At the Campaigning Forum, you set your agenda and we help you find others who share it. Speakers and panels are there to provoke thought. Result: you learn more and connect with more people. This is the way events should be.

Theme: Campaigning against the current

There has been a dramatic change in tone in countries around the world as political leaders are elected who may undermine decades of progress. One analysis of this is that growing numbers of people have been left behind and are expressing their frustration via the ballot box. Most campaigning groups have also be content to engage those already converted to their causes. This needs to change. At the 2018 Campaigning Forum we'll be exploring how to get better at engaging the rest!

Focus on participants, not speakers

Most events used speakers as bait to attract paying 'attendees'. ECF is participant-focused: it is designed to be the most effective and natural learning and networking environment for the participants. This means you should focus on three things in deciding to participate:

1. Your learning goals: What do you want/need to learn?
2. Who is coming (see the latest list): Are there other people coming to the event who you can learn from?
3. Your contribution: What experiences and perspectives are you bringing and do you wish to present them?

The role of the organisers is to create the right mix of people for amazing learning to occur and to ensure this process is well facilitated. The role of speakers is to stimulate you and provide a common experience for discussing with others.

Who should come?

21st campaigning is increasingly shown to be successful not because a team of campaign experts run it, but by project teams with diverse expertise, often campaigners, fundraisers, volunteer managers, media officers, policy experts, digital experts/innovators and beyond. The Campaigning Forum is one of the few events that brings this mix of people together to connect, share and learn from each other on how to influence change.

The Campaigning Forum runs on ‘Chatham House Rules’ (= nothing is attributed without permission) so everybody can freely talk about their failures and successes.

If there is a topic you’re itching to learn about or to share, come along and suggest the session. The Campaigning Forum is the place to find others who share your interests.

Draft Agenda

How the agenda works

Many times when you reflect on the conference you realise that the best bits were chatting to people during the coffee break or in a pub. So at Campaigning Forum, slots (time and room) are provided to have your own discussions with other people at the conference without feeling that you are missing scheduled sessions. In fact, that is the majority of the event. Its called open space (see the methodology).

Last year's participants (2019 participants coming soon)

Campaigning Forum History

Campaigning Forum started as the eCampaigning Forum (ECF) event in 2002 organised by Duane Raymond, then Oxfam's eCampaigning Manager. It evolved a highly anticipated and influential annual event plus a dynamic and highly active ECF global community that grows daily and has inspired similar events around the world like ECF Europe in Berlin, re:campaign in Berlin, Fwd in Australia and Camp16 in The Netherlands

Over the last decade, digital has shifted from a specialist role and an essential tool in campaigning and organisations. Campaigning Forum has consistently been ahead of this shift, and in 2018 is organised around key aspects of modern organisations: digital leadership, campaigning, fundraising, volunteering, media engagement and policy research and looking to the emerging trends. The aim is to bring together increasing diverse participants who share broadly similar goals around improving our world and connect them, help them learn from one another and inspire them to think beyond their current practices, roles and plans.