From Governance to Emergence: Understanding Cultural Projects as Multilevel Complex Adaptive Systems

This article is part of a doctoral research project approaching completion and examines the organizational nature of complex cultural projects within institutional contexts. Building on the literature on complex project organizing (e.g.,Winch, et al, 2023), it conceptualizes projects as inter- institutional arenas where heterogeneous actors negotiate roles, meanings, and resources. The article proposes a Multilevel Project Organisation framework that integrates governance-oriented perspectives with a Complex Adaptive Systems approach to account for both coordination mechanisms and emergent dynamics. The framework is applied to an in-depth case study of a regional cultural project, showing how value is not solely produced through planned activities, but emerges from interactions across institutional, organizational, and operational levels. The article contributes to project studies by extending governance-based approaches through a multilevel and complexity- informed lens, highlighting the interplay between coordination and emergence in shaping project outcomes.