KAAD Annual Academy 2026: Self-Portraits and Demarcations – In Search of Belonging in a World of Crisis

The world is characterized by profound crises, including climate change, political instability, wars and global inequality. In this crisis-ridden world situation, the question becomes more urgent: Who am I? Where do I belong? Because belonging can be a source of strength: in family and neighbourhood relationships, in communities of solidarity, civil society engagement or interfaith dialog. Wherever people give each other recognition, take responsibility for each other and create spaces of trust, experiences of genuine belonging arise.

However, the answer to the question of belonging is increasingly determined by demarcation. This takes many forms: Authoritarian movements are gaining strength, fears of migration, cultural change or even scarcity of resources are being politically instrumentalized. In the course of an alleged clarification of "belonging", new exclusive images of identity are created, which are often accompanied by patriarchal and nationalistic thinking. Social networks give these self-images an additional, enormous reach and effectiveness. 

In this context, the consequences of colonialism and cultural dominance continue to have an impact today. In many places, indigenous communities in particular are fighting for recognition of their identity, their history and their living space. At the same time, it can be observed that in some places religious movements and actors also contribute to exclusion - by emphasizing religious identity as a marker of demarcation. 

Church voices worldwide, not least the late Pope Francis in his encyclical Fratelli tutti and Pope Leo XIV on many occasions, are therefore urgently calling for fatal demarcations to be overcome and for spaces of genuine fraternity and open dialogue to be created.

With this in mind, the 39th KAAD Annual Academy, together with representatives from academia, politics and the Church from around fifty countries, would like to reflect on self-images and mechanisms of demarcation in their current dynamics and from a global perspective in order to recognize critical developments and compile approaches to solutions.