This year’s theme was ‘Beyond Books: Reinventing Publishing Ecosystems’Canon’s Future Book Forum returned to its Customer Experience Centre in Poing, Germany, on 12th and 13th November 2025 under the theme ‘Beyond Books: Reinventing Publishing Ecosystems’. Throughout the two days, expert speakers and attendees explored what a publishing ecosystem approach entails and how it can generate positive transformations for the book industry. Now in its 11th iteration, the Forum welcomed industry peers from across the publishing value chain and adjacent sectors, including book publishers, print service providers, consultants, journalists, associations, and technology and solution providers.
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This year’s Canon Future Book Forum invited attendees to be involved in two days of insights, discussions and solutions. Attendees were immersed in a series of keynote speeches and presentations that explored a systematic framework of ecosystem thinking, supported by inspiring and practical examples from inside and outside of the book industry. The presentations also highlighted new and innovative technologies supporting the approach. Each day, group workshops and roundtable discussions encouraged all participants to think outside the box and explore how to harness this ecosystem thinking within their own businesses alongside their peers, to develop new products, services and experiences.
Keynote sessions
The event was moderated by global thought leader, author and futurist Peter Fisk, long term partner of the Canon Future Book Forum. Alongside collaborative workshops, day one featured a series of inspirational keynotes, including:
· Saskia van den Muijsenberg, Director/Co-founder, biomimicryNL, on how businesses can design their network of partners, suppliers, customers and competitors in a way that mimics the resilience, adaptability and interdependence found in natural ecosystems.
· Dr. Julian Kawohl, Professor of Strategic Management at University of Applied Science in Berlin and Founder of Ecosystemizer, on how ecosystem thinking is reshaping the future of business, why traditional linear models are no longer sufficient and how companies can unlock new growth by embracing interconnected, human centered value creation. The session set the foundation for understanding ecosystems as a strategic lens for innovation in the publishing industry and beyond.
· Christian Koeber, Senior Director of Global Brand Development at adidas, on how adidas is using both established and fundamentally new ecosystems to broaden its reach and create relevant and lasting value for its customers.
· Henrik Müller-Hansen, Founder and CEO of Gelato, on how the fusion of AI, the creator economy and local print ecosystems is transforming the publishing landscape. Drawing on Gelato’s global journey, he explored how decentralised production and new business models are redefining demand, driving innovation and creating future proof growth opportunities in print.
The focus of the second day was implementation, exploring solutions for the topics and issues presented on day one. Alongside a series of roundtable discussions, the second day included presentations on new technologies and methods of execution, as well as case studies demonstrating new ecosystem approaches already in action:
· Dalia Ibrahim, CEO at Nahdet Misr Publishing House, on how smart partnerships and ecosystem thinking can expand a publisher’s role far beyond the traditional core – becoming a catalyst for innovation, growth and lasting impact across education and publishing.
· Hermann Eckel, Product Manager at BOOXITE, on how their digital book production platform aimed at SME publishers, is providing a new ecosystem that enables a collaborative approach to innovative and sustainable book publishing and printing.
Jörg Engelstädter and Tino Wägelein from Canon also hosted a roundtable discussion on how the initial concepts from the Publishing 2030 Accelerator – including how a network of professional print on demand printers for decentralised book printing can be implemented with the help of ecosystem thinking.
Stuart Rising, Head of Graphic Arts at Canon UK & Ireland, comments on the event, “This year’s Future Book Forum reminded me of the power of open, courageous conversation — and it left me genuinely inspired. I’m thankful for the integrity and boldness everyone brought to the table. Now in its 11th year, the Canon Future Book Forum has truly become a unique platform where leaders and innovators come together to ask the right questions, challenge assumptions, and explore answers in an open dialogue that actively moves our industry forward. Under this year’s theme, ‘Beyond Books: Reinventing Publishing Ecosystems’, we continued this journey with more than 200 participants from 35 countries, discovering how collaboration, innovation and technology can help us build on each other’s strengths and shape a more sustainable and prosperous future. The diverse audience in attendance at the Forum – including publishers, print service providers, technology providers and thought leaders from around the world – is a powerful reminder that the future of publishing depends not just on one part of the ecosystem but on how we grow, adapt and transform together.”
Sponsoring partners of Future Book Forum 2025 include Arctic Paper, C.P.Bourg, Contiweb, digibook, Horizon, Müller Martini/Hunkeler, Meccanotecnica, OneVision, Plockmatic Group, SDD, Smyth, Tecnau, and UPM.
To find out more about the Future Book Forum, visit: Future Book Forum 2025 - Canon UK
www.canon.co.uk