Immersive European Cultural Heritage Outreach (Immersive ECHO)

Imagine stepping into a quiet courtyard and hearing your grandmother’s stories—projected in light, sound, and movement around you. No headset. Just presence. Now imagine this isn’t a one-off installation, but a cultural wave—bringing Europe’s heritage into public spaces, as living, shared experiences. This is what Immersive ECHO sets out to realize.

At a time when many feel disconnected from cultural institutions—and from each other—how we tell our stories matters more than ever. Cultural heritage holds memories that shape identity and belonging. But to stay relevant, cultural actors need access to the tools, methods, and insights developed by immersive experts. ECHO bridges this gap—making immersive storytelling a shared capacity, not a specialist luxury.

ECHO brings together world-leading creatives, technologists, storytellers, and cultural institutions. It is not just a consortium—it is an ecosystem built for innovation, where unique disciplines meet to shape something new, together.

The time is now. Immersive technologies—projection mapping, spatial sound, sensor-based interaction—have matured. They are becoming more accessible, more democratic, and ready to scale. What was once limited to high-end art spaces is now within reach for cities, communities, and small institutions. ECHO captures this opportunity and turns it into impact.

We design from the user’s perspective. We build testbeds in public venues—not just museums. We co-create with diverse audiences, including youth, elders, neurodivergent individuals, and those often excluded. Our immersive experiences are inclusive, emotionally resonant, and deeply grounded in local stories.

Through open toolkits, training, and peer exchange, we ensure what we create can travel—across borders, across generations, across futures. Immersive ECHO isn’t about technology. It’s about the urgent need to connect—through stories, through place, through each other.

[Source: portal F&TOP]

ID 20 Institute

(Partner) Idrija

All projects of Slovenian producer

Baths, gothic churches and miners’ houses

Foreign producers in the supported project

LINDHOLMEN SCIENCE PARK AKTIEBOLAG (leader)

Sweden (EU)
THE STORYTELLING COMPANY (TSC) EXPERIENCE DESIGN GMBH (partner)

Germany (EU)
TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAT BERLIN (partner)

Germany (EU)
GRAND PALAIS IMMERSIF (partner)

France (EU)
YOUNITE AI OY (partner)

Finland (EU)
THE POINT LABS S.R.L. (partner)

Romania (EU)
KIKK (partner)

Belgium (EU)
MARSBOUND S.L. (partner)

Spain (EU)
Aira Dance Company AB (partner)

Sweden (EU)
VIBORG KOMMUNE (partner)

Denmark (EU)
NATIONAL DENDROLOGICAL PARK SOFIYIVKA OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF UKRAINE (partner)
VASTRA GOTALANDSREGIONEN (partner)

Sweden (EU)

Funded projects

Young Stories from the Old Continent (YSOC)

Bookmark – Marking Europe's Best Narratives

No Person Is An Island (NPII)

Immersive European Cultural Heritage Outreach (Immersive ECHO)

European Media Art Platform Extended (EMAP Extended)

EHIN - European Hybrid Intelligence Network

W.Write – Women, Writing, Rights, and Rites: reimagining the ecosystem of Literary Arts

RE-MIND: A Mindfulness-Based Capacity-Building Model for Digital Wellbeing and Intergenerational Audience Engagement in Museums

New Steps: EU’s first steps towards career transition support for dancers

Brave Creative Producers (BCP)

stART point - a platform where performing arts and young people get connected (stART.)

Heritage Understanding & Participation Hackathon: Co-creating Cultural Heritage Experiences with and for youth (Hup Hackathon)

Artificial Intelligence for Artistic Futures and Creative Talents (ARTIFACT)

CULTIVATOR

Architecture With an Approach to Regeneration and Empowerment (AWARE)

Upsala – SUITCASES

Invisible painting (IP)

Building, Revising, Including - Diaspora and Gender Equality (BRIDGE)

Studio Virc – Mini Slate 2025: Izzvenelo bo, Dolasilla, princesa usode, Tujek, Pobeglo srce

NOSOROGI – Mini Slate 2025: Three Waters Meet, The Healers, Liar, Thief, Flea-Eater

Mono O – Mini Slate 2025: The Happiest Day, The Last Roast, After Sunday

Cvinger – Mini Slate 2024: Before the Eyes Turn Black, Reckoning by the Sea, Project North

Venice Eastern Gate

ECHOES from Invisible Landscapes

PORT OF DREAMERS

ACuTe: Culture Testbeds for Interactivity, Performance and Technology

Rail2Dance (Rail to Dance)

Innovation through media collaboration: Digital assets exchange platform (MEDEXCHANGE24)

Animation HUB (A-HUB)

Word: Enhancing European Graphic Novel Perception, Circulation and Market Development

Roma Soul Food (ROMASOUL)

Tying the European Cultural Landscapes with Knots and Patterns (Knots and Patterns)

Hiking Heritage Trails (INHERIT)

Sensory Artistic Experiences for the Blind (Multisensory Art)

PASS – Pass the Street (Art), Shake the Hand

Slow Performing Arts Festivals for Improved Wellbeing, Mental Health and Social Inclusion (Festival SPA)

Staragara – Slate 2024 (The Colour of the Doubt, Black Swan, Removal, We would have told each other everything, Kozmonavti)

PAGE: Project for Advancing coGnitivE accessibility in publishing

NEB COOLTOURS: Transforming Tourism Through Cultural Innovation and Environmental Stewardship in Alpe-Adria

Bridges

Transition to 8: European societies in flux

ENACT – Easy-to-understand News for Collaborative Transformation

THRIVE – Talent Harvest: Rural Intangible Heritage and Value Empowerment

Land of Lace

CAFE: Redefining Historic Cafés as European Cultural Heritage

ArtElevate – Fostering Inclusive Cultural Expression in Europe

CARE – Culture for Mental Health

Glassmaking Between Tradition and Innovation (GTMI)

WONDERCUT – Collaboratively Exploring the Public Value of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to Next Level Cultural Experiences

Heroes Unleashed: Implementing a Sensory Reading Program in European Public Libraries (HERUN)

DATAS – The Data and the Sovereign

TALKING HEADS – Conversation with the art of the past

Libraries of Emotions for Good – LOE for Good

GreenHeritage – Nurturing a sustainable future in the gardens of time

G-BOOK 3 – Audience engagement activities for the social and emotional education of EU teens through gender-positive literature and digital technology

DIGITAL on STAGE – Unleashing the Performing Arts Experience through Digital Innovation

OASis – Open Art Spaces in Synergy

Transport: Sustainable puppet co-creations for European young audiences

Danube Dance Alliance for Development of Contemporary Dance Scene in the Danube Region

Mind the GAP

Beletrina Digital

WOMEN interACT – participatory theatre against the double exclusion of women

TECH(ing) TALES WITH A TWIST for the children of the present

DoSEL – Drama of Smaller European Languages

MUSICVILLE – Green European Opera

Operation Nova - OPE.N

Kino x Games

FASIH - Future Art and Science Industrial Heritage

CULTURAL BEES: Promotion of entrepreneurship skills in the Cultural and Creative Industry among youth

Is this us?

Climate Art Fusion Caravane (CARAVANE)

Moving Balkans

Youth Art for the Earth (YAFE)

Shadow Pandemic: Hidden Voices

Open House Europe (OHEu)

Third Stage

VERSOPOLIS – WHERE POETRY LIVES

December: Uncomfortable Beings, Azra, Best Imaginary Friends Forever

LINA - Learn, Interact, and Network in Architecture