ELICIA – Empowering Leadership in Creative Innovation and AI-driven Entrepreneurs

ELICIA
ELICIA – Empowering Leadership in Creative Innovation and AI-driven Entrepreneurs
Funding: EIT HEI Initiative
Partners: Istanbul Kültür University (TR) – coordinator, Anthology Ventures AD (BG), Burgas Free University (BG), Ilia State University (GE), Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology LUT (FI), Startup Centrum (TR), “I.L. Caragiale” National University of Theatre and Film – UNATC (RO).
Budget: €1,340,000
Duration: 2025–2027
Description: The ELICIA project aims to transform European higher education institutions into innovation hubs focused on creativity and artificial intelligence by strengthening institutional capacity and interdisciplinary collaboration. Aligned with the EIT HEI initiative (Strand A), the project builds an ecosystem connecting universities with industry, supporting entrepreneurial education, knowledge transfer, and sustainable development. The approach is based on two complementary clusters – Innovative Technologies (digital skills and AI) and Development (creativity and game development) – implemented through training, mentoring, and incubation programs that support participants from idea generation to market-ready solutions.

Creative Innovation Lab

APPLY HERE: ELICIA CREATIVE INNOVATION LAB

Do you have an active start-up in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI), or are you planning to launch one? Join the ELICIA Creative Innovation Lab, a hands-on laboratory designed to support the development of start-ups in the cultural and creative sectors through the responsible integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI). The Lab aims to help participants develop AI-enabled products and services with applications in the arts and creative industries.

Event Information

Deadline for proposal: 17 June 2026
Results: 19 June 2026
Event Dates: 22-23 June 2026
Venue: UNATC CINETic, 3-b Tudor Arghezi Street, Bucharest, Romania
Participation format: Individual applicants or teams (maximum 4 members)
Capacity: Up to 15 participants (team size may be adjusted depending on overall occupancy)

What Will Happen During the Lab?
Participants will:

Attend presentations delivered by experts from Romania’s business sector.
Explore demonstrations of the ELICIA Lab technical infrastructure, focusing on AI applications in creative production and technological workflows.
Present their projects in a pitch session to project experts and fellow participants.
Develop their ideas through design thinking and analysis of their proposed product or service, in order to obtain improved iterations of the initial proposal.
Refine their concepts and present an improved version at the end of the Lab.

What Happens After the Lab?

Based on the final presentations, a jury will select up to five projects to participate in the ELICIA Innovation Lab Mentorship Programme. From these, one project will be chosen to represent the programme at the ELICIA Demo Day event in Turkey (date to be announced).
Selection results will be communicated within two weeks after the Lab and until the end of 2026, selected projects will receive:
Mentorship and technical guidance from the UNATC team of professors and researchers (dr. Grigore Burloiu, dr. Bogdan Mustață, dr. Alexandru Berceanu and dr. Ciprian Făcăeru), as well as international experts in AI and start-up development.
Free access to the ELICIA Innovation Lab’s equipment and software resources to further develop their ideas. Available resources include: deep learning model training workstations, audio and image processing software, EEG systems, Virtual Reality (VR) equipment etc.

Event Programme

Day 1 – 22 June 2026 (10:00–13:00 & 15:00–18:00) — Introduction. Guest expert presentation. Participant pitch presentations. Development Workshop #1 (Design Thinking)
Day 2 – 23 June 2026 (10:00–13:00 & 15:00–18:00) — Guest expert presentation. Development Workshop #2 (Business Model, Resources & Monetisation). Final participant presentations. Feedback session

Creative AI Learning Modules

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the ways in which we produce and consume art and media. Can we go beyond the standard uses of AI tools and find ethical, engaging and bespoke ways to enrich our artistic expression? It is time to take seriously the meaning of human-centered AI in art and creativity.

The two modules below are part of a new curriculum of ELICIA interdisciplinary courses that merge creativity and technology, emphasizing ethical AI practices, societal impact, and sustainable innovation.

Enter the Google Classroom links below for syllabus information and to take part in the sessions hosted by UNATC in May 2026.

AI in Reactive Narrative

Natural Language Processing (NLP), prompting, text generation, agents and characters, and narrative design for interactive media. Participants will explore how AI can enable dynamic characters, reactive stories and interactivity.

Duration & Schedule: 5 hours – Friday 22 May 2026, 10.00-16.00 w/ 1h break, at CINETIC UNATC (room 303)

Generative AI for Art & Design

Introduction to generative AI tools for visual and audio content creation. Focuses on understanding the role of AI in artistic production through examples from visual arts, graphic design, and sound morphing. Participants gain hands-on experience with different generative models and an ethical and aesthetic measure of GenAI creations.

Duration & Schedule: 5 hours – Saturday 23 May 2026, 10.00-16.00 w/ 1h break, at CINETIC UNATC (room 303)

Full list of ELICIA educational modules

M2 and M4 are hosted by UNATC.
Please use the Google Classroom links above.

M1 – Creative AI Fundamentals

M2 – Generative AI for Art & Design

M3 – Interactive Media & Creative Coding

M4 – AI in Reactive Narrative

M5 – AI in Creative Industries

M6 – Creative Hardware & Prototyping

M7 – Immersive Media & Extended Reality (XR)

M8 – AI for Sustainability & Creative Solutions

M9 – Creative AI Prototyping Lab

M10 – Entrepreneurship and AI

M11 – Capstone Creative AI Challenge

ELICIA

Project description

The ELICIA project will turn European higher education organisations to creativity-focused innovation and AI based enterprise hub for the across the continent. Fulfil the objectives targeted in Strand A of EIT HEI Initiative, therefore, ELICIA is creating institutional capacity and cross disciplinary collaboration for HEIs to take the lead in developing entrepreneurial skills that will capitalise on the benefits of Artificial Intelligence and creative technologies. The project supports a group of HEIs and industry partners with experience working together towards their common goal of creating an ecosystem that enables entrepreneurial education, knowledge transfer, and sustainable development.

The backbone of the entire ELICIA approach represents the principle of a two-cluster approach. Thus, an Innovative Technologies Cluster focuses on acquiring foundational skills in AI to provide the HEIs with the main digital competencies. In return, the Development Cluster centres on acquiring creativity-driven skills and game development, keeping the prime aim of developing adaptable entrepreneurs for the future. These will be achieved through targeted workshops, mentoring programs, and hands-on training modules that will equip participants with the necessary sets of skills to leverage AI and creativity for new ventures and innovative solutions. The main activities that will be engaged within ELICIA include the following:

Capacity Building Programs: This is inclusive of training modules, interdisciplinary projects, and challenge-based incubation for creativity and fluency in AI.

Mentorship and Incubation: Structured mentorship from industry leaders and incubation support, guiding participants right from ideation through to market-ready solutions.