CDAC Network’s 2025 Public Forum & AGA– Information in Crisis
We are excited to announce that for the 2025 CDAC Network Public Forum and Annual General Assembly, we are coming to Bonn, Germany! This year we will be jointly hosted by CDAC members DW Akademie and Fondation Hirondelle, with the focus on ‘Information in Crisis’.
Public Forum 2025: Information in crisis
Date: Wednesday, 10 December 2025
Time: 9:30–17.45 (CET), followed by networking drinks
Location: Deutsche Welle, Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn
Free and open-to-all.
Read the Framing Paper.
This year’s CDAC Network Public Forum will be held in partnership with the German Forum on Media Development (FOME) – hosted by DW Akademie and Fondation Hirondelle on 10 December 2025.
This has been a year of extraordinary turbulence for people in crisis: geopolitical rules have been rewritten, funding has been dramatically cut, whilst organisations aiming to support communities have come under increasing attack from hate speech and misinformation. The Public Forum will convene a collaborative discussion on what a future-focused, tech-enabled and community-centred approach to supporting people in crisis should look like in 2026 and beyond.
We will be asking questions, such as: how is the integrity of information in crisis contexts changing? How is this impacting communities and humanitarians? How can media and humanitarian actors work together to ensure the right information is reaching the right people and trust is maintained? Read the Framing Paper to understand the current state of information and why it is at a crisis point, and the bold Call to Action on what we can do about it.
This full-day event will provide an exciting and valuable collaboration that will bring humanitarian, media development and journalist actors together to discuss the critical issue of ‘Information in Crisis’.
This year, we are also offering CDAC members an exhibition space at the Public Forum! Get in touch with sarah.cotton@cdacnetwork.org to find out more.
Agenda
The event will be moderated by Edith Kimani, Deutsche Welle. (Programme is subject to changes)
09:30 Welcome & keynotes on ‘Information in Crisis’
10:30 Lightning talks: What makes information aid?
11:30 Panel 1: Information as Aid under siege: New models for financing communication in crises
12:30 Lunch & exhibition networking
14:45 Panel 2: Who do we trust in crises? Lessons for the new age of information disorder
16:15 Panel 3: AI in crisis – what next?
17:45 Networking reception
CDAC’s 2025 Annual General Assembly
Date: Thursday 11 December & Friday 12 December 2025
Time: 9.00-17.00 CET (Day 1); 9.00-13.00 CET (Day 2)
Location: Deutsche Welle, Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 3, 53113 Bonn (in person)
Open to CDAC Members only
The Annual General Assembly will be 1.5 days, held on 11-12 December 2025 at Deutsche Welle’s offices in Bonn, Germany. This is an annual event we hold for CDAC members, as a chance for them to our network to come together and discuss three strategic priority areas:
Communication, community engagement and accountability
Information integrity in crises
AI and participation of communities affected by crisis
Watch this space and your inbox for an agenda, or get involved in our next planning meetings (for members only).
Get in touch with sarah.cotton@cdacnetwork.org for enquires.