Project management of cultural events in a public university: analysis of practices and improvement propositions

Abstract

This article aims to describe the management practices used for conducting cultural events adopted by the Department of Culture of a public university, identifying critical points and providing the basis for developing a specific methodology for the organization. The research adopted a qualitative approach of analysis, both to identify practices with those responsible for project management and for conducting a case study of a project undertaken by the institution. For data collection we used semi-structured interviews, participant observation and document analysis. It was found that the project management of cultural events at the university has some quirks, which requires the development of specific processes for their management. Moreover, when compared with the best practices suggested by the literature, the project management of events conducted by the university is still at an incipient stage of maturity. Based on the results, we presented some proposals for improvement for the project management of cultural events in the Department of Culture, especially regarding the adoption of management tools for projects and activities that must be performed at each stage of the life cycle of a cultural event.