During 2025, the project CULTMED – Interdisciplinary Research of Cultural and Media Policies and Practices: Developmental and Democratic Potentials conducted intensive scholarly research activities that resulted in a number of publishing, and networking activities, contributing to building stronger international cooperation and dissemination of research results. Below is a brief overview of the achievements in 2025.
In the field of academic publishing, five scholarly articles were published in the academic journals indexed in WoS / Scopus databases: Audiences, content diversity and streaming platforms in small European countries: Engagement, interaction with catalogues; Audience engagement with comedy films in small European markets; From Data to Impact: Assessing the Value of Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age; The global/local and omnivore/univore nexus: class divisions and cultural tastes in contemporary Croatia, and the Portrait of Croatian Film Industry. In addition, one book chapter, „Democratising Cultural Policy Through Participatory Governance,” was published in the international scholarly volume Cultural Democracy: Policy, Practice and Education. During 2025, two special issues of international academic journals (The Political Economy of Communication and European Journal of Cultural Management and Policy) were edited by members of CULTMED project, and work began on several edited books and volumes planned for publication in 2026, including a volume dedicated to the legacy of Dr. sc. Biserka Cvjetičanin.
Several competitive project proposals were submitted at the European and national levels, including applications to the Horizon Europe and Creative Europe programmes, COST Actions, and a bilateral project of the Croatian Science Foundation. Among these, the application for the Horizon Europe project CULTURAI – Cultivating Inclusive and Sustainable AI Policy for the Creative Sector was successful, with project implementation scheduled to begin in 2026. These new project activities will significantly contribute to strengthening the international partnerships of the Department for Culture and Communication.
In 2025, CULTMED achieved synergies with complementary research initiatives coordinated by and involving CULTMED researchers. Dr. sc. Paško Bilić coordinated the Croatian Science Foundation project DEVELOPER – Digital Data, Infrastructures and Development, while Dr. sc. Jaka Primorac coordinated the Horizon Europe project CresCine – Increasing the International Competitiveness of the Film Industry in Small European Markets. CULTMED researchers also continued their regular participation in the European projects, such as Compendium of Cultural Policies and Trends (Jaka Primorac) and in the project Media Pluralism Monitoring (Paško Bilić).
Throughout 2025, CULTURELINK and CEMEDIG centres conducted their regular activities, serving as key research and communication infrastructure for the CULTMED project and as a platform for long-term cooperation in the field of cultural and media research.
In 2025, four Culturelink guest lectures have been organised. In June, Helena Popović delivered the lecture “Media Hunting of Migrants: Racialised Representations of Migrants in Croatian Media.” In September, two lectures were held: Paraic Mc Quaid presented “Basic Income for Artists: Evaluation of the Irish Pilot Project,” and Katharine Sarikakis delivered “The Future Reel: Young Europeans Shaping the Film Industry.” The final guest lecturer in Culturelink Guest Series was Lilian Richieri Hanania, who analysed “Twenty Years of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions: From Negotiation to Implementation.”
Within the CEMEDIG centre, several public debates and round tables were organised, including a discussion on the European Media Freedom Act, the public forum “European Union Digital Decade Policy – Regulation, Development and Social Impact”, and the summer school “Political Economies of the Media – Theories and Methods.”
Special attention was devoted to the education of early-career researchers through doctoral studies, summer schools, workshops, and mentoring. In December, Barbara Lovrinić-Higgins, an assistant at the Department for Culture and Communication, defended her doctoral dissertation “Re-working Cultural Memory and Heritage in the Digital Age: Cultural Policies for LAM Institutions from the EU Perspective” at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade. Sunčana Franić completed a specialist postgraduate programme, Preparation and Implementation of EU Projects, focusing on the topic “Sustainable Development of Health and Rural Tourism in the Vicinity of the City of Petrinja: Construction and Equipment of an Apitherapy Clinic and Api-Inhalation Chamber.”
CULTMED researchers actively contributed to the work of European networks and professional and academic associations. Ana Žuvela was elected Vice-President of the ENCATC network’s Board, while Paško Bilić serves as Coordinator and Jaka Primorac as a Board Member of Research Network 18 – Sociology of Communication and Media, within the European Sociological Association (ESA RN18).
CULTMED researchers also participated in the organisation and implementation of numerous international conferences, round tables, summer schools, as well as public debates, forums, and professional events focused on cultural and media policies, digital transformation, and social development.
The Department for Culture and Communication of IRMO will continue implementing the CULTMED project in 2026, with the aim of further strengthening academic excellence, international cooperation, and provide contributions to the development of democratic cultural and media policies.
