Association of the Creative Initiatives “ę“ has been working with communities all over Poland in the field of culture since 2002 and has often  cooperated with local cultural centers. We believe that the shape of culture in Poland depends to a great extent on the quality of their performance. However,  functioning of these institutions, which especially in small towns  are often the only space of interacting with culture, has never been the focus of major debate or research. We have started this project to find out whether the centers can be the attractive hubs of culture of the twenty-first century.