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The chapter analyses the digitalisation process as a driver of sustainable development in the cultural field, with particular attention to cultural heritage. Cultural heritage is among the most evident cases of relevance to sustainability; in fact, it risks a gradual extinction, at least in the units whose fragility may be irreversible (Macri and Trimarchi 2015).

This chapter aims to assess whether an ethnic and linguistic minority, such as the Arbereshe community in Southern Italy, could be considered a specific kind of cultural common. Commons are historically defined as resources connected to natural sphere and enjoyed collectively. The idea that cultures may be analysed under the perspective of commons produces relevant theoretical constructs which are not strictly related to, and therefore not identifiable only with, common-pool resources. With respect to this issue, the chapter offers a systematic analysis of three important dimensions, belonging to a specific community, that can be considered crucial for the definition of a new concept of cultural commons: culture, spatial dimension, and community aspect. Some evidence, drawn from the theoretical analysis and case study method, offers an overview which led to considered Arbereshe community a unique cultural commons, able to generate shared value from its rich, complex, and lively identity.

This study aimed to determine whether engaging in artistic activities affected the psychological well-being of patients with spinal cord injuries (SCI). 19 hospital patients with SCI regularly engaged in arts-based activities such as painting, woodworking and working with clay. The psychological general well-being index (PGWBI) was used to measure the subjective well-being of participants during two periods. The first period coincided with the reactivation phase, in which individual physical and psychological health conditions began to improve, allowing them to participate in the activities; the second phase coincided with the pre-discharge period, after the patients carried out the artistic activities. The results showed a statistically significant change of the PGWBI global score from a moderate distress level to the absence of distress, while 4 domains out of the 6 PGWBI domains (general health, vitality, depressed mood and positive well-being) demonstrated a statistically significant change.

The process of digitalisation plays an important role for the valorisation and innovation of cultural heritage it may represent new kinds of cultural consumption, dissemination and preservation. The aim of this paper is to analyse the general process of digitalisation of cultural heritage and analyse BeWeb the official portal of Italian ecclesiastical cultural heritage. This study is an exploratory and qualitative analysis developed along two stages, in the first a theoretical framework about the digitalisation process was carried out, while in the second the case of BeWeb has been extensively analysed. The results show that main purpose of the portal is to promote the knowledge of the ecclesiastical cultural heritage owned by Italian dioceses and ecclesiastical cultural institutes on their self-owned holdings belonging to their historical, artistic, archival, and library assets and at the same time guarantee protection, valorisation and preservation of their heritage in a sustainable perspective.

Cultural Heritage (CH), in its tangible and intangible dimension, can represent an extraordinary engine for sustainable transformation and reactivation processes in abandoned and underused urban spaces. The regenerative potential of CH requires the identification of innovative operating models and strategies, able to strengthen common resources, starting from the acknowledgment and the enhancement of human and urban capital. This value-oriented approach was experimented in the Bologna University area by the EU Horizon 2020 project ROCK—Regeneration and Optimisation of Cultural Heritage in creative and Knowledge cities (GA 730280) through a series of pilot actions. Among them, the temporary transformation of Piazza Rossini.