LMF2025

Counting down to the conference:

10
days
9
hours
8
minutes
7
seconds
2025-05-15 12:00 pm
Registration ended on May 7

May 15-17, 2025, Lviv

Hush

Speak the Unspoken: Choices, Decisions,
Responsibility

About the conference

Since 2013, LMF has been one of the largest media conferences in Central and Eastern Europe, bringing together participants from the widest range of countries in the region. Last year, it hosted speakers and attendees from over 30 countries worldwide.

The focus theme of LMF 2025 is “Speak the Unspoken: Choices, Decisions, Responsibility”. 

Terms of participation

This year, entry to the conference is possible with a charitable donation (except for active military personnel and veterans), which will support the work of Lviv Media Forum. All events within the LMF 2025 program will be in English, without simultaneous interpreting. Due to the format, the organizers are required to limit the number of participants.

Submitting an application does not guarantee participation, and the organizers reserve the right to withhold the reasons for selection.

Program

May 15

Streams

14:00-14:30
Frankly
Spoken

Opening ceremony

14:30-14:50
Frankly
Spoken

Keynote speech

Live streaming
14:50-15:10
Frankly
Spoken
15:10-15:40
Frankly
Spoken

Coffee Break

15:40-16:40
Frankly
Spoken

Public Talk

From Wounds to Words: Reimagining Narratives for Peace and Progress

16:40-17:40
Frankly
Spoken

Public Talk

How To Be, When Everything Falls Apart

Live streaming
Cultural
program

Permanent Exhibitions

The author of this photo series, artist Oleksandr Naselenko, was born and raised right next to the Akkerman Fortress—yet had never captured it in his visual explorations of his native South. The eternal white stone of one of Ukraine’s oldest cities had been there so long, locals barely noticed it anymore.

It was only when Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi came under threat of missile attacks and the bridge over the Dniester Estuary closed to civilians that the artist’s gaze softened toward this familiar landmark. This series is about longing and love—feelings that grow sharp in the face of possible loss.

More
Hide

Tereza Barabash first created this installation during an artist residency in Poland, where she had evacuated with her son in 2022. Back then, local residents brought piles of school notebooks for Ukrainian children. The ones that were untouched became the material for the first version of the work: a field of delicate white paper flowers, each one honoring a child lost to the war.

The installation has since been shown in galleries and institutions across several countries. With each showing, the number of flowers grows—and continues to grow every day. According to UNICEF, the impact of armed conflict on children reached its highest level since World War II in 2024. Children embody our future, and we carry responsibility for that future.

At the Lviv Media Forum, the installation invites anyone who feels moved to symbolically honor, with a white flower, the irreparable losses to our future that armed aggression and war inevitably bring.

More
Hide
9:00 - 12:00

Lviv Media Forum 2025: City Tour

We’ll then wander through the charming streets of the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site rich in history, vibrant with cafes, and full of hidden stories.

Next, we’ll visit the Memorial to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, a poignant tribute to those who gave their lives for Ukraine’s freedom during the Revolution of Dignity.

The tour continues to Marsove Pole (Field of Mars), a place of remembrance that now holds new meaning in the context of Ukraine’s ongoing struggle for independence.

Our final stop is the Superhumans Rehabilitation Center, where you will witness how innovation, resilience, and humanity come together to support Ukraine’s veterans on their path to recovery.

Join us to explore Lviv through the lens of history, memory, and hope.

More
Hide
14:00-14:30

LMF 2025 Opening Ceremony

Lanivshchyna is a spatially extended sound composition covering an imagined square kilometer of steppe in Donbas—detached from the current military context. Sounds of birds, wind, insects, and industrial machinery, each recorded on separate tapes, gradually decay with every playback on individual tape recorders, illustrating how our memory of what was once fundamental and essential fades and shifts over time.

A sound artist, musician, and now a soldier, the author continues the exploration he began with Reconstructing Luhansk from Memory project. In Lanivshchyna, the urban soundscape gives way to the steppe, and digital sound is replaced by analog. Here, the wear and tear of magnetic tape becomes part of the composition itself.

