The preconditions for changing the structural conditions of the functioning of civil society organizations, as well as independent culture, are cooperation, networking, and joint public action. The Multimedia Institute systematically works on initiating, capacity building, and cooperation of initiatives, platforms, and networks at the level of Zagreb, Croatia, the post-Yugoslav region, and wider Europe. From these activities in the past ten years, the Clubture network, Operation City, Right to the City, and Kooperativa – Regional Platform for Culture have emerged. Partnerships and networking within these platforms are aimed either at program cooperation or at building shared resources, changing public policies, or social engagement. These are platforms that are not organized as membership-based and representative but as dynamic – as inclusive and collaborative advocacy and program platforms based on mutual trust and common goals: creating a stimulating public policy framework or positive change in the social context. Some of them primarily bring together independent cultural organizations, while some build partnerships with actors from other sub-sectors: youth, environmental protection, spatial policy. Each of these platforms has developed into an independent and significant actor on the Croatian civil society scene.
Among the most important achievements of these collaborative platforms is the establishment of two institutions. The first is Pogon – Zagreb Center for Independent Culture and Youth, based on a new model of civil-public partnership jointly managed by the Association of Operations City and the City of Zagreb. The basic goals of Pogon are to provide space and adequate conditions for the production and presentation of contemporary cultural and artistic programs of the Zagreb independent cultural scene, as well as for programs of civil society organizations that encourage the active involvement of young people in cultural and social life. The second institution is the Kultura nova Foundation, the first public foundation in the field of culture aimed at supporting the work of independent cultural organizations.
