When Facts Come Under Pressure: Strengthening Municipalities Against Disinformation

Українська версія [pdf]

How can municipalities effectively counter disinformation, build trust and communicate reliably, even in times of crisis?

Disinformation and polarising narratives are posing increasing challenges for municipalities. False information can undermine trust in local institutions, intensify social tensions and spread rapidly, particularly in times of crisis. It is therefore all the more important for municipalities to be prepared and able to communicate quickly, credibly and effectively.

These questions are at the heart of the Connective Cities expert forum “When Facts Come Under Pressure: Strengthening Municipalities Against Disinformation”, taking place on 8 October 2026 from 14:00 to 16:30 in Berlin.

The expert forum is part of the 8th German-Ukrainian Municipal Partnership Conference, taking place from 7 to 9 October 2026. The conference brings together German and Ukrainian municipal representatives and other actors engaged in the partnership network to exchange experiences and successful approaches, discuss current challenges in their cooperation, and further strengthen municipal resilience and German-Ukrainian partnerships.

Learning from municipal practice

The expert forum focuses on the concrete challenges faced by cities and municipalities: How can a local administration recognise when disinformation is spreading? When and how should it respond? What roles do mayors, communication teams, local media and civil society play? And how can municipalities build trust so that citizens turn to reliable municipal information, particularly in times of crisis?

The forum brings together German and Ukrainian perspectives and experiences. Ukrainian municipalities face particularly intense information pressure under the conditions of Russia’s war of aggression. Their experience in crisis communication, responding to rumours and false information, and establishing reliable information channels provide important insights for mutual learning and exchange.

Alongside expert inputs and examples from municipal practice, the forum will place a strong emphasis on joint learning. In an interactive crisis scenario, German and Ukrainian participants will work together to explore how a municipality can respond when false information spreads rapidly and creates immediate pressure to act and communicate.

Participants will gain practical insights and concrete approaches to prevention, monitoring and crisis communication and exchange strategies for making municipalities and their partnerships more resilient to disinformation and societal polarisation.

Further information on the contributors and the detailed programme of the expert forum will be published shortly.

At a glance

• Date: 8 October 2026
• Time: 14:00–16:30
• Location: Berlin
• Languages: German and Ukrainian with interpretation
• Target group: Mayors, municipal staff and local elected representatives, as well as other actors involved in German-Ukrainian municipal partnerships

The expert forum is part of the 8th German-Ukrainian Municipal Partnership Conference.

Further information about the conference: https://skew.engagement-global.de/german-ukrainian-municipal-partnership-conference-2026.html