More
Hide
19:00 – 21:30

Power Tracks: Opening Night at LMF 2025

LMF 2025 invites guests from around the world to its backyard and asks one simple question in advance: What’s your personal soundtrack for recharging? What do you play when you need energy? What songs lift you up, spark inspiration, and help you keep going? DJ T-One weaves your answers into a one-of-a-kind set from your shared tracks for our opening night—a backyard BBQ party at KIVSH’s creative space, designed for connection, conversation, and community.

More
Hide
Cultural
program

Permanent Exhibitions

The author of this photo series, artist Oleksandr Naselenko, was born and raised right next to the Akkerman Fortress—yet had never captured it in his visual explorations of his native South. The eternal white stone of one of Ukraine’s oldest cities had been there so long, locals barely noticed it anymore.

It was only when Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi came under threat of missile attacks and the bridge over the Dniester Estuary closed to civilians that the artist’s gaze softened toward this familiar landmark. This series is about longing and love—feelings that grow sharp in the face of possible loss.

More
Hide

Tereza Barabash first created this installation during an artist residency in Poland, where she had evacuated with her son in 2022. Back then, local residents brought piles of school notebooks for Ukrainian children. The ones that were untouched became the material for the first version of the work: a field of delicate white paper flowers, each one honoring a child lost to the war.

The installation has since been shown in galleries and institutions across several countries. With each showing, the number of flowers grows—and continues to grow every day. According to UNICEF, the impact of armed conflict on children reached its highest level since World War II in 2024. Children embody our future, and we carry responsibility for that future.

At the Lviv Media Forum, the installation invites anyone who feels moved to symbolically honor, with a white flower, the irreparable losses to our future that armed aggression and war inevitably bring.

More
Hide
9:00 - 12:00

Lviv Media Forum 2025: City Tour

We’ll then wander through the charming streets of the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site rich in history, vibrant with cafes, and full of hidden stories.

Next, we’ll visit the Memorial to the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, a poignant tribute to those who gave their lives for Ukraine’s freedom during the Revolution of Dignity.

The tour continues to Marsove Pole (Field of Mars), a place of remembrance that now holds new meaning in the context of Ukraine’s ongoing struggle for independence.

Our final stop is the Superhumans Rehabilitation Center, where you will witness how innovation, resilience, and humanity come together to support Ukraine’s veterans on their path to recovery.

Join us to explore Lviv through the lens of history, memory, and hope.

More
Hide
14:00-14:30

LMF 2025 Opening Ceremony

Lanivshchyna is a spatially extended sound composition covering an imagined square kilometer of steppe in Donbas—detached from the current military context. Sounds of birds, wind, insects, and industrial machinery, each recorded on separate tapes, gradually decay with every playback on individual tape recorders, illustrating how our memory of what was once fundamental and essential fades and shifts over time.

A sound artist, musician, and now a soldier, the author continues the exploration he began with Reconstructing Luhansk from Memory project. In Lanivshchyna, the urban soundscape gives way to the steppe, and digital sound is replaced by analog. Here, the wear and tear of magnetic tape becomes part of the composition itself.

More
Hide
14:30-14:50
Frankly
Spoken

Keynote speech

Live streaming
14:50-15:10
Frankly
Spoken
15:10-15:40

Coffee Break

15:40-16:40
Frankly
Spoken

Public Talk

From Wounds to Words: Reimagining Narratives for Peace and Progress

16:40-17:40
Frankly
Spoken

Public Talk

How To Be, When Everything Falls Apart

Live streaming
19:00 – 21:30

Power Tracks: Opening Night at LMF 2025

LMF 2025 invites guests from around the world to its backyard and asks one simple question in advance: What’s your personal soundtrack for recharging? What do you play when you need energy? What songs lift you up, spark inspiration, and help you keep going? DJ T-One weaves your answers into a one-of-a-kind set from your shared tracks for our opening night—a backyard BBQ party at KIVSH’s creative space, designed for connection, conversation, and community.

