Shaping the Future with Books 2026



 

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Shaping the Future with Books conference

Intergraf, in partnership with Smithers, announced the new edition in the Shaping the Future series: Shaping the Future with Books, taking place in Brussels on Thursday, 19 February 2026. This flagship event gathered leading publishers, printers, suppliers, researchers, and policymakers to explore the trends, challenges, and innovations shaping Europe’s book ecosystem.

The European book sector is undergoing a profound transformation, from evolving reading habits and the evolution of print-on-demand services to new sustainability frameworks and supply-chain pressures. This conference brought together high-level experts to discuss the latest developments across the value chain, including:

  • The state of the European book market
  • Changing consumer behaviour and reading habits
  • The strategic importance of print in a digital age
  • EU policies affecting books, education, and cultural access
  • Sustainable book production
  • New distribution, supply-chain, and localisation models
  • Innovation in book design and engagement

The event’s programme included insights from Smithers, leading academics, online book influencers, major European publishers and printers, and the European Commission. Participants benefited from a rich mix of market data, practical case studies, and forward-looking discussions.

PROGRAMME OVERVIEW

The full-day event featured a series of insightful presentations and discussions. It was preceded by a welcome cocktail on Wednesday, 18 February, and followed by a networking dinner on Thursday, 19 February.

EXCLUSIVE MARKET REPORT

Shaping the Future with Packaging attendees will also receive the European Book Market Report, prepared by Smithers. This exclusive report will present a comprehensive market analysis, including the latest data and trends impacting the books segment of the printing industry. It is included in the conference package and will serve as a valuable resource for professionals across the sector.

ABOUT THE EVENT SERIES

The Shaping the Future series, organised by Intergraf in collaboration with Smithers, highlights key sub-sectors of the European print industry. Previous conferences have focused on topics like books, commercial print, magazines, and direct mail. In 2026, the focus returned to books — a sector undergoing structural transformation and renewed political relevance. Building on the success of the Shaping the Future with Packaging event in 2025, which brought together 110 participants from more than 20 countries, this edition promised to continue advancing industry knowledge and collaboration. 

 

Programme
 

Wednesday, 18 February

19:30 - Welcome Cocktail at Cardo Brussels Hotel


Thursday, 19 February

09:00 - 09:15 - Conference opening

Speaker: Ulrich Stetter, Intergraf

09:15 - 09:45 - Opportunities and Challenges of the European Publishing World

Speaker: Sonia Draga, FEP, Belgium

09:45 - 10:15 - The European Mission for Reading and Literacy

Speaker: Normunds Popens, Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), European Commission, Belgium

10:15 - 10:45 - Update on the European Book Market

Speaker: Adam Page, Smithers, United Kingdom

10:45 - 11:15 - Coffee break

11:15 - 11:45 - How students read: Reading in higher education in a digital age

Speaker: Marte Pupe Støyva, University of Stavanger, Norway

11:45 - 12:15 - The value of reading and writing on paper

Speaker: Andrea Cangini, Osservatorio Carta, Penna & Digitale, Italy

12:15 - 12:45 - Booktok

Speaker: Jasmine Darban, Sweden

12:45 - 14:00 - Lunch

14:00 - 15:00 - Panel Discussion: Value chain cooperation to enhance supply chain resilience and new supply chain models

Moderator: Håvard Grjotheim, Scandbook, Sweden

Speakers: Matt Baehr, Book Manufacturer’s Institute, USA

Oliver Kranert, C.H. Beck, Germany
Peter Kraus vom Cleff, Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, Germany
Antti Makkonen, Sappi, Finland

15:00 - 15:30 - Sustainable book production

Speaker: Gina Lyons, Clays, United Kingdom

15:30 - 15:50 - Coffee break

15:50 - 16:15 - Booxite

Speaker: Hermann Eckel, pagina GmbH, Germany

16:15 - 16:40 - Localised and Regional Printing Models

Speaker: Jonathan Huddart, CPI, United Kingdom

16:40-17:05 - The digital product passport for books

Speaker: Tobias Kaase, mediaprint solutions, Germany

17:05-17:15 - Conference closing

Speakers: Ulrich Stetter, Intergraf, Belgium
Håvard Grjotheim, Scandbook, Sweden

 

19:00 - Conference Dinner at Belga Queen

 

