Governance complexity in industrial heritage museums

This chapter investigates governance solutions and the financial viability of industrial heritage sites repurposed into museums. Three Italian sites are analysed: the Archaeological Mines Park of San Silvestro (Tuscany), Manifattura dei Marinati in Comacchio (Emilia Romagna), and the Tuna Florio plant in Favignana (Sicily). Case studies are explored longitudinally, tracing their recent histories from plant closure up to more recent times through analysis of the roles, responsibilities, and relationships of actors in the reuse and current management phases of the sites. Looking at the initial projects, the three cases can be considered success stories from a curatorial point of view: not only the walls of industrial plants are preserved, but also intangible heritage relating to the organization of labour, the machineries, and cultural and social practices that characterized the historical use. In terms of governing the current activities, different governance solutions emerge in three cases. The Mine Park is managed by a private-law public company that uses a sort of in-kind endowment to sustain the income gap. Manifattura dei Marinati management is outsourced to a social cooperative that uses cross-subsidizing to be financially viable. The Tuna Florio plant is managed by four public actors whose unstable relationships led to the deterioration of the initial project.