Design Thinking in Cultural and Heritage Management: Creating Solutions in the Field of Culture

The ability to discover and respond to societal needs in the field of culture requires an integrated, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral approach. Such a holistic view is offered by the design thinking method, which has been extracted from the field of design and could be applied also in the sphere of culture. Interdisciplinarity and consideration of users’ needs are characteristics of contemporary design and can be a significant support when faced with the challenges of cultural heritage management. The abovementioned factors act as the premise behind undertaking an analysis of the possibility of adapting the design thinking method to the management of intangible cultural heritage, and to develop a model of the design thinking process for this area. This research volume is the first comprehensive study of the application of the design thinking method to cultural management, especially management of the intangible cultural heritage. It asserts that design thinking can bring numerous benefits to organizations involved in the management of intangible cultural heritage and to its depositories. It will be of interest to researchers and academics in the fields of public and nonprofit management, strategic management, and value creation in the field of culture; students of design for culture and heritage; and practitioners in cultural management.

Lubomira Trojan is a cultural anthropologist, doctor of social sciences in the discipline of management and quality sciences, member of the Management Department at WSB University in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Poland. Academic lecturer, for many years she has been a vice director of the regional design center Castle Cieszyn. She co-leads the Design Observatory in Silesia region. She specializes in processes aimed at combining design methods with heritage. Coordinator of numerous design processes, author of expert opinions, strategic documents, studies, articles on such topics as cultural heritage, design thinking and design management, service design.

Lukasz Wróblewski is a professor of cultural management and head of the Production Management and Engineering Chair at WSB University (Poland). He is also an editor-in-chief of Cultural Management: Science and Education (CMSE), published by Logos Verlag Berlin, and a deputy editor-in-chief of Forum Scientiae Oeconomia. He is a rapporteur of the Commission for Polish-Czech and Polish-Slovak Relations of the Polish Academy of Sciences and a member of the Polish-Czech-Slovak Euro Institute. He is the author of over 120 scientific publications, among others, six books on management and marketing issues in the cultural sector.