02 INTRODUCTION In November 2025, Statefree e.V. and the European Network on Statelessness (ENS) convened a joint conference in Berlin: Statelessness & Innovation: Building Power Through Collective Action. The event took place against a backdrop of shrinking civic space, constrained funding, and persistent protection gaps for stateless people in Europe. The conference was designed to strengthen collective understanding of the European statelessness ecosystem, centre lived experience, foster cross-border collaboration, and generate momentum for systemic change. Over three days, more than 100 participants – including people with lived experience of statelessness, community organisers, NGOs, lawyers, researchers, policymakers, institutions, media and allies – came together to share expertise, reflect honestly on challenges, imagine innovative strategies for change, strengthen our collective knowledge, and co-create pathways forward. There were many highlights, from new connections made to insightful workshop discussions, recommendations co-developed, and opportunities to collaborate, enriched by music, dance, and poetry. For a summary of session highlights, read our conference newsletter The conference demonstrated the power of participatory, community-led convening as a driver of learning, solidarity and advocacy impact. It moved the sector forward collectively, amplified community leadership, and laid foundations for scalable collaborations and advocacy. We left Berlin with a deeper, shared understanding of statelessness as a systemic and intersectional issue, strengthened relationships and trust, increased capacity, confidence and motivation to lead advocacy and innovation, and greater insight into how to advance identification, protection and rights-based advocacy. For a flavour of the event, watch our conference highlights video