CAB-CPM®: A New Standard for Cultural Project Management in the AI Era

CAB-CPM® synthesizes Cultural Engineering Cultural and creative industries are increasingly recognized as strategic drivers of sustainable development, yet the management of cultural projects remains underserved by existing project management frameworks. Traditional standards like PMI's PMBOK and PRINCE2, designed for industrial and technological contexts, fail to address the symbolic, participatory, and place-based nature of cultural work. This paper introduces CAB-CPM® (Cultural Assets-Based Cultural Project Management), an integrated framework specifically designed for cultural projects in the digital age.CAB-CPM® synthesizes Cultural Engineering, Creative Engineering, and Innovation Engineering through an asset-based meta-approach, proposing a 5-phase project lifecycle (Inspiration, Narration, Planning, Production, Legacy) supported by practical tools including the Cultural Grafting Canvas, Hybrid Financing Grid, and 360° Cultural Impact Matrix. The framework integrates artificial intelligence as an analytical and creative lever while maintaining human agency at its core.Field-tested on Tunisia's Hammamet International Festival (1964-present), CAB-CPM® demonstrates measurable impact across cultural, social, economic, and symbolic dimensions. This research positions CAB-CPM® as a candidate for international standardization in cultural project management, offering a model adaptable to diverse cultural contexts while addressing the specificities of Arab and Global South contexts.