Manuela Barreca

Manuela Barreca is a post-doctoral researcher at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) in Lugano, Switzerland. She holds roles as a Researcher at the Centre for Organisational Research - Health and Public management (CORe) and the Institute of Public Health (IPH), and is affiliated with the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences. She also serves as a teaching assistant for the Master in Public Management and Policy, coordinated under USI's Swiss Public Administration Network (SPAN). Her research focuses on public art and cultural management, creative industries, network governance, and public-private partnerships, with an emphasis on territorial development through cultural perspectives.

Key projects include the 'Puglia Sounds Monitoring' (analyzing Italy's Apulia Region music industry) and collaborative work at the University of Aix-Marseille on European regional music systems. She actively contributes to professional networks such as the European Group of Public Administration (as co-chair of the Social Innovation panel) and the International Institute of Administrative Sciences (IIAS). She is also part of the CEPS Research Fellows (Center for Philanthropy Studies) and the Public Integrity Research Group (GRIP).

Barreca earned her PhD in Economics from USI in 2016 and has held visiting research positions. Her work bridges public management, governance innovation, and cultural policy, with recent engagements including the CEPRA-NBER workshop on Aging and Health (2025).