FilmED 2.0: A European Research Network for Innovation in Film Pedagogy and Future Skills

Europe's audiovisual sector, contributing over €250 billion to EU GDP and employing over 7 million people, faces a growing competitiveness challenge as AI, streaming platforms, and other major production markets reshape the global industry. Future film professionals need new skills to thrive in this landscape, yet many teaching formats at European film schools lack the flexibility and methodological grounding to deliver them. Film educators are typically accomplished artists, but teaching is a distinct skill requiring its own research-informed development. Without structurally supported innovation schemes, pedagogical renewal remains confined to individual classrooms.
FilmED 2.0, led by the Netherlands Film Academy (NFA) at Amsterdam University of the Arts, proposes a permanent European research network for innovation in film pedagogy and future skills, aligned with the European Commission's Union of Skills strategy and Competitiveness Compass. Building on the Erasmus+ FilmED project (wrapping up in 2026), in which NFA, HDK-Valand (Sweden), and Łódź Film School (Poland) collaboratively researched embodied, multimodal teaching approaches, the project expands this partnership into a geographically diverse consortium.
Key activities include: partner recruitment through the annual GEECT conference (Łódź, November 2026); a consortium assembly in Amsterdam formalising partnerships through Letters of Intent and a cooperation agreement; collaborative preparation of an Erasmus+ KA220-HED application (March 2027); and four thematic task forces (AI Literacy, Video Essay, Neurodiversity, Embodied Teaching) whose bilateral working visits deepen inter-institutional collaboration and develop research work packages. Beyond Erasmus+, the project identifies complementary funding through Horizon Europe Cluster 2, Creative Europe Innovation Lab, and the EIT Higher Education Initiative. The project targets 2–3 new core partners and 5+ associates across European film, art, and media schools.
Expected outcomes: a submitted Erasmus+ application, four task force field reports, an operational plan for the network's annual Summer/Winter School, a multi-instrument funding strategy, and a governance framework for sustained collaborative research.