
Platform
Kooperativa – Regional Platform for Culture was registered in August 2012 in Zagreb, as a non-governmental, non-party, and non-profit association of legal entities, that is, a regional network of organizations and national networks working in the field of independent culture and contemporary art in Southeast Europe (SEE). Jointly founded by 21 independent cultural organizations from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, the platform currently has 40 active members, active in all areas of contemporary cultural and artistic practices.

Kooperativa’s establishment and activities are the result of a long-lasting cooperation of independent culture organizations active in the SEE. Partners gathered around Kooperativa have already been closely cooperating since 2005, conducting together activities including: implementation of collaborative projects within the exchange and collaboration programmes; bringing together and networking between advocates of independent culture; providing information and educational activities. They have also been active in advocating for cultural policy measures that would systematically improve cultural cooperation both in the region and internationally as well as to enable its long-term sustainability. Ultimately, the main purpose of Kooperativa became advocating for a stable financial mechanism as a long-term and sustainable framework that supports the collaboration and development of independent cultural organizations in SEE, as well as establishing a dialogue with governments and other relevant stakeholders of the respective countries.
Today, Kooperativa still dedicates most of its work advocating towards the aforementioned goal. We also work on strengthening the capacities of independent culture organizations by transferring good practice and knowledge.
~ to ensure the framework for a long-term and sustainable project cooperation and programme exchange between the advocates of independent culture in the region
~ to strengthen the capacities of organizations through the transfer of good practice and knowledge
~ to empower the actors contributing to the development of cultural and other policies that will introduce significant changes in cultural systems of the countries of the region
~ development of contemporary and new artistic practices, critical public discourse and innovative organizational models
Kooperativa’s goals within the next three years are to strengthen the platform’s profile as a key stakeholder for the development of regional policies and programs in culture. At the same time, the aim is to continue providing support for different forms of regional collaboration and exchange, and to pilot a new fund for program exchange.
Strategic objectives:
~ Strengthening Kooperativa through organizational development, members engagement, communication and outreach to key stakeholders
~ Fostering programs of mutual support, knowledge exchange, collective actions and program cooperation between cultural organisations in the region
~ Advocating for better conditions of independent culture in the region and a sustainable financial instrument for regional collaboration