The Role of Evaluation and Participation in developing Cultural Heritage Enhancement Projects. A Participatory Multicriteria Analysis applied to the "Certosa di Pisa" in Calci (Tuscany, IT) case study.

Public cultural heritage sites need considerable funds for restoration and maintenance. Required resources may be found by activities providing a proper mix of private and public functions. Enhancement scenarios have to be adequately evaluated, taking into account the historical, architectural and social values of cultural heritage. Consequently, scenario outcomes need to be estimated by using both qualitative and quantitative indices. This paper analyses the case study of Certosa di Pisa in Calci (PI), a publicly owned museum centre located in a former monastery. Certosa is currently suffering for architectural and structural deterioration, especially of unused areas. Urgent restoration works are necessary to put the building in adequate condition. New functions and activities for the unused areas of Certosa have been identified and evaluated, which would allow economic sustainability by raising funds for the annual maintenance of the whole monumental building. The Authors propose a participatory multicriteria analysis (MCA) model, based on economic criteria and public cultural heritage evaluation criteria, which have been identified with the involvement of Certosa museum directors. Three different scenarios were presented to stakeholders: a) an accommodation structure for a specific tourist niche market, i.e. digital detox; b) a structure for university complementary education (e.g. winter and summer schools) able to provide accommodation for participants; c) a co-working structure where to host also laboratories for expert craftsmen. The paper is organized in three sections: 1) state of the art about built heritage adaptive reuse; 2) a short description of the three scenarios under evaluation; 3) evaluation methodology, data and results.