SPEAKERS

 
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Matt Baehr
Executive Director
Book Manufacturers’ Institute United States of America
Andrea Cangini
Secretary General
Luigi Einaudi Foundation Italy
Jasmine Darban
Book influencer
Sweden
Sonia Draga
President
Federation of European Publishers Belgium
Hermann Eckel
Product Manager
BOOXITE Germany
Håvard Grjotheim
Working Chairman
Scandbook Sweden
Jonathan Huddart
Head of Sales
CPI UK United Kingdom
Tobias Kaase
Chief Executive Officer
mediaprint solutions GmbH Germany
Oliver Kranert
Managing director printing plants
Bertelsmann Germany
Peter Kraus vom Cleff
Managing Director
German Publishers and Booksellers Association Germany
Gina Lyons
Business Systems Director
Clays United Kingdom
Antti Makkonen
Sales Director for Graphic Papers
Sappi Europe Finland
Adam Page
VP Reports
Smithers United Kingdom
Normunds Popens
Deputy Director General
Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission Belgium
Marte Pupe Støyva
Senior Librarian
University of Stavanger Norway
Ulrich Stetter
President
Intergraf Belgium
LinkedIn
Matt Baehr
Executive Director
Book Manufacturers’ Institute United States of America
Matt Baehr is the Executive Director of the Book Manufacturers' Institute (BMI), where he has served as chief executive since 2017, leading the long standing trade association for book manufacturers and their suppliers. Before joining BMI, he held senior roles at the Data and Marketing Association (DMA), AVIXA (formerly InfoComm), and the Specialized Carriers and Rigging Association, and previously served as chief executive of the Arlington Soccer Association in Virginia. He holds an MBA from Ohio University and a bachelor’s degree from the Catholic University of America, and lives in Bradenton, Florida with his wife Mary and three children. He comes from a family of educators, who were staunch proponents of reading physical books at an early age. Matt has continued to instill that belief in his own children.
Andrea Cangini
Secretary General
Luigi Einaudi Foundation Italy

Andrea Cangini, graduated in Political Science, professional journalist since 1995. Editor-in-chief of Resto del Carlino and Quotidiano Nazionale from 2014 to 2018.Senator of the Republic from 2018 to 2022. He was group leader in the Senate Culture Committee, vice-chairman of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into illegal gambling, member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and vice-chairman of its Technological Trends and Security Committee. Since November 2022, he is the Secretary General of the Luigi Einaudi Foundation, where he founded the Carta, Penna & Digitale Observatory in defence of cursive handwriting and reading on paper.

Four books: with Francesco Cossiga, “Fotti il potere, gli arcana della politica e dell'umana natura” (2010), “L’onore e la sconfitta, politica italiana e guerre perse dal Trattato di pace del 47 al Fiscal compact del 2012” (2012) “La camicia nera di mio padre, riflessioni sulla morte della Patria” (2018), “CocaWeb, una generazione da salvare” (2022).
Jasmine Darban
Book influencer
Sweden
Jasmine Darban combines her passion for reading with a strong and authentic presence on social media. Over the years, she has grown into one of Sweden’s leading voices within the BookTok movement, where she inspires a new generation of readers by making literature accessible, engaging, and relevant in digital spaces. Beyond her work as a book influencer, Jasmine co-runs a publishing imprint in collaboration with Bonnier Carlsen. The imprint was created with the aim of reaching younger readers who have discovered literature through social media. By bridging traditional publishing with digital culture, she contributes to redefining how books are marketed and experienced today.
Alongside her creative work, Jasmine is currently completing her law degree. Her long-term ambition is to remain within the publishing industry after graduation, where she hopes to continue working strategically with promoting reading and youth engagement, combining her legal expertise with her deep-rooted passion for literature. In 2025, she was awarded Grafiska Företagen’s industry award, ‘Årets stora branschpris'.
Sonia Draga
President
Federation of European Publishers Belgium
Sonia Draga is the President of the Federation of European Publishers for the 2024-2026 mandate; first woman elected in that position. She is a Board Member and former President of the Polish Chamber of Books (PIK, Polska Izba Książki) and President of the eponym publishing house 'Sonia Draga Wydawnictwo'.
Picture credits: André Stachel and Rodrigo Mothé
Hermann Eckel
Product Manager
BOOXITE Germany
Hermann Eckel is a digital-publishing expert with many years of experience within the book-publishing industry. After a number of sales positions at the music publisher Baerenreiter and at Oxford University Press, he took over as managing director at C. F. Peters from 2010 to 2016. As managing director at tolino media, from 2017 to 2022, he significantly expanded tolino’s self-publishing business, including a print-on-demand service for authors. In late 2022, Hermann set himself up as a self-employed consultant, trainer, lecturer and speaker, supporting publishing companies and bookdealers in their digital transformation. As Product Manager at pagina GmbH, he has been responsible for the development of the innovative book-production platform BOOXITE since early 2025. Besides that, Hermann acted as co-spokesperson of the digital work group within the German book-trade association from 2019 to 2025, driving digital change within the industry in this role, too.
Håvard Grjotheim
Working Chairman
Scandbook Sweden

