VIWAS: The Virtual Worlds Skills Academy — building Europe’s immersive skills ecosystem for learners, educators, professionals and institutions
Project: VIWAS – Virtual Worlds Skills Academy
Call: Digital Europe – DIGITAL-2025-SKILLS-08-VIRTUAL-WORLDS-ACADEMY-STEP
Type of Action: DIGITAL-LS / Proposal number: 101298981
Implementation period: 2026–2030
Project grant: €8,544,235.24 (UNATC – €372,477.70)
Partners: CYENS Centre of Excellence (CY) (coordinator), Suomen ympäristöopisto SYKLI oy (FI), SC Nedho Animation SRL (RO), Nedho (FI), XB Bootcamp GmbH (DE), AKMI Anonimi Ekpaideftiki Etairia (EL), Medien Bayern GmbH (DE), Universitatea Națională de Artă Teatrală și Cinematografică (RO), Skillnet Ireland Company Limited by Guarantee (IE), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES), Instytut Chemii Bioorganicznej Polskiej Akademii Nauk (PL), École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers (FR), Europäischer Verband Beruflicher Bildungsträger (DE), XR4Europe (BE), BSD Societa a Responsabilita Limitata (IT), Università Telematica Internazionale Uninettuno (IT), Secretariatul Național al Rețelei Universităților (RO), Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza (IT), EIT Manufacturing South SRL (IT), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES), Comau SpA (IT).
Description: ViWAS is an educational project addressing the skills gap in immersive technologies — Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and Extended Reality (XR) — as well as the emergence of Virtual Worlds (VWs) as strategic digital infrastructure. The project develops an integrated skills and training ecosystem designed to prepare developers, teachers, architects, designers, and users of Virtual Worlds by creating a network of learning centers capable of rapidly adapting to technological developments.
Mission
Training learners, educators & industry for XR and Web 4.0
ViWAS addresses the critical skills gap in virtual worlds technologies — XR, AI, 3D, digital twins and spatial design — that will define how humans and industries interact with technology through 2030 and beyond. Led by CYENS Centre of Excellence (Cyprus), ViWAS brings together 39 partners from 20+ European countries to build a comprehensive skills ecosystem.
Consortium Partners
- CYENS Centre of Excellence (CY) (Coordinator)
- Suomen ympäristöopisto SYKLI oy (FI)
- SC Nedho Animation SRL (RO)
- Nedho (FI)
- XB Bootcamp GmbH (DE)
- AKMI Anonimi Ekpaideftiki Etairia (EL)
- Medien Bayern GmbH (DE)
- Universitatea Națională de Artă Teatrală și Cinematografică (RO)
- Skillnet Ireland Company Limited by Guarantee (IE)
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (ES)
- Instytut Chemii Bioorganicznej Polskiej Akademii Nauk (PL)
- École Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers (FR)
- Europäischer Verband Beruflicher Bildungsträger (DE)
- XR4Europe (BE)
- BSD Societa a Responsabilita Limitata (IT)
- Università Telematica Internazionale Uninettuno (IT)
- Secretariatul Național al Rețelei Universităților (RO)
- Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza (IT)
- EIT Manufacturing South SRL (IT)
- Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (ES)
- Comau SpA (IT)
Consortium Composition
12 VET & Training Institutions
Vocational education and training providers delivering ViWAS programmes at national level across Europe.
9 XR & Technology Companies
Industry partners providing technical expertise, real-world use cases, and access to XR tools and platforms.
8 Research Centres & Universities
Academic partners contributing research, competence mapping, and scientific dissemination.
10 Networks & Associations
European and national organisations ensuring broad outreach across vocational education, training, and XR ecosystems.
Target groups
Find your pathway — Six audience groups have different needs, from entry-level orientation to educator resources and professional upskilling.
HE Students & Young Graduates
Higher education students and young graduates seeking foundational and advanced XR and virtual worlds skills for employment and further study.
Academic Staff (VW disciplines)
Academic staff teaching disciplines related to virtual worlds technologies who need to update and expand their digital teaching competences.
VET / Secondary Students
Upper secondary and vocational education students seeking pathways into the immersive technology sector through practical, hands-on training.
VET & Secondary Teaching Staff
VET and upper secondary teaching staff who need pedagogical and technical training to deliver virtual worlds education confidently.
Industry Professionals
Professionals in manufacturing, creative industries, healthcare and other sectors adopting XR, digital twins and AI-driven immersive technologies.
Citizens
Members of the general public who want to understand, engage with and participate in virtual worlds and the emerging digital economy.
Six Core Skill Domains
Extended Reality (XR)
VR, AR and MR design, development and deployment for professional contexts. Covers hardware, software, UX design, content pipelines and industrial applications.
AI & Intelligent Systems
AI integration in immersive environments, generative content creation, conversational NPC design, spatial AI and adaptive user experience systems.
Digital Twins
Designing, building and operating real-time virtual replicas of physical systems. Industry 4.0 applications in manufacturing, infrastructure and urban planning.
3D & Spatial Design
3D modelling, animation, spatial UX/UI, world-building and the complete creative production pipeline for professional immersive content.
Web 4.0 & Semantic Web
Decentralised architectures, semantic technologies, interoperability standards and the next generation of internet infrastructure underpinning virtual worlds.
Content Creation
Interactive narrative design, storytelling, game-based learning design and media production tailored to virtual and extended reality environments.