Abstract
The attention to the management plan for the preservation and development of World Heritage Sites has grown in recent years, especially since the publication of the Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention in 2005. The Operational Guidelines outlined in detail the contents and requirements of the management plan, which was first introduced in their 1994 version. In Italy, the national government recognized the importance of the management plan through the definition of specific guidelines and a road map for the implementation of these documents on the Italian World Heritage Sites. This process can be considered very relevant also from an international perspective, since Italy is the most represented country on the World Heritage List, with its 53 sites in 2017. Regarding Italian World Heritage Sites, the realization of the management plan has produced conflicting results so far. On the one hand, this process provided an opportunity to think strategically about the conditions of preservation and development for the World Heritage managers. On the other hand, in many cases, the adoption of management plans did not comply with the expected outcomes, due to a poor adhesion of implementation procedures to the requirements proposed by the guidelines (national and international) and a nearly absent participatory involvement of the community. However, the strategic thinking arising from management plans can lead to the development of concepts such as performance measurement and sustainability reporting for the World Heritage Sites. In this field, performance measurement consists of the implementation of indicators to assess and monitor the results of preservation and development systems, whereas sustainability reporting expresses the necessity to be accountable about these results in regard to external stakeholders, especially the community, and can be usefully connected to the performance measurement system. This chapter aims at developing the opportunities of a proper implementation process for a management plan, focusing on the dimensions of performance measurement and sustainability reporting. At the same time, it analyzes the empirical difficulties for the accomplishment of this process, which have been collected through the observation of different actual realizations of management plans, with reference to the Italian situation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
References
Ackerman, R. W. (1975). The social challenge to business. Cambridge: Havard University Press.
Ansoff, H. I. (1979). Strategic management. London: Macmillan.
Anthony, R. N. (1965). Planning and control systems: A framework for analysis. Boston: Havard University Press.
Badia, F. (2011). Contents and aims of management plans for world heritage sites: A managerial analysis with a special focus on the Italian scenario. Journal of Cultural Management and Policy, 1(1), 40–49.
Badia, F., & Donato, F. (2013). Perfomance measurement at world heritage sites: Per aspera ad astra. International Journal of Arts Management, 16(1), 20–34.
Edwards, M. (2001). Participatory governance into the future: Roles of the government and community sectors. Australian Journal of Public Administration, 60(3), 78–88.
Edwards, M., & Hulme, D. (1996). Too close forcomfort? The impact of official aid on nongovernmental organizations. World Development, 24(6), 961–974.
Elkington, J. (1998). Cannibals with Forks. The triple bottom line of 21st century business. Stony Creek, CT: New Society Publishers.
Forbes, D. P. (1998). Measuring the unmeasurable: Empirical studies of nonprofit organization effectiveness from 1977 to 1997. Non profit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 27(2), 183–202.
Gilhespy, I. (1999). Measuring the performance of cultural organizations: A model. International Journal of Arts Management, 2(1), 38–52.
Gray, R., Owen, D., & Adams, C. (1996). Accounting and accountability. Changes and challenges in corporate social and environmental reporting. London: Prentice Hall.
Gray, R., Owen, D., & Maunders, K. (1988). Corportate social reporting. emerging trends in accountability and the social contract. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 1(1), 6–20.
Grote, J. R., & Gbikpi, B. (Eds.). (2002). Participatory governance. Opladen: Leske & Budrich.
Jackson, P. M. (1991). Performance indicators: Promises and pitfalls. In S. Pearce (Ed.), Museum Economics and the Community (pp. 41–64). London: Athlone.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (2001). Transforming the balanced Scorecard from performance measurement to strategic management: Part I. Accounting Horizons, 15(1), 87–104.
Kaplan, R. S., & Norton, D. P. (1992). The balanced scorecard. Measures that drive performance. Harvard Business Review, 70(1), 71–79.
Lampel, J., Lant, T., & Shamsie, J. (2000). Balancing act: Learning from organizing practices in cultural industries. Organization Science, 11(3), 263–269.
MiBAC (Ministero per i beni e le attività culturali-Italian Ministry for Culture). (2004). Il modello del piano di gestione dei beni culturali iscritti alla lista patrimonio dell’umanità. Linee guida, Paestum: MiBAC.
Paulus, O. (2003). Measuring museum performance: A study of museums in France and the United States. International Journal of Arts Management, 6(1), 50–63.
Romzek, B. S., & Dubnick, M. J. (1987). Accountability in the public sector: Lessons from the challenger tragedy. Public Administration Review, 47(3), 227–238.
Schuster, J. M. (1997). The performance of performance indicators in the arts. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 7(3), 253–269.
Sheehan, R. (1996). Mission accomplishment as philanthropic organization effectiveness: Key findings from the excellence in philanthropy project. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 25(1), 110–123.
Simons, R. (2000). Performance measurement and control systems for implementing strategy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Turbide, J., & Laurin, C. (2009). Performance measurement in the arts sector: The case of the performing arts. International Journal of Arts Management, 11(2), 56–70.
UNESCO. (1994). Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
UNESCO. (2005). Operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
UNESCO. (2011). Operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
UNESCO. (2016). Operational guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention. Paris: UNESCO World Heritage Centre.
UNWCD. (1987). Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our common future. New York: UN Documents.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Badia, F. (2018). The Management Plan for the World Heritage Sites as a Tool of Performance Measurement and Sustainability Reporting: Opportunities and Limits in the Italian Context. In: Makuvaza, S. (eds) Aspects of Management Planning for Cultural World Heritage Sites. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69856-4_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69856-4_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69855-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69856-4
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)