More
Hide
May 16

Streams

10:00-11:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Disease of Democracy: What Should We Do to Overcome It?

Live streaming
11:00-11:30
Frankly
Spoken

Coffee Break

11:30-12:30
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Institutions Under Attack: How To Protect Them in Time of Chaos

Live streaming
12:30-13:00
Frankly
Spoken

Coffee Break

13:00-14:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

The Right Words and the Timely Silence: Maintaining Dialogue with Society in Times of War

14:00-15:00
Frankly
Spoken

Lunch

15:00-16:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Exiled but Accountable. The Ukrainian Answer to the 'Non-Putin Russians' Dilemma

16:00-16:30
Frankly
Spoken

Coffee Break

16:30-16:55
Frankly
Spoken

Speech

From Headlines to Mindsets: How Media Language Defines Reality

17:00-18:00
Frankly
Spoken

Public Talk

When Everything Matters: Keeping Context Behind the Text

10:00-11:00
Smartly
Done

Discussion

The Fatigue Factor: How Journalists Keep Critical Issues in the Public Eye

Live streaming
11:00-11:30
Smartly
Done

Coffee Break

11:30-12:30
Smartly
Done

Discussion

From Barren to Blooming: How to Cultivate a Garden in a News Desert

12:30-13:00
Smartly
Done

Coffee Break

13:00-14:00
Smartly
Done

Discussion

Building Power in the Eye of Crisis: Reinventing Approach to the Media Development

14:00-15:00
Smartly
Done

Lunch

15:00-16:00
Smartly
Done

Presentations + Discussion

Silencing Journalists: How Can We Address the Problem

16:00-16:30
Smartly
Done

Coffee Break

16:30-18:00
Smartly
Done

FuckUp Night

Behind the Curtain: Advocacy and Diplomacy Unfiltered

Cultural
program

Permanent Exhibitions

The author of this photo series, artist Oleksandr Naselenko, was born and raised right next to the Akkerman Fortress—yet had never captured it in his visual explorations of his native South. The eternal white stone of one of Ukraine’s oldest cities had been there so long, locals barely noticed it anymore.

It was only when Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi came under threat of missile attacks and the bridge over the Dniester Estuary closed to civilians that the artist’s gaze softened toward this familiar landmark. This series is about longing and love—feelings that grow sharp in the face of possible loss.

More
Hide

Tereza Barabash first created this installation during an artist residency in Poland, where she had evacuated with her son in 2022. Back then, local residents brought piles of school notebooks for Ukrainian children. The ones that were untouched became the material for the first version of the work: a field of delicate white paper flowers, each one honoring a child lost to the war.

The installation has since been shown in galleries and institutions across several countries. With each showing, the number of flowers grows—and continues to grow every day. According to UNICEF, the impact of armed conflict on children reached its highest level since World War II in 2024. Children embody our future, and we carry responsibility for that future.

At the Lviv Media Forum, the installation invites anyone who feels moved to symbolically honor, with a white flower, the irreparable losses to our future that armed aggression and war inevitably bring.

More
Hide
19:00 – 21:30

Living Cultures, Shared Tables: Evening of Local Hospitality in Lviv Skansen

On the second day of LMF 2025, local Crimean Tatar, Jewish, and Galician cultures will come together in a unique celebration at the new information center of the Klymentii Sheptytskyi Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life. On the terrace, surrounded by the Znesinnia park, Lola Landa, restaurateur and co-owner of the Jewish family restaurant “Jerusalem,” Lerane Khaibullaieva, journalist, restaurateur, and owner of the restaurant “Crimean Courtyard,” and Marianna Dushar, researcher of Galician cuisine, food anthropologist, journalist, and writer, founder of the “Pani Stefa” project, will present dishes from the intangible cultural heritage of Crimean Tatars, Jews, and Ukrainians from Galicia. Guests will be treated to these traditional dishes as they enjoy the evening.

The atmosphere will be complemented by a playlist that blends modern music from all three cultures. 

For those interested, a tour of the Shevchenkivskyi Hai’s artistic projects and selected exhibits will also be available.

