ECAS – European Cities of Advanced Sound was founded in 2007. The network rapidly grew into an international format – ICAS (International Cities of Advanced Sound), which was officially inaugurated in 2009. Today ECAS remains a designation used specifically for a 5-year project centered in the EU.

Following several years of professional meetings hosted by CTM at its annual festival, nine of the network’s original partners came together in a joint application for a 5-year culture grant from the European Commission’s Programme Culture. In 2010, ECAS officially launched Networking Tomorrow’s Art for an Unknown Future, a 5-year project sponsored by the European Commission’s Programme Culture dedicated to exploring the future of art and culture and the infrastructures that support them. Zooming in on the social and political role of music and the arts in cultural and community life, the project aims to identify tools for independent cultural production, support creative innovation and artist mobility, and engage diverse audiences in the exploration of new cultural forms and technologies. Initiatives within the project strive to propose new methods of collaboration for cultural workers, and have included the commission of artistic works, artist residencies, and international conferences and colloquia.

The ECAS project will celebrate the close of its intensive 5-year trajectory with the ICAS Festival, which will take place in Dresden 27 April - 3 May 2015. A final publication will also be launched at the festival.