The analysis of cultural policy in the last decade suggests that creativity and the arts in general are extensively used in political agendas as means of capitalizing on the forecasted socio-economic potential of creative/artistic activities (e.g. Flew, 2005; Garnham, 2005; Hartley, 2005; Hesmondhalgh, 2007). Although some critical studies have highlighted instrumentalism, short-sidedness and practice/practitioners’ averse policy-making and intervention planning (Belfiore, 2004, 2009; Caust, 2003; Oakley, 2009; Newman, 2013), so far only very few studies have exposed the experiences and voices of particular groups of creative workers in the different national (country-specific) contexts to support this criticism. There has been a significant lack of studies that aim to understand how creative workers experience and cope with the changing policy context in their work. In particular, the voice of non-artists has rarely been considered when seeking a better understanding of the sector’s dynamics. This thesis explored the Scottish cultural sector through the eyes of cultural leaders. The study was carried out during a time of significant transformation to the funding structure, processes and relationships in the sector, catalysed by the establishment of a new funding agency (the funder). It focuses on cultural leaders’ understandings of an increasingly politicised cultural landscape that constitutes the context of their work. The thesis also looks at the influence of these understandings on the leaders’ role responsibilities, as well as the essence and the sustainability of the cultural sector. The empirical work for the thesis followed a qualitative research approach and focused on 21 semi-structured interviews with cultural leaders and industry experts based in Scotland. These individuals were purposefully chosen as a group of stakeholders who are able to engage in discussions about the cultural sector in the context of recent changes in the governance and financial subsidy of Scottish (publically funded) arts. The research findings illustrated the importance of leaders’ values and beliefs, which reflect the purpose of their work and shape their enactments in the sector. In particular, the intrinsic motivation, artistic ambitions, social and civic responsibilities of leaders emerged as crucial qualities of their work roles. The findings revealed a discrepancy between these artistic and civic concerns of cultural leaders and the socio-economic expectations of the funder, which contributed to a great deal of unproductive ('inorganic') tensions for which leaders had to find coping mechanisms. Bourdieu’s (1977, 1992) theoretical concepts were used as a starting point in understanding the cultural sector as a cultural field, and cultural leaders as actors enacting their work-related practices in the evolving socio-political and economic system of cultural production. However, upon further analysis of the data, the notions of a ‘worldview’ and ‘stewardship’ emerged and were used to better explain the greater complexity of work in today’s cultural sector. This thesis thus builds upon Bourdieu’s concept of ‘field’ and ‘artistic logic’ and explains the changing cultural sector as a holistic cultural field where cultural leaders enact their stewardship-like work responsibilities from within a strong and dynamic artistic worldview.

<p>With the increased role of local authorities in creating cultural policy, gathering information on how successful and sustainable local heritage conservation programs are established will be very valuable in crafting future policies. This dissertation investigated the development of local government heritage conservation policies in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga in the Philippines in order to determine (1) predictors of community support for heritage conservation policy – why communities support heritage conservation policy and what characteristics or elements of communities lead them to support heritage conservation policies, (2) factors that lead to the adoption and implementation of heritage conservation policies or policy drivers of heritage conservation policy, and (3) given the deeper understanding of community support and policy drivers, the relationship between these predictors and drivers with heritage conservation policy management and sustainability. It did this by being cognizant of the lack of homogeneity across communities, with actors, factors, contexts, and nuances specific to each community.</p><p>Implementing two component studies, the dissertation used mixed methods, which interprets and integrates information drawn from the combined strength of both quantitative and qualitative data, following the convergent design (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2018; Harrison et al., 2020) and guided by the Rigorous Mixed Methods framework (Harrison, Reilly and Creswell, 2020). This first study used a self-administered online survey to collect data from stakeholders and ordinary residents of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga which was analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). In the second study, guided by the naturalist paradigm (Guba and Lincoln, 1982; Lincoln and Guba, 1985), transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted by City Tourism and Investment Promotion Office (CTIPO) were coded and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. It combined several coding approaches, specifically a blended approach (Skjott Linneberg, and Korsgaard, 2006), with the the Gioia Methodology (Gioia et al., 2012) and Ünlü-Qureshi instrument (Qureshi and Ünlü, 2020)</p> <p>The integration of qualitative and quantitative data and results was guided by the dimensions of the mixed methods research integration trilogy (Fetters and Molina-Azorin, 2017). The dissertation identified predictors for community support for heritage conservation policy, policy drivers of the heritage conservation policy process, and the relationship between these predictors and drivers and within the heritage conservation policy process and produced three models: (1) predictors of community support for local heritage conservation policy, (2) heritage conservation policy drivers, and (3) managerial implications for heritage conservation policy sustainability, and a framework for heritage conservation, management, and sustainability. The data suggested that in the case of San Fernando, (1) knowledge and awareness, (2) sense of belonging and attachment, (3) place image and community identity, and (4) evaluation of value are predictors of support for heritage conservation policies, with evaluation of value as a mediator for the first three. It also identified two major policy drivers: (1) good governance, and (2) heritage consciousness, and six specific policy drivers: (1) understanding the dynamics of heritage conservation, (2) addressing program sustainability, (3) stakeholder integration in the policy process, (4) appreciation of process-oriented governance, (5) manifesting pride and attachment, and (6) awareness of long-term outcomes of policies, that serve as factors leading to the adoption and implementation of heritage conservation policies. The predictors and policy drivers were incorporated into a single framework for heritage conservation policy management and sustainability.</p>