Regenerate: A National Forest Immersive Collaboration Transforming creative collaboration in FE through immersive technology
Blog author: Zoe Tierney, Learning Technologist, Burton and South Derbyshire college
Regenerate is an immersive arts project born from a collaboration between Burton and South Derbyshire College (BSDC), Sterran Dance, and partners including Flexus Dance Collective, local artists, and live musicians. It offers an inspiring example of how immersive technology can bring together learners and staff across creative disciplines, using space, story and digital tools to explore transformation, sustainability and place.
Shortlisted for the ALT Award for Digital Transformation (in partnership with Jisc), the project demonstrates how immersive practice in FE can go beyond novelty, becoming a platform for co-creation, learner voice, and meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration.
Why Regenerate?
The National Forest is a powerful example of transformation: a once coal-damaged landscape, now rejuvenated into a thriving forest ecosystem. This narrative inspired our concept, a creative reimagining of regeneration, seen through the lens of immersive performance, digital art, and collaborative making.
Our goal was to engage learners across multiple disciplines: dance, digital art, product design, sound, photography and more, to respond to this story through an immersive, multisensory performance. From smoke and coal dust to bloom, renewal and community, Regenerate became a shared journey into the possibilities of creativity and technology.
The Process
Led by BSDC Learning Technologist Zoe Tierney and choreographer Katy Sterran (Sterran Dance), the project took place across multiple immersive and physical locations. Using AI tools, motion capture, projection mapping, sound design, and 360 filming, learners created visual and movement-based responses to environmental themes and community identity.
The process included:
- Creative workshops in immersive rooms and digital suites
- AI-generated visual and sound prompts
- Collaborative rehearsals with dancers, musicians, and visual artists
- Learner-led pitch presentations, moodboards and reflective work
- A live performance and multi-screen installation in our college’s immersive suite
Importantly, learners didn’t just observe immersive technologies, they shaped with them. By using generative AI, Canva, and 360 video to respond to sensory tasks, they saw how digital can be a tool for both expression and communication.
Impact & Transferability
The impact has been wide-reaching. Learners reported increased confidence in creative risk-taking and collaboration, a deeper understanding of immersive media, and greater awareness of how digital tools can be part of their creative practice.
It also:
- Strengthened links between departments who rarely work together
- Supported Education for Sustainable Development goals
- Sparked external interest from industry, local schools, and charities
- Opened up opportunities for further cross-college and regional collaboration
We’ve since shared the process through CPD sessions, public exhibitions, and sector events including TechTober, ALT Community events, and AI for FE showcases.
What’s Next?
We are now working on:
- Developing a learner-facing toolkit that blends AI, immersive tools, and creative prompts
- Expanding the project to other colleges and institutions, including our newly founded FE Immersive Interactive Community group
- Exploring funding (e.g. through Immersive Arts UK) to bring projection mapping and body mapping to public outdoor spaces
- Building a cross-college immersive community to share resources, training and co-develop multisensory experiences
Want to Get Involved?
If you’d like to bring this project to your own immersive space and book a performance and workshop experience, please get in touch via email: zoe.tierney@bsdc.ac.uk.
To read more about the project and gain a deeper insight into the process, outcomes, and learner experiences, please follow the link to our project ebook.