Performance Art, Adaptive Reuse, and Urban Heritage Valorisation: Exploring Sustainable Cultural and Artificial Intelligence Practices “Beside Restoration” in Umbria, Italy

This study investigates how practices operating “beside restoration”—including adaptive reuse, cultural programming, performative activities, and digital engagement—can contribute to the sustainable valorisation and social activation of architectural heritage without being considered restoration interventions in the strict disciplinary sense. An exploratory qualitative pilot study was conducted in Umbria, Italy, combining the analysis of heritage-related initiatives with five-question written interviews involving three purposively selected professionals operating across cultural production, design, digital media, and live events. Responses were examined through thematic coding and comparative qualitative analysis. The results identify recurrent themes concerning social and urban activation, adaptive reuse, inclusivity, cultural sustainability, and digital engagement, while also revealing tensions related to conservation compatibility, data ethics, and the operational definition of sustainability. Rather than demonstrating measurable conservation outcomes, the study shows how complementary practices can foster public participation, continued use, awareness, and cultural recognition of heritage places, thereby creating conditions potentially supportive of protection, maintenance, and conservation processes. Given the exploratory sample and single-author coding procedure, the findings are not intended to be statistically generalizable but to provide a methodological and conceptual basis for subsequent comparative research.