The Development Conference is a collaborative project supported by a broad range of Austrian development policy stakeholders. For nearly two decades now, it has been a key focus of the work of the Paulo Freire Center and the Mattersburg Circle, which are responsible for coordinating the conference.
It highlights many of the issues that are important to us and the values we uphold: dedicated scholarship, dialogue between academia and practice, reflection on pressing issues in development policy, the interconnection of policy areas, and civic education in the broadest sense. Participants have always found this form of reflection to be inspiring, and it has become one of the cornerstones of the nationwide dialogue on development issues.
At the development conferences, following Paulo Freire’s educational philosophy, we aim to initiate a dialogue from the grassroots level, rather than encountering a conference monopolized by prominent figures from above. We pursue the idea of a dual dialogue: between academia and civil society on the one hand, and between the Global North and South on the other. Dialogue and democracy emerge through committed action. The goal here is not “results,” but rather mutual learning, appreciation for marginalized and diverse perspectives, broadening horizons, motivation, and a mutual inspiration with visions.
The nine development meetings held to date (plus one virtual meeting in 2020 due to the pandemic) followed on from the three development conferences of the 1990s and focused on the following topics:
2001 – Salzburg: The Future of Civil Society
2003 – Graz: Globalisation is not destiny, globalisation is being made
2005 – Linz: Ownership Different (Solidarity Economy)
2008 – Innsbruck: Growth – Environment – Development
2011 – Krems: Developing the common good. The State between Community and World Society
2014 – Salzburg: upheaval departure
2017 – Graz: Social-ecological transformations now!
2020 – #webET2020! Global inequalities in the covid-19 pandemic
2022 – Linz: Global Inequalities
2025 – Innsbruck: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions
The development conference is conceived as a major event for approx. 300-400 people. It involves a large number of actors in development policy, but also builds bridges to other milieus to ensure that the „development cooperation scene“ does not remain among itself.
The 2025 Development Conference, held in Innsbruck from November 21–23, served as Austria’s largest event on development policy, providing a space for debate and reflection on current challenges.
Over the course of three days in Innsbruck, 250 participants explored these questions, discussed perspectives on development policy and international development, and took the opportunity to network.
To make sure you don’t miss any reports or news about the next Development Conference in 2028, please subscribe to the Paulo Freire Center’s newsletter! We view the Development Conference as a shared learning process, because, as Paulo Freire said:
“We must believe in the ability of others to know, to create, to develop, and to revitalize.“ (own translation)
(Freire, P. (1981): Der Lehrer ist Politiker und Künstler. Neue Texte zur befreienden Bildungsarbeit. Reinbek bei Hamburg: Rowohlt. S. 129.)
