes together with Place branding, Place marketing and Community planning for sustainable and context-based urban transformation plans based on a shared cultural identity. This framework has been utilized to analyze the case study on the historic town of Faenza, in Italy, to highlight the successful points in the urban regeneration process based on cultural identity but also points to work on. For this reason the paper ends with a research follow up, highlighting a possible upgrade of the local process, thanks to approaches and tools' implementation.