How Collaboration with ASIMUT Strengthens the Higher Arts Education Community

Photo from the ELIA Leadership Symposium 2025.

How It All Started

In the world of higher arts education, cohesive administration and a strong, collaborative community are essential for success. It is this shared belief that has fostered a strategic partnership between ELIA and ASIMUT, the leading software solution for arts schools, academies and arts universities. This collaboration is a testament to how technology and community can work hand-in-hand to serve the unique needs of the cultural and creative sectors.

This partnership began in 2022, when ASIMUT first attended the ELIA Biennial Conference in Helsinki. At the time, ASIMUT was already the leading software solution for performing arts institutions, but was looking to expand its reach to the wider arts community. With ELIA’s role as a multidisciplinary network, supporting member institutions across both performing and visual arts, ASIMUT was a perfect match. From then, both parties shared similar values and goals: dedication to helping arts institutions run as effectively as possible, nurturing students, and strengthening knowledge-sharing across the field. These core values have laid the foundation for a hopefully long and mutually beneficial relationship.

Building Through Connection

ASIMUT’s engagement in ELIA events is driven by a primary motivation that goes beyond simple sponsorship. While it certainly provides valuable visibility, the true benefit for both parties lies in the direct connection and dialogue it facilitates with the ELIA community.

This direct interaction has been incredibly valuable. As members of ASIMUT’s team explained to the ELIA teams, they see their participation in ELIA’s events as an opportunity to connect directly with institutions and stay attuned to the ELIA community’s needs. By meeting directly with deans, administrators, and staff, ASIMUT gains firsthand insight into the real-world challenges faced by these institutions. This approach reflects a broader philosophy: whether at ELIA events or ASIMUT’s User Group Meetings, ASIMUT aims to listen and learn from their clients, ensuring software continuously evolves to grow in step with the higher arts institutions.

Growing with the Higher Arts Education Community

A prime example of this synergy is ASIMUT's development for the DAVA segment (Design, Architecture, and Visual Arts). While the software originated in the performing arts world, ELIA conferences and events have provided them with a unique platform to exchange ideas and learn directly from DAVA schools throughout our network. The connections and conversations made at these events have been instrumental in guiding ASIMUT's work to adapt its system to the specific requirements of this growing segment.

This reflects a broader philosophy in this partnership: ASIMUT centres its work around being able to listen and learn from its clients, ensuring the software continues to grow in step with the type of higher arts education institutions.

The Solution for Leading Higher Arts Institutions

The most essential element about ASIMUT’s relationship with ELIA is that it is built on a shared commitment to strengthening the higher arts community. Both are sculpting a future where logistical complexities should never get in the way of artistic and academic excellence.

Within the ELIA network, many of our member institutions currently rely on ASIMUT to manage the complex realities of everyday academic life. From small conservatories with fewer than a hundred students to large, multi-arts academies serving thousands, ASIMUT has become a common reference point across the field. Its presence among leading institutions reflects both its adaptability and its strong alignment with the sector’s needs.

ASIMUT’s development remains deeply community-driven. Many of our member schools not only use the system but also contribute to its ongoing evolution. New features and refinements often grow out of discussions at ELIA events, ASIMUT’s User Group Meetings, and other forums for dialogue. In this way, the platform continues to evolve in close step with the realities and ambitions of higher arts education.

See testimonials from Sander de Wit and Saskia van Dalhoff from Royal Conservatoire, The Hague>

A Vision for the Future of Higher Arts Education

Technology will play an increasingly important role in higher arts education, not by replacing creativity, but by amplifying it. At ASIMUT, the vision is clear: remove logistical barriers, foster collaboration, and support new ways of working within ELIA member institutions.

Emerging technologies such as AI will help institutions gain deeper insights, plan smarter, and personalise learning. ASIMUT is preparing to integrate these tools in ways that respect and enhance the artistic process, ensuring that technology remains a foundation for creativity rather than a constraint.

The Heart of the Partnership

At its core, ELIA’s partnership with ASIMUT is founded on shared values and a firm belief in collaboration. Together, both organisations provide crucial platforms for dialogue, co-creation, and continuous improvement, all in service of fine arts institutions, their teachers, and their students.

For ELIA, the most important aspect of this relationship is the shared commitment to strengthening the higher arts education community. This collaboration keeps the needs of the sector at the heart of both organisations' work, now and in the future.