Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this research aims at extending the knowledge on whether and how universities include sustainability dimensions in managing their collections. Precisely, the study focusses on the creation of a university museum (UM), as an embryonic stage of life during which management concerns both strategic and operational issues.Design/methodology/approachSustainability is envisioned as a multifaceted concept, composed of the economic, cultural, environmental and social dimensions. Resorting to an acknowledged theoretical model for sustainable development in museum management, a qualitative interpretative study is carried out, gathering data from multiple sources. The empirical setting is the University of Pavia, which has recently created a new Museum of Natural History (Kosmos).FindingsResults highlight how sustainability dimensions intertwin in UM creation. Moreover, the economic dimension emerges as a basement for the others. Value for the community, expressed in economic terms, must be ensured in UMs creation as well as throughout its entire life, in order to support cultural, environmental and social sustainability.Research limitations/implicationsFocussing on the embryonic stage of UMs life allowed to consider how sustainability is embedded in relevant strategic and operational decisions. Nevertheless, scholars are encouraged to replicate the study in other stages of UMs' life, in a way to provide insights on its dynamics.Practical implicationsUniversity collections managers can benefit from this research by acknowledging the role played by the economic dimension of sustainability. Notwithstanding their mission, universities should pay attention to extracting economic value from the management of their collections, as a means to ensure innovative and sustainable management on the cultural, environmental and social respects. Furthermore, this research suggests how a higher education system is able to create a new museum by relying on interdisciplinary competencies, which support sustainability since the embryonic stage.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the cultural heritage management literature by proposing an updated version of the sustainable development model for museums, which highlights the different relevance of the sustainability dimensions with particular regard to the UM creation and management.
Highlights
Welcomed by the international community, the concept of sustainable development has gained such a relevance to become a key issue in the definition of the UN 2030 Agenda
The public relevance of the museum within the UMS was committed by Ex University Dean, who declared that (I2): Though private organizations do have an impact on the society, there are some choices entrusted to the public spheres: the preservation of the Botta Palace – as a relevant cultural heritage – together with the recovery of the Spallanzani collections are both of that kind
Building on the theoretical model by Stylianou-Lambert et al (2014), this research has provided an example of how the latter can be adapted as a managerial tool for museums
Summary
Welcomed by the international community, the concept of sustainable development has gained such a relevance to become a key issue in the definition of the UN 2030 Agenda In this perspective, organizations performance is increasingly assessed on the ground of their sustainable impact (Lamberton, 2005; Xiong and Mok, 2020). Organizations performance is increasingly assessed on the ground of their sustainable impact (Lamberton, 2005; Xiong and Mok, 2020) These concerns have regarded the cultural heritage management since the first acknowledged definition of sustainable development reported by the World Commission on Environment and Development (Brundtland and Khalid, 1987). A further stimulus comes from the strategic recommendations of the EU and the Council of Europe, which promoted a sustainable use of cultural heritage, regarding the allocation of public funds
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