More
Hide
Cultural
program

Permanent Exhibitions

The author of this photo series, artist Oleksandr Naselenko, was born and raised right next to the Akkerman Fortress—yet had never captured it in his visual explorations of his native South. The eternal white stone of one of Ukraine’s oldest cities had been there so long, locals barely noticed it anymore.

It was only when Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi came under threat of missile attacks and the bridge over the Dniester Estuary closed to civilians that the artist’s gaze softened toward this familiar landmark. This series is about longing and love—feelings that grow sharp in the face of possible loss.

More
Hide

Tereza Barabash first created this installation during an artist residency in Poland, where she had evacuated with her son in 2022. Back then, local residents brought piles of school notebooks for Ukrainian children. The ones that were untouched became the material for the first version of the work: a field of delicate white paper flowers, each one honoring a child lost to the war.

The installation has since been shown in galleries and institutions across several countries. With each showing, the number of flowers grows—and continues to grow every day. According to UNICEF, the impact of armed conflict on children reached its highest level since World War II in 2024. Children embody our future, and we carry responsibility for that future.

At the Lviv Media Forum, the installation invites anyone who feels moved to symbolically honor, with a white flower, the irreparable losses to our future that armed aggression and war inevitably bring.

More
Hide
10:00-11:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Disease of Democracy: What Should We Do to Overcome It?

Live streaming
10:00-11:00
Smartly
Done

Discussion

The Fatigue Factor: How Journalists Keep Critical Issues in the Public Eye

Live streaming
11:00-11:30

Coffee Break

11:30-12:30
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Institutions Under Attack: How To Protect Them in Time of Chaos

Live streaming
11:30-12:30
Smartly
Done

Discussion

From Barren to Blooming: How to Cultivate a Garden in a News Desert

12:30-13:00

Coffee Break

13:00-14:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

The Right Words and the Timely Silence: Maintaining Dialogue with Society in Times of War

13:00-14:00
Smartly
Done

Discussion

Building Power in the Eye of Crisis: Reinventing Approach to the Media Development

14:00-15:00

Lunch

15:00-16:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Exiled but Accountable. The Ukrainian Answer to the 'Non-Putin Russians' Dilemma

15:00-16:00
Smartly
Done

Presentations + Discussion

Silencing Journalists: How Can We Address the Problem

16:00-16:30

Coffee Break

16:30-16:55
Frankly
Spoken

Speech

From Headlines to Mindsets: How Media Language Defines Reality

16:30-18:00
Smartly
Done

FuckUp Night

Behind the Curtain: Advocacy and Diplomacy Unfiltered

17:00-18:00
Frankly
Spoken

Public Talk

When Everything Matters: Keeping Context Behind the Text

19:00 – 21:30

Living Cultures, Shared Tables: Evening of Local Hospitality in Lviv Skansen

On the second day of LMF 2025, local Crimean Tatar, Jewish, and Galician cultures will come together in a unique celebration at the new information center of the Klymentii Sheptytskyi Lviv Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life. On the terrace, surrounded by the Znesinnia park, Lola Landa, restaurateur and co-owner of the Jewish family restaurant “Jerusalem,” Lerane Khaibullaieva, journalist, restaurateur, and owner of the restaurant “Crimean Courtyard,” and Marianna Dushar, researcher of Galician cuisine, food anthropologist, journalist, and writer, founder of the “Pani Stefa” project, will present dishes from the intangible cultural heritage of Crimean Tatars, Jews, and Ukrainians from Galicia. Guests will be treated to these traditional dishes as they enjoy the evening.

The atmosphere will be complemented by a playlist that blends modern music from all three cultures. 

For those interested, a tour of the Shevchenkivskyi Hai’s artistic projects and selected exhibits will also be available.

More
Hide
May 17

Streams

10:00-11:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Soft Power, Hard Consequences. How Democracies Could Counteract FIMI Attacks and Win?

