The aim of the project ‘European Union Policies and the Platformisation of Cultural and Audio-visual Sectors – platEU’ is to promote discussion and reflection on EU policies related to the impact of online platforms on cultural and audio-visual (AV) sectors in Europe. Digitalisation has profoundly influenced European societies and such changes have been recognized at EU policy level where digital policies remain high on the agenda. Digital Single Market (DSM) Strategy has been one of the priorities of the former Commissions’ objectives and it has brought many policy challenges related to the regulation of online platforms. Platforms can contribute to growth of skills and jobs in the EU, but the domination of mainly US platforms (e.g. Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix) opens up questions related to European identity, European integration objectives and the role EU plays in the globalised world. In Croatia, there is a lack of knowledge on the EU policy processes relating to platformisation of cultural and AV sectors, not only among students, cultural and creative professionals, civil society and general public but also among policy makers as well. Due to the fast changing nature of these processes and the inter/trans-sectoral nature of the subject, the European studies do not tackle to full extent EU digital policies and new challenges that the digitalisation processes open for European integration. Through organisation of different type of events, development of an information-communication platform and special issue of a scientific journal we aim to contribute to knowledge exchange on the impact of European Union policies on the platformisation of cultural and audio-visual sector and open space for discussion and the development of new collaborations among different target groups.

Expected project results

• Five-day postgraduate course on the policies related to impact of online platforms on cultural and AV sectors in the EU at the Interuniversity centre (IUC) in Dubrovnik;
• Masterclass on the role the EU policies play for AV platforms with partners from Academy of Drama Arts (Zagreb)
• Lecture/debate series on European dimension on the (creative) platform economy organized in cooperation with NGO ‘Drugo more’ (Rijeka), Department of Sociology, University of Zadar and University of Zagreb
• Research stream dedicated to development of EU studies materials in the format of policy briefs, blog posts and materials for organized events
• Preparation of the manuscript for a special issue of an open access scientific journal
• Information and communication web platform

• Creating discussion and reflection on the EU regulatory framework and policy instruments related to online platforms’ impact on the cultural and AV sectors in Europe, with the specific focus on Croatia
• Knowledge exchange and enhancement with European experts and partners through creating European studies information and educational materials needed for students, cultural workers, media professionals and citizens alike in order to be able to fully understand the implications of platformisation of cultural and AV sectors and feel empowered to contribute to digital creative economy from the bottom up

The project is of interdisciplinary nature, and it will be open to academia, cultural/AV professionals, policy-makers, civil society actors and interested public where a special focus will be paid to engagement of postgraduate students, young professionals and young IRMO researchers.

Note: platEU project builds upon knowledge on DSM and digital policies gained through successful implementation of Jean Monnet CULPOL project on EU competences and national cultural policies. More information: https://culpol.irmo.hr/home/