Cross-border innovation for future-proof education in healthcare and energy
Labour market shortages pose a structural challenge in the Netherlands and Flanders. In both regions, demand is growing for tens of thousands of additional professionals in nursing and electrical engineering. For example, the Dutch Employee Insurance Agency (UWV) predicts a persistent shortage of healthcare staff until at least 2032, while Flemish labour market forecasts indicate that at least 15,000 additional electrical technicians are needed to achieve climate goals. This underlines the importance of innovative solutions for training and upskilling people.
Extended Reality (XR), an umbrella term for Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed Reality, offers unique opportunities for education. XR enables students and professionals to practise in virtual scenarios that are often too costly, risky or rare in real-life settings. This leads to greater engagement, a more relevant learning experience, and makes it possible to learn both on-site and remotely. XR is also particularly well suited to supporting people with diverse backgrounds and learning styles.
Opportunities and challenges
Both the Netherlands and Flanders are actively investing in digitalisation and innovation in education. However, practice remains fragmented: many training providers develop XR solutions independently, resulting in high costs, inefficient use of public funds, and strong dependence on vendors. Applications are often not interoperable and are rarely shared, meaning valuable knowledge and innovation remain locked within individual institutions.
The EduXR Library project breaks through this fragmentation. Led by partners from both countries, we are building a joint XR application library that functions across borders. The aim is to enable educators and companies to share, further develop and widely deploy high-quality, Dutch-language XR applications within healthcare and energy. This initiative builds on national programmes and actively encourages cross-border collaboration.
The partnership
The consortium brings together leading knowledge institutions, training providers and network organisations: Flux50, HZ University of Applied Sciences, Avans University of Applied Sciences, Regional Training Centre Northeast Brabant (Koning Willem I College), Syntra AB, The Future BV, Thomas More Mechelen–Antwerp, Vives North and Vives South. Each partner contributes specific expertise in XR technology, education, didactics, and sectoral networks in healthcare and energy.
The project runs from 1 September 2025 to 31 August 2028. In the first year, an extensive needs analysis will map existing XR applications and identify the largest gaps. Based on this, the partners will develop at least ten new XR applications, with a strong focus on quality, usability and Dutch-language content. Through a shared platform - the EduXR Library - these applications can be easily shared and implemented in both education and industry.
Structural embedding
By making agreements on ownership, funding models and content sharing, we prevent vendor lock-in and stimulate the broad adoption of XR in education. In addition, the project invests structurally in teacher training and train-the-trainer programmes, ensuring that XR is used in a responsible and effective way.
The intended result is a sustainable infrastructure for XR applications, supported by a strong partnership that continues to foster the growth and development of XR in education even after the project ends.
Added value for the region
EduXR creates a structural improvement in access to high-quality education and training in crucial sectors. Through scaling and collaboration, the cost per user decreases and the learning offer becomes more inclusive, with particular attention to Dutch-language content. This is of great importance for students and workers who benefit from instruction in their mother tongue. By aligning with the ambitions of the Dutch National Growth Fund, the Flemish XR Action Plan and the European Digital Education Action Plan, the project also directly contributes to achieving societal objectives in innovation, the energy transition and sustainable labour market development.
Funding
This project is co-funded by the European Union, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK), VLAIO, and provincial co-financing from the provinces of North Brabant, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp.