The main aim of the two year Erasmus+ Jean Monnet platEU project (2020-2022) was to promote discussion and reflection on the EU policies related to online platforms affecting cultural and audio-visual sectors in Europe. The project served as an interdisciplinary platform that contributed to enhancing knowledge and opening up discussion on the EU policy processes relating to platformisation of cultural and AV sectors among different stakeholders and it created synergies between the national and EU stakeholders in the domain of culture and audio-visual. All the planned project activities have been realized and the additional activities and cooperation have been achieved. The planned realized activities include two deliverables and seven events underpinned by the research activities during the whole lifetime of the project.
Deliverables:
1.Preparation of the Special Issue of the scientific journal ‘Media Studies’ entitled ‘Platformisation of cultural and audio-visual sectors in the European Union: new policies for new stakeholders’ that will be published at the end of December 2022 (Vol.13.No.26) as the final output of the platEU project. The full issue will be available at: https://hrcak.srce.hr/medijske-studije
2.Project website (https://plateu.irmo.hr). The news on the project webpage have been regularly published since November 2020. Six platEU REFLECTIONS resulting from the research have been published in the Research section on the website providing state-of-the-art materials for informed discussion during the project events and are made available online as open-access materials for further dissemination to interested parties. The Research section of the website also includes the ‘platEU library’ containing a relevant reading list consisting of previously published studies, reports, research papers and other material that address issues of relevance to the themes of the project. platEU library was regularly updated during the lifetime of the project.
Events (in order as they were planned in the application):
Event No.1 – Kick off meeting of the platEU project, online event via Zoom, 26th of April, 2021.
Event No.2 – Masterclass with Antonios Vlassis ‘Online platforms, Audio-visual industry and Governance: Lessons from the review of the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive’, F22 Hall, Frankopanska 22, Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb & online, 25th of March 2022.
Event No.3 – Round table ‘Creative Labour as Platform Work: Infrastructures and Interactions’, Gallery Filodrammatica, Korzo 28, Rijeka, 6th of June 2022.
Event No.4 – Postgraduate course ‘Platformisation of cultural and audio-visual sectors in the European Union: new policies for new stakeholders’, Don Frana Bulića 4, Interuniversity Centre (IUC), Dubrovnik, 9-14th of May 2022.
Event No.5 – Round table ‘Digital Cultural Politics: From Policy to Practice and Back’, Multimedia Hall, University of Zadar, 4th of March 2022.
Event No.6 – Round table ‘Towards Critical Digital Cultural Politics? EU, Platforms and Converging Regulation’, Council Hall of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, Ivana Lučića 3, Zagreb, 3rd of March, 2022.
Event No. 7 – Wrap up meeting with public lecture by David Nieborg ‘Next steps in culture, Platforms and Regulation’, IRMO Library, Lj.F.Vukotinovica 2 and F22 Hall, Frankopanska 22, Academy of Dramatic Arts, Zagreb, 17th of October 2022.
The additionally established cooperation included the presentation of the platEU project to students at the University of Rijeka, the hosting of visiting scholar from the University of Copenhagen, and participation at DFEST conference.
We would like to thank all of our collaborators and project partners for their work as without them the successful finalization of the platEU project could not be achieved. Special thanks goes to our project partner institutions: Department of Sociology, University of Zadar, Academy of Dramatic Arts, University of Zagreb, NGO ‘Drugo more’, Rijeka and Interuniversity Centre (IUC), Dubrovnik.