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Audio and Radio Futures Forum

The annual Audio and Radio Futures Forum brings together professionals working in innovation across the EBU. This community of radio geeks and audio nerds — in the best possible sense — explores and creates the future together.

The Forum blends a traditional conference with an 'unconference', offering open spaces for deeper conversations around trending topics, and greater flexibility for networking and learning.

Hosted by

Register now for an exciting two-day event diving into radio and audio innovation.

The EBU Audio and Radio Futures Forum is a productive and inspiring meeting point for anyone passionate about radio and audio innovation.

ARD will kindly host the 2026 edition at the new SWR Media Center in Baden-Baden, Germany.

To help you plan your trip, please find the venue address and a list of recommended hotels below.

Wednesday 14 October: Afternoon featuring an inspiring keynote and a spotlight on audio platforms, followed by a guided tour of the SWR Media Center and a networking barbecue to wrap up Day 1.

Thursday 15 October: Full day of unconference sessions, workshops, and innovation showcases.

Friday 16 October: Breakfast and a Futures Forum retrospective walk in the Black Forest.

Schedule Overview

The Audio and Radio Futures Forum combines traditional conference sessions with unconference discussions, creating space for inspiring presentations, in-depth conversations, brainstorming, and networking. Participants are also invited to propose ideas, projects, or experiments they’d like to share or explore with others.

What is unconference?

Find out more and start brainstorming! Check out reports from previous editions and propose your own unconference topics on the workspace!

Audio & Radio Futures Group Workspace

Venue

SWR Funkhaus Baden-Baden

Hans-Bredow-Straße
76530 Baden-Baden
Germany

Recommended Hotels

Here are some hotel suggestions from our host, SWR, where you can book your stay in Baden-Baden:

Leonardo Royal Hotel Baden-Baden

Hotel Merkur Baden-Baden

Atlantic Park Hotel Baden-Baden

Der Kleine Prinz Baden-Baden

Hotel Haus Reichert

Speakers

Michael Reichert

Senior Consultant, ARD/BR (Germany)

Wouter Quartier

Head of Radio, EBU

Maxi-Josephine Rauch

Researcher, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar (Germany)

Read biography

Eoghan O’Sullivan

Moderator

Communications consultant and Facilitator (Switzerland)

Read biography

Documents

Schedule Overview Members Only

Audio and Radio Futures Forum 2025

15 - 16 Oct 2025

The EBU Audio and Radio Futures Forum continues the mission to provide a productive and inspiring meeting point for anyone passionate about radio and audio innovation. The Dutch public broadcaster, NPO, hosted the 2025 edition on 15 and 16 October in Hilversum, Netherlands.

The exciting two-day event, diving into radio and audio innovation in the heart of the Dutch media hub, once again proved to be a safe and relaxed space for openly sharing with peers and learning from each other.

Wednesday, 15 October 14:30 – 17:30

The agenda on the first day included selected topics to provide food for thought and spark deeper discussions during the unconference: a brand-new project launched by the BBC on practical use of AI with a personalized service provided to their sports fans, a close look at the digital journey VRT has taken in successfully developing their app into one of the most used audio & video apps in Belgium, ORF’s practical innovation around traditional radio traffic news and the dashboard, and a strategic look at setting efficient partnerships across the sector including commercial platforms, by nobody more experienced than ARD. As a special bonus, NPO will shared their experience with attracting young people to news, but also to other content produced by public service radio.

Thursday, 16 October 09:00 – 17:00

The unconference format on the second day also gave the chance to propose ideas, projects, or experiments participants wanted to discuss or share.

Event photos by Ben Houdijk from NPO.

Speakers

Jurre Bosman

Speaker

Director of Audio, NPO (Netherlands)

Read biography

Speaker

Editor & Reporter NOS Stories, NPO (Netherlands)

Read biography

Documents

Can we really, really reach young people with news but also more radio? - Chanelva Rier (NPO), Crystalina Agyeman-Prempeh (NPO) and Menno de Boer (NPO)Members Only

VRT’s ever so evolving digital journey - Sven Lardon (VRT Max)Members Only

Working with commercial platforms, or rather not? - Gwendolin Niehues (ARD) and David O'Neill (ARD)Members Only

ORF Traffic Flash: In the age of apps, do traffic updates on radio still matter? - Herwig-Hakan Mader (ORF)Members Only

FM Switch-Off in Switzerland: Lessons, Risks & Our Plan (RTS Couleur 3) - Antoine Multone (RTS)Members Only

Latest news on AI: BBC’s My Club Daily - Luke Eldridge (BBC Sounds) and Nick Hanson (BBC Sounds)Members Only

Hotel Recommendations Members Only

Agenda Members Only

Topics

Resources

About

Languages

Audio and Radio Futures Forum

Venue

SWR Funkhaus Baden-Baden

Recommended Hotels

Speakers

Michael Reichert

Wouter Quartier

Maxi-Josephine Rauch

Eoghan O’Sullivan

Documents

Previous editions