In this module, we look at how cultural heritage is preserved and thrives in the real world: Financing is where cultural heritage becomes operational. During the first week, we explore the global landscape of heritage financing and build a shared vocabulary to understand how different systems (public, philanthropic, commercial, community-based, and hybrid) shape what gets preserved, whose heritage is prioritized, and which risks are addressed. As we will see, financing does far more than “pay for” heritage. It determines whether heritage functions as a public good, a tourism asset, a community resource, or a commodity, and it expresses the values and choices of the institutions and actors involved.
In the second week, we turn to the European Union and examine how these same financing logics take on a new scale and meaning when applied through EU instruments. We will study how the EU mobilizes structural funds, research programs, cultural initiatives, environmental mechanisms, and civil protection resources to support heritage conservation, risk mitigation, community resilience, and cross-border cooperation. By the end of the module, you will understand how different types of financing sustain heritage globally, how the EU uses its financial architecture to translate cultural objectives into practice, and how it shapes the future of Europe’s shared cultural inheritance.
| Reading: Heritage Economics_A Conceptual Framework David Throsby provides a clear framework for understanding how economics can help us think about cultural heritage and the decisions made about its conservation. Throsby explains why heritage can be understood as a form of capital, why it requires sustained investment, and how both economic and cultural values shape choices about preservation. He also introduces key concepts such as sustainability, valuation, and the policy tools governments use—from regulation to financial incentives. The reading offers a grounded way to see how heritage is managed in practice, and why economic reasoning matters for its long-term future. | ||
| Reading: Contribution of the Cultural & Creative Industries to Regional Development & Revitalization: A European Perspective Kalfas and colleagues approach cultural heritage and creativity “from below,” focusing on how cultural and creative industries (CCIs) contribute to regional development, urban regeneration, and social cohesion across Europe. Drawing on empirical data, the article shows how CCIs generate employment, support local economies, reinforce cultural identity, and revitalize declining areas, while also facing precarity and uneven policy support. The study is particularly useful for understanding how EU funding instruments (especially cohesion policy and Creative Europe) are experienced by SMEs, cultural workers, and local actors on the ground. It complements institutional perspectives by revealing the practical realities of EU cultural financing. | ||
| Reading: Framing European Heritage and Identity: Cultural Policy Instruments of the European Union This article examines how the European Union uses cultural policy instruments to frame heritage as part of a broader European identity project. Rather than focusing on heritage sites themselves, Zito and colleagues analyze how EU programmes, narratives, and funding mechanisms shape what counts as “European” heritage and why it matters politically. The article offers a clear “from above” institutional perspective, showing how heritage is mobilized to support integration, legitimacy, and shared values, while remaining constrained by subsidiarity and limited EU cultural competence. This reading is essential for understanding heritage financing as a tool of governance rather than simple preservation. | ||
| Reading: CulturEU financing guide | ||
| SCHER2_Lecture_Module III-Part 1_Financing cultural heritage In this Module III lecture, we examine six major types of financing of cultural heritage: public financing; supranational public financing; private philanthropy; market-based or commercial financing; community-based and civil society financing; and hybrid or public–private partnership models. For each, we introduce the logic behind the financing mode and provide a representative case study to anchor the concept in reality. |
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| SCHER2_Lecture_Module III-Part 2_EU financing of cultural heritage In this lecture, we examine how and why the European Union finances cultural heritage, and what that reveals about the European Project itself. We begin with the treaties, where culture is defined as a supporting competence, and trace how this legal constraint produces a distinctive governance model: indirect, programmatic, and incentive-driven. We then explore the EU’s primary funding instruments for culture: Creative Europe, Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, CERV, and cohesion policy to show how heritage is made to serve multiple political purposes: integration, legitimacy, territorial cohesion, innovation, and peacebuilding. The goal is to understand heritage financing as a core expression of EU governance in action. |
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| SCHER2_PPT_Module III-Part 1_Financing cultural heritage | ||
| SCHER2_PPT_Module III-Part 2_EU financing of cultural heritage | ||
| SCHER2_Midterm poster presentation instructions and template | ||
| Getty Foundation: The Getty Villa The Getty Foundation is an exemplar of private philanthropic financing. The Getty Villa is devoted to the study and display of art from the ancient world. Housed in a spectacular recreation of an ancient Roman villa, its collection celebrates the culture and artistry of ancient peoples and draws connections to our world today. Located near the Pacific shore in Malibu, California, the Getty Villa serves a varied audience through exhibitions, conservation, scholarship, research, and public programs. The Villa houses approximately 44,000 works of art from the Museum's extensive collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, of which over 1,200 are on view. https://www.getty.edu/visit/ |
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| Exercise: Bring a beloved cultural heritage object to class: Why is this cultural heritage object worthy of protection? In this exercise, you’ll bring a heritage object that matters to you and explore why it deserves care and investment. Using Throsby’s framework, we’ll look at what makes it valuable, what it needs to endure, and whether monetization could help (or harm) its future. | ||
| Example: Voi che sapete (Cherubino) - Cecilia Bartoli, soprano: The Marriage of Figaro "Voi che sapete" ("You, who know what love is") is a famous aria from Mozart's opera Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro), sung by the young, hormonal page Cherubino, a "trouser role" usually played by a female mezzo-soprano, as he describes his confusing adolescent feelings of love and desire to Susanna and the Countess, seeking advice while strumming a guitar in Act II, a moment of innocent, relatable vulnerability amidst the opera's comedic plots. Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492, Act II: No. 12, Voi che sapete · Cecilia Bartoli · Wiener Kammerorchester · György Fischer |
