What are cultural studies, how have they evolved in the 21st century, and where are they heading—as an academic discipline, a research field, an intellectual commitment, and a profession? How should we teach cultural studies and use them as a platform for better knowledge and as a toolkit that supports visions, strategies, and instruments for a more sustainable and brighter future?

While cultural studies have always been marked by interdisciplinarity and a bold degree of theoretical and methodological openness, the field is also shaped by a number of diverse traditions that respond to regionally specific needs, challenges, and conjunctures. Several such traditions exist within Southeast Europe—a region shaped by long and complex experiences of intercultural exchange, socialism, post-socialist transitions, multidirectional migration, and uncompromising visions of the future at various scales. It is also a region that, in the past three decades, has developed multiple tools for critically reflecting on its peripheral position with respect to global and European cultural, economic, and political centers—and for acting from that position.

To foster the recognition, international and intergenerational transfer, and sustainability of these insights, cultural studies experts and enthusiasts from the universities of Rijeka (Brigita Miloš, Boris Ružić, and student initiative representative Lucija Grubelić), Ljubljana (Natalija Majsova and Aljoša Pužar), and Belgrade (Rodoljub Jovanović) gathered on May 16, 2025, for a roundtable held at Klub Palach in Rijeka. The event, part of the MEMPOP Ri_loading workshop, was dedicated to exchanging ideas on the future of regional collaboration in this field. It marked the second such meeting, following the initial roundtable held in Ljubljana in June 2024. The Rijeka discussion made significant strides toward formalizing the concept of a regional cultural studies network, setting several concrete priorities.

Planned initiatives for the coming year include:

• Establishing a formal headquarters for the network by the end of 2025;
• Organizing the international cultural studies institute ACS (Agency for Cultural Studies) in Ljubljana from April 20 to 24, 2026, with a focus on decolonization strategies and memory work in popular culture;
• Hosting an international student cultural studies conference in Rijeka in May 2026;
• Expanding joint Erasmus+ project initiatives such as summer schools;
• Increasing visibility and promotion of regional publications in cultural studies.