Cultural diplomacy as an emergent and uneven process: The cultural olympiad in the veneto dolomites ahead of Milano cortina 2026

This article examines the Cultural Olympiad of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, focusing on Belluno, a peripheral Alpine province and UNESCO World Heritage site. Combining territorial mapping, policy analysis, and a stakeholder survey, the study identifies fragmented coordination and limited funding despite strong grassroots cultural capacity. More than half of initiatives are led by community-based organisations, yet only 35% of stakeholders plan new Olympiad-related activities. The findings show that cultural diplomacy does not emerge as a predefined outcome but as an uneven process shaped by governance, local capacities, and the ability to engage external audiences. Diplomatic functions remain indirect and weakly institutionalised, largely embedded in territorial promotion. The article contributes to debates on subnational cultural diplomacy by analysing Cultural Olympiads as contexts where its conditions and limits become visible.