11:00-11:30
Frankly
Spoken

Coffee Break

11:30-12:30
Frankly
Spoken

Public talk

Communicating The Corruption: Problem to Tackle vs. Weapon to Kill

Live streaming
12:30-13:30
Frankly
Spoken

Lunch

13:30-14:30
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

From the Ground Up: Reshaping Global Journalism with Local Expertise

14:30-14:45
Frankly
Spoken

Coffee Break

14:45-15:45
Frankly
Spoken

Keynote Public Talk

Stronger than Strongmen: Navigating the Twilight of Democracy Toward Freedom

Live streaming
15:45-16:00
Frankly
Spoken

Closing Ceremony

10:00-11:00
Smartly
Done

Workshop

OSINT in Action: Ukraine’s Experience from the Full-Scale War

11:00-11:30
Smartly
Done

Coffee Break

11:30-12:30
Smartly
Done

Case Study + Q&A

Speak Human. How Business and Institutions Can Build Clear Public Communication

12:30-13:30
Smartly
Done

Lunch

13:30-14:30
Smartly
Done

Case Study + Q&A

What Changes When War Comes to Your House

14:45-15:45
Smartly
Done

Keynote Public Talk

Stronger than Strongmen: Navigating the Twilight of Democracy Toward Freedom

15:45-16:00
Smartly
Done

Closing Ceremony

Cultural
program

Permanent Exhibitions

The author of this photo series, artist Oleksandr Naselenko, was born and raised right next to the Akkerman Fortress—yet had never captured it in his visual explorations of his native South. The eternal white stone of one of Ukraine’s oldest cities had been there so long, locals barely noticed it anymore.

It was only when Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi came under threat of missile attacks and the bridge over the Dniester Estuary closed to civilians that the artist’s gaze softened toward this familiar landmark. This series is about longing and love—feelings that grow sharp in the face of possible loss.

More
Hide

Tereza Barabash first created this installation during an artist residency in Poland, where she had evacuated with her son in 2022. Back then, local residents brought piles of school notebooks for Ukrainian children. The ones that were untouched became the material for the first version of the work: a field of delicate white paper flowers, each one honoring a child lost to the war.

The installation has since been shown in galleries and institutions across several countries. With each showing, the number of flowers grows—and continues to grow every day. According to UNICEF, the impact of armed conflict on children reached its highest level since World War II in 2024. Children embody our future, and we carry responsibility for that future.

At the Lviv Media Forum, the installation invites anyone who feels moved to symbolically honor, with a white flower, the irreparable losses to our future that armed aggression and war inevitably bring.

More
Hide
17:00 - 18:30

Lviv Media Forum 2025: Art Walk

From there, we’ll visit the renewed Koliivshchyna Square and the Space of Synagogues, where contemporary design meets historical memory.

The walk continues to Dzyga Art Center and several independent galleries along Virmenska Street, known for their vibrant exhibitions and local art scene.

We’ll finish at MONO, a new cultural space on Rynok Square, showcasing fresh curatorial projects and giving a platform for unlocking creative potential across art, education, social initiatives, and entrepreneurship.

Explore how Lviv’s past and present come together through its art and creative spaces.

More
Hide
19:00 – 21:30

LMF 2025 Closing Party: Let The Song Be Among Us

For the closing night of LMF 2025, guests are invited to a new venue—the Public Media Academy. With access to the Museum of Broadcasting, hidden archives of the Suspilne Mediateka, and a newly renovated TV studio, visitors will witness the journey of Ukrainian public media from its origins to the present—a path that closely reflects the country’s own story.

Especially for the closing night, sound artist and researcher of sonic landscapes, Anna Khvyl, will create an original DJ set. A hybrid set mixing Ukrainian estrada from the ’70s–’80s with old-school house and garage of the same time—music born from the fight for freedom and self-expression. Inspired by Volodymyr Ivasiuk’s iconic song, this evening is about connection, memory, and keeping each other in sight even after the gathering has ended.

More
Hide
Cultural
program

Permanent Exhibitions

The author of this photo series, artist Oleksandr Naselenko, was born and raised right next to the Akkerman Fortress—yet had never captured it in his visual explorations of his native South. The eternal white stone of one of Ukraine’s oldest cities had been there so long, locals barely noticed it anymore.

