

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
Call for applications to the international conference
Dr Paško Bilić, coordinator of Research Network 18 of the European Sociological Association, invites all interested participants to apply for the international conference Communication and Capital(ism) to be held at the University of Ljubljana from August 28 to 30,...
Lecture and discussion on social responsibility and ethics in science
On 28 January, senior research associate Dr Marija Brajdić-Vuković, head of the Centre for Research in Science, Work and Sustainability at the Institute for Social Research in Zagreb and principal investigator of the HRZZ of the RESETH project, held an invited...
The process of developing the Cultural Development Program of the City of Osijek 2025-2030 has begun
On Thursday, January 23, 2025, Dr Dea Vidović from the Institute for Development and International Relations presented the process of creating the Cultural Development Program for the City of Osijek for the five-year period 2025-2030 at the Osijek Cultural Center. The...
Call for Applications for an International Summer School
Political Economies of the Media. Theories and Methods, an advanced postgraduate course. Šibenik, Croatia, 9 - 12 September 2025 Keynote Speakers: Micky Lee, Suffolk University, USA Mandy Troeger, University of Tuebingen, Germany Course Directors: Thomas Allmer,...
The meeting of the HRZZ DEVELOPER project
On September 20, 2025, a meeting of the HRZZ project "Digital Data, Infrastructures and Development" (DEVELOPER) was held in the library of the Institute. The participants discussed upcoming work activities in the second and third project years, particularly focusing...
Deadline Extended for Abstract Submission for the Book “Cultural Diversity, Cultural Networks, and Cultural Policies: The Legacy of Biserka Cvjetičanin’s Cultural Optimism”
The Culturelink Center announces that the deadline for submitting abstracts for the collection of papers titled “Cultural Diversity, Cultural Networks, and Cultural Policies: The Legacy of Biserka Cvjetičanin’s Cultural Optimism” has been extended to February 10,...
IRMO aktualno “Small European Film Markets and Domestic Film Export”
In the new issue of IRMO Aktualno, the authors Dr. Jaka Primorac and Lucija Gegić present research results from the Horizon Europe project CresCine – Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Film Industry in Small European Markets. The research report Small...
Overview of CULTMED 2024
In 2024, the Department of Culture and Communication at IRMO began work on the four-year project CULTMED – Interdisciplinary Research of Cultural and Media Policies and Practices: Developmental and Democratic Potentials. Two centres were established as part of the...
Detailed report of the HRZZ DEVELOPER project now available
After two published scientific articles on personal digital data and public infrastructures in the European Journal of Communication, a detailed descriptive report of the project "Digital data, infrastructures and development" (IP-2022-10-2780) is now available. Under...
Cultural Participation: Inga Tomić-Koludrović and Mirko Petrić Deliver Lecture on “Cultural Participation and Social Inequalities in Europe” at IRMO Library
The second lecture in the Culturelink Guest Lecture Series occurred on Tuesday, December 3, 2024, at the Library of the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO). Croatian sociologists Inga Tomić-Koludrović and Mirko Petrić delivered a presentation...
IRMO aktualno „One step forward, two steps back: participatory governance and the new directions of democratization of the cultural system in Croatia – experience 15 year of operation of Pogon – Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth”
In the latest issue of IRMO Aktualno, Dr. Ana Žuvela, associate on the CULTMED project, examines the processes of democratizing the cultural system in Croatia through participatory governance practices, using the example of Pogon – Center for Independent Culture and...
Book of Abstracts from the 15th Annual International Conference Small Cinemas Published
The 15th Annual International Small Cinemas Conference has concluded. Organized by the Department of Culture and Communication at the Institute for Development and International Relations (IRMO) in collaboration with the Zagreb Film Festival (ZFF) and the Academy of...
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.