This page focuses on the current project of IRMO’s Department for Culture and Communication CULTMED – Interdisciplinary Research on Cultural and Media Policies and Practices: Developmental and Democratic Potentials (December 31, 2023 – December 31, 2027), funded by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan 2021-2026, NextGeneration EU program.
CULTMED focuses on research related to the development of culture and cultural policy, media and media policy in Croatia and defines the local, regional, national, European and global environment of Croatian culture and media. The project aims to establish the necessary structural conditions for ongoing research in the fields of culture and media by setting up two centres of excellence: the Centre for Cultural Policy Research, Development and Cooperation (CULTURELINK) and the Centre for Media Sociology and Digital Society (CEMEDIG). These centres will also engage external collaborators who will be actively involved in the centres’ activities.
By building such a framework, the project seeks to improve the sustainability, visibility, and systematic long-term approach to cultural and media research. The two centers will provide the communication infrastructure needed for the implementation of the planned activities during the project duration and ensure long-term monitoring of research in these areas beyond the four-year project cycle
This page also contains information on other current and completed projects carried out within the Department for Culture and Communication, an archive of conferences organized by the Department and the Culturelink Network, as well as selected scholarly monographs published by the Department’s researchers.
News – Culture and Media
Results of the HRZZ project DEVELOPER presented in Florence
Dr Valentina Vučković (Faculty of Economics, University of Zagreb) and Dr Paško Bilić (IRMO) presented a paper titled Digital Infrastructure Spillovers: State Capacities and Inequalities in the EU, at the Understanding and Addressing Digital Inequalities conference...
Public discussion “Labor, Migration, and Digital Regimes through Workers’ Voices” held
As part of the Transnational Solidarities series, a public discussion titled “Labor, Migration, and Digital Regimes through Workers’ Voices” was held on November 14 at Club MaMa, focusing on labor, migration, and the transformation of work relations in the era of...
Lucija Gegić Stanić Participated in the Conference „Studentski protesti 2024/25: BloKADA, ako ne SADA?“
Lucija Gegić Stanić, an associate at the CULTMED project and the Department of Culture and Communication, participated in the conference “Studentski protesti 2024/25: BloKADA, ako ne SADA?” (Student Protests 2024/25: Blockade WHEN, if not NOW?), held on November 22...
French Network FNADAC Visited IRMO: Exchange of Experiences on Cultural Policies
As part of the CULTMED project, Dr Aleksandra Uzelac, Dr Ana Žuvela and Dr Dea Vidović hosted a meeting with representatives of the French network FNADAC (Fédération nationale des directrices et directeurs des affaires culturelles) at the IRMO Library on Wednesday, 19...
Roundtable “Small Markets, Big Stories” on the film industry in small EU countries held at the Zagreb Film Festival
The Department for Culture and Communication of the Institute for Development and International Relations organised a roundtable entitled "Small Markets, Big Stories - Film Industry in Small European Countries" on November 11, 2025, at the F22 stage of the Academy of...
Dr Ana Žuvela and Dr Dea Vidović Participated in the International Conference A Global Dialogue
CULTMED project associates Dr Ana Žuvela and Dr Dea Vidović participated in the international scientific conference "Cultural Policy and Sustainable Development: A Global Dialogue," held from 5 to 7 November 2025 in Lima, Peru, co-organised by the Pontifical Catholic...
Dr Jaka Primorac participated in the ISSA October School 2025
Jaka Primorac, PhD, the CULTMED project associate, participated from October 21-25, 2025, in the October School 2025 program, which was held in Komiža on the island of Vis with the thematic focus of 'Moving Beyond Collapse: Reimagining Institutions'. The school was...
Dr Jaka Primorac participated in the international conference on cultural policies in Luxembourg
Dr Jaka Primorac, the CULTMED project associate, from IRMO’s Department of Culture and Communication, participated from 16 to 17 October 2025 in the international conference on European cultural policies entitled "Watch it! Freedom of Artistic Expression. Cultural...
Dr Dea Vidović participated in a panel on international cultural cooperation.
Dr Dea Vidović, Senior Research Assistant and collaborator on the CULTMED project, participated on October 17, 2025, in the panel "International Cultural Cooperation and the Limits of Project-Based Collaboration," held at the Archaeological Park of Ostia Antica in...
Save the Date: Small Markets, Big Stories – a Roundtable on the Film Industry in Small European Countries at the Zagreb Film Festival
The Department of Culture and Communication of the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) is organising a roundtable titled “Small Markets, Big Stories – The Film Industry in Small European Countries”, which will take place as part of the Zagreb...
Dr Lilian Richieri Hanania held the lecture “Twenty Years of the 2005 UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: From Negotiation to Implementation”
As part of the Culturelink Guest Lecture Series, on the 13th of October 2025, at the Library of the Institute for Development and International Relations, Dr Lilian Richieri Hanania, UNESCO Expert, Associate Professor at Université Paris Cité, attorney and researcher...
Participatory Workshop for the Citizens of Šibenik and Šibenik-Knin County on the Socio-Cultural Impact of the Šibenik Public Cultural Institution “Fortress of Culture”
Researchers from the Department of Culture and Communication of the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) – Dr. Dea Vidović, Dr. Aleksandra Uzelac, and Sunčana Franić – conducted a participatory workshop as part of the preparation of the Study...
CEMEDIG CENTER
CEMEDIG – Centre for Sociology of Media and Digital Society
The CEMEDIG Center promotes and directs the research of the Department of Culture and Communications in the field of media sociology, a special branch of sociology characterized by interdisciplinary openness to related disciplines in the field of social sciences and humanities. This particularly applies to economically oriented topics, such as the political economy of the media, and legal and political topics, such as media regulation. In the context of digitization, the term digital sociology is often used as a term close to media sociology, and the focus is on specific development topics such as data infrastructures, platforms, digital data, digital media literacy, and data justice.
CULTURELINK CENTER
CULTURELINK – Centre for Research in Cultural Policy, Development and Cooperation
CULTURELINK Centre was established in 2024 as a result of IRMO’s long-term engagement in coordinating the Culturelink Network. The Centre aims to build on and further develop IRMO’s affluent research repository and decades-long commitment to coordinating the global cultural network (culturelink.org) for research and collaboration in the field of cultural development, which gathered more than 2000 institutional and individual members from all continents since its establishment in 1989. Culturelink Centre’s work and activities will provide an organizational and infrastructural framework for the Department of Culture and Communication national and international research partnerships and collaborations c contributing to the wider outreach and better visibility of the Department’s research results.
