Cultural associativity in the Inner Areas, between vulnerability and opportunity

The Italian Inner Areas, which suffer from depopulation and territorial isolation, nevertheless possess in their local communities the social and cultural potential to engage in development processes. However, the stakeholders involved in the maintenance and transmission of the local cultural heritage encounter significant difficulties in supporting creative initiatives potentially useful for the promotion of this heritage. These difficulties are often due to the lack of material and immaterial (human, technical, economic) resources, but also to the inadequate capacity for strategic organisation to which local policies fail to respond. In the light of these premises, the contribution proposes a critical reflection on the models, and the relative devices of a prevalently programmatic nature, implemented in different territorial contexts, capable of constituting a strategic reference for the socio-economic revitalisation of inland territories, referring in particular to the experiences of incubation and participatory budgeting. Finally, in relation to the Sicani Inner Area in Sicily, a proposal is advanced for a management model for future local development initiatives aimed at their funding that responds more adequately to the peculiarities of the territorial context and in support of the local communities. Keywords: Inner Areas, participatory budgeting, incubation, cultural festivals