It was only when Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi came under threat of missile attacks and the bridge over the Dniester Estuary closed to civilians that the artist’s gaze softened toward this familiar landmark. This series is about longing and love—feelings that grow sharp in the face of possible loss.

More
Hide

Tereza Barabash first created this installation during an artist residency in Poland, where she had evacuated with her son in 2022. Back then, local residents brought piles of school notebooks for Ukrainian children. The ones that were untouched became the material for the first version of the work: a field of delicate white paper flowers, each one honoring a child lost to the war.

The installation has since been shown in galleries and institutions across several countries. With each showing, the number of flowers grows—and continues to grow every day. According to UNICEF, the impact of armed conflict on children reached its highest level since World War II in 2024. Children embody our future, and we carry responsibility for that future.

At the Lviv Media Forum, the installation invites anyone who feels moved to symbolically honor, with a white flower, the irreparable losses to our future that armed aggression and war inevitably bring.

More
Hide
10:00-11:00
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

Soft Power, Hard Consequences. How Democracies Could Counteract FIMI Attacks and Win?

10:00-11:00
Smartly
Done

Workshop

OSINT in Action: Ukraine’s Experience from the Full-Scale War

11:00-11:30

Coffee Break

11:30-12:30
Frankly
Spoken

Public talk

Communicating The Corruption: Problem to Tackle vs. Weapon to Kill

Live streaming
11:30-12:30
Smartly
Done

Case Study + Q&A

Speak Human. How Business and Institutions Can Build Clear Public Communication

12:30-13:30

Lunch

13:30-14:30
Frankly
Spoken

Discussion

From the Ground Up: Reshaping Global Journalism with Local Expertise

13:30-14:30
Smartly
Done

Case Study + Q&A

What Changes When War Comes to Your House

14:30-14:45

Coffee Break

14:45-15:45

Keynote Public Talk

Stronger than Strongmen: Navigating the Twilight of Democracy Toward Freedom

Live streaming
15:45-16:00

Closing Ceremony

17:00 - 18:30

Lviv Media Forum 2025: Art Walk

From there, we’ll visit the renewed Koliivshchyna Square and the Space of Synagogues, where contemporary design meets historical memory.

The walk continues to Dzyga Art Center and several independent galleries along Virmenska Street, known for their vibrant exhibitions and local art scene.

We’ll finish at MONO, a new cultural space on Rynok Square, showcasing fresh curatorial projects and giving a platform for unlocking creative potential across art, education, social initiatives, and entrepreneurship.

Explore how Lviv’s past and present come together through its art and creative spaces.

More
Hide
19:00 – 21:30

LMF 2025 Closing Party: Let The Song Be Among Us

For the closing night of LMF 2025, guests are invited to a new venue—the Public Media Academy. With access to the Museum of Broadcasting, hidden archives of the Suspilne Mediateka, and a newly renovated TV studio, visitors will witness the journey of Ukrainian public media from its origins to the present—a path that closely reflects the country’s own story.

Especially for the closing night, sound artist and researcher of sonic landscapes, Anna Khvyl, will create an original DJ set. A hybrid set mixing Ukrainian estrada from the ’70s–’80s with old-school house and garage of the same time—music born from the fight for freedom and self-expression. Inspired by Volodymyr Ivasiuk’s iconic song, this evening is about connection, memory, and keeping each other in sight even after the gathering has ended.

More
Hide
The NGO Lviv Media Forum strengthens media, institutions, and public figures capable of fostering healthy public dialogue in Ukraine and beyond. Our goal is an effective and democratic society united by healthy communication. The organization was founded in 2013 to bring together media professionals from Ukraine and around the world in Lviv for the annual LMF conference. Over the years, we have grown into an ecosystem of people, organizations, and projects that support the media, develop comprehensive solutions for them, and promote the best media practices in Ukraine and globally. We are moving from supporting and developing media and journalists to a broader strategic focus: empowering communication actors, including media, civil society organizations, government bodies, and more.

About the conference
ORGANIZER

Feedback