Grow the immersive ecosystem with us, across borders
CIIIC actively seeks international collaboration to strengthen the Dutch immersive ecosystem and connect it with partners across Europe and beyond. Discover where you can join in — through consortia, missions, community and talent programmes.
Why CIIIC matters for international partners
CIIIC is the Dutch programme for immersive experiences (IX): a four-year trajectory where makers, researchers, educators and application partners work together on research, innovation and talent development. Public values — ethics, safety, inclusion — run through everything we do.
For international parties, we are both a gateway to the Dutch IX community and a partner for building European collaboration. We focus on three areas:
- European collaboration on ethics, safety and public values in IX — a key focus of our programme team.
- International networks for co-creation, knowledge exchange and scaling up — a shared focus of our implementing partners.
- Joint programmes for education, reskilling, upskilling and talent mobility within Europe.
How to get involved
International organisations are always welcome as partners in a Dutch consortium (at this stage it's not possible to be the main applicant). There are concrete opportunities in our open funding schemes: CIIIC PRO focuses on public values across the IX value chain and explicitly invites international partners. On talent and skills, we are building an international Learning Community around public values.
Since March 2025 we have been actively building our international network at festivals and conventions all over Europe and beyond. Below you'll find our grant schemes, upcoming events, news and projects with international collaboration at a glance.
Calls you can join
These calls are open to consortia with an international partner.
International collaborations
Funded projects within the CIIIC programma with at least one partner from outside the Netherlands.
HEFT: Heritage for the Future
HEFT: Heritage for the future – expanding the IX ecosystem for embodied cultural experiences HEFT aims to strengthen and develop the IX field by bridging systemic challenges - limitations in scalability, inaccessible public spaces, low discoverability - through artistic research. The consortium focuses on developing artistic methodologies that embrace the embodied qualities of IX, foster collective engagement and enable scalable preservation and version management (heritage) for long-term access. The project operationalises five core objectives ('reimagine', 'unite', 'sustain', 'empower' and 'safeguard'). The consortium's key contribution is generating fundamental, sector-wide and transferable knowledge and tools. The activity programme is carried out through five interconnected work packages, with an emphasis on artistic research through design using IX prototypes from makers. Key results include the framework for embodied design methods, toolkits, guidelines and recommendations for policy and international support. The efforts culminate in an international conference and the integration of the results into educational programmes. A sustainability plan safeguards the long-term impact and application of the results.
International partners Satore Studio · Ars Electronica · Geneva International Film Festival (GIFF) · SXSW · Venice Immersive · VIVE Arts · Crossover Labs · Diversion XR · Khora · PHI · MEET Centre · Watershed · Lincoln Center · Friedrich Schiller University Jena · Technological University of the Shannon · VICOMTECH · Time Machine Organisation
Stage IX
LAUNCHPAD NINE aims to transform the fragmented Dutch IX sector by building an artist-centred infrastructure that unites creation, production, presentation and education. The activity programme generates openly accessible methodologies and toolkits, creates sustainable talent trajectories and reclaims imagination by challenging technology-driven paradigms. The programme works with intensive residencies built around practice-based research with emerging and established artists and collectives, who are recruited through an open call. Each residency includes workshops, prototyping and public activations. Artistic creation processes serve as the main research engine, with residencies generating insights across three research clusters: 'pedagogy, knowledge exchange & documentation', 'sustainable production workflows', and 'audience engagement & experience'.
International partners New York University · Theater Dortmund · Zurich University of the Arts · IT University of Copenhagen · CYENS Centre of Excellence · Venice Immersive · PHI · Society for Arts and Technology · The Watermill Center
Futures of Listening
Futures of Listening has developed an R&D programme based on the principle of 'listening to a multivocal world'. The consortium researches and develops new forms of immersive creation, listening and experience through spatial sound, which deepen our understanding of the world and address societal challenges such as inclusivity and environmental challenges. At the same time, it aims to sustainably embed spatial sound as an artistic and technological discipline within the broader IX sector, improve the quality of spatial sound experiences, stimulate new forms of listening and knowledge transfer, and strengthen international positioning and accessibility. The activity programme consists of a series of activities, realised through a community-focused approach with makers and researchers. At its core is a residency programme in which makers - by invitation and through open calls - collaborate with researchers and developers. Within this, they work on developing prototypes of immersive creations, sensory storytelling, immersive listening, and weaving together the relationship between inclusivity, humans and non-humans. Four mutually reinforcing research areas are being developed ('message', 'perception', 'technology', and 'place & access'). This is supported by knowledge sharing and open-source tools, interfaces and instruments through symposia, an online platform and a concluding publication. Other activities include international events, workshops, education and mentorship.
International partners PXL University of Applied Sciences and Arts · MONOM · CTM Festival · Emergence Magazine · Wilding AI · Nele Moeller
Consortium IX for Kids - The Immersive Circle of Play and Experience
The IX for Kids consortium wants to research the design of IX specifically for children, with a focus on inclusivity and ethics. In doing so, the consortium wants to explore how immersive experiences can stimulate imagination, curiosity and critical thinking in children of different ages. The proposed approach involves practice-based artistic research, for which the consortium is collaborating with, among others, libraries, hospitals and schools. The outcomes will be translated into a handbook, workshops and presentations of prototypes at international festiva
International partners JEF Jeugdfilmfestival Antwerpen · NaFilM (National Film Museum Prague) · NewImages · Athens International Children's Film Festival · A MAZE.
Inside Out Outside In (IOOI)
Inside Out Outside In is a consortium at the intersection of artistic research, mental healthcare and neuroscience. The basic premise is that human consciousness is not confined to the brain, but is a physical process that is influenced by external factors and other organisms. The consortium wants to research how medical technologies and scientific insights in this area can contribute to embodied, multi-user immersive experiences. The programme to be developed consists of artistic research trajectories and an incubator programme for new talent, with the aim of building greater understanding of mental health and new working methods for the broader IX field.
International partners Anagram · Makropol · Ars Electronica · SXSW
Shared Realities
The Shared Realities consortium is launching a living lab to research and develop collective immersive experiences and a physical and sustainable exhibition culture for emerging forms of immersive art. The consortium focuses on exploring and researching collective immersive storytelling, strengthening the ecosystem for co-production and distribution, and engaging audiences through shared experiences. Makers, producers, curators, distributors and researchers are working together to further develop an emerging practice and generate knowledge through an interconnected process. The activities are organised around overlapping tracks – 'creation and prototyping', 'reflection and interpretation', 'documentation and dissemination' – and develop applicable knowledge, encourage sustainable exhibition practices, and increase the international visibility of Dutch immersive artists (artists who are part of the consortium and artists selected through an open call). The tracks are staged in the run-up to the annual International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam.
International partners MIT Open Doc Lab · PHI
From the newsroom
News and announcements that show what CIIIC does beyond the Dutch border.
International events
A list of events we think may be interesting for our international community. CIIIC often attends international events. Useful if you would rather talk in person than book a meeting. Reach out to us if you want to know more.
Stay connected
Want to stay in touch with CIIIC and the Dutch IX ecosystem? There are four ways to get involved:
- Community Platform — meet makers, researchers and partners from our network. Join us.
- LinkedIn — follow us for updates on the programme and the sector. Follow CIIIC.
- Get in touch — questions about collaboration or a specific funding scheme? Email us at info@ciiic.nl.