Håvard Grjotheim is an accomplished business leader currently serving as the Working Chairman of ScandBook Holding AB in Sweden. With a successful career spanning several major companies in Scandinavia, he brings a wealth of experience as a CEO.

He is the President of NOPA, the Nordic Printing Association. Håvard has also made notable contributions as the President of the Norwegian Printing Federation and former President of Intergraf.
Jonathan Huddart
Head of Sales
CPI UK United Kingdom
Jonathan has worked across print and supply chain solutions for publishers for many years. Most recently supporting publishers to make use of CPI’s Print on Demand and Zero Inventory solutions, providing access to their services for Web to Print enterprises as well as supporting their traditional publisher base. The models that CPI have deployed and Jonathan has been working on have been based on the publishers removing their traditional stock model and making their titles perpetually available though on demand production.
Tobias Kaase
Chief Executive Officer
mediaprint solutions GmbH Germany
Tobias Kaase (46), CEO of mediaprint solutions GmbH, Germany. Trained as a media designer at Mohn Media – Mohndruck GmbH in Gütersloh. Graduated in 2006 with a degree in industrial engineering from the Stuttgart Media University. Until 2013, he was a member of the management team at the Encyclopedia publisher Bibliographisches Institut & F.A. Brockhaus AG in Mannheim. There he witnessed how Wikipedia completely disrupted the publisher's business model within just a few years. Subsequently, until 2017, he was a member of the Board at Athesia Kalenderverlag in Unterhaching. During this time, he was a founding member of the self-publishing company Calvendo GmbH, which used a disruptive approach to almost completely digitize the traditional processes of a calendar publisher. Since 2017, he has been CEO of mediaprint solutions GmbH in Paderborn. Together with his team, he developed mediaprint solutions into one of the most digitalized printing companies in Central Europe. Since 2024, he has been in addition co-managing director of Media-Print Group GmbH in Paderborn and CEO of Grafisches Centrum Cuno GmbH & Co. KG in Calbe. Tobias describes himself as a "hands-on expert" for change management and transformation in printing und publishing.
Oliver Kranert
Managing director printing plants
Bertelsmann Germany

1992 – 2012 Bertelsmann managing director printing plants, Germany and Italy

2012 – 2026 C.H.Beck managing director printing plant and electronic media in Nördlingen, Germany

2017 – 2018 CPI Germany managing director
Peter Kraus vom Cleff
Managing Director
German Publishers and Booksellers Association Germany
Peter Kraus vom Cleff (*1967) has been Managing Director of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association (Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels) since 2022. He holds a degree in economics and was active in various publishing houses of the Georg von Holtzbrinck publishing group for more than 20 years, most recently managing Rowohlt Verlag as Commercial Director since 2008. From 2020 to 2022, he was President of the Federation of European Publishers (FEP).
Gina Lyons
Business Systems Director
Clays United Kingdom
Gina is Business Systems Director at Clays, a role she has held since 2018. She joined the company in 2010, managing several cross-functional departments before taking ownership of IT, Purchasing and Sustainability. She has led the company’s Sustainability transformation, developing a company-wide framework that embeds Sustainability as a strategic priority. Gina has overseen Clays setting of science-based emission targets under the SBTi framework, designed supplier management programmes and worked closely with customers to understand what Sustainability means to them and how this can be translated into measurable, practical action. Her wider remit includes materials and supply chain management, process improvement and systems development, aligning technology, procurement and production to reduce carbon emissions and waste while maintaining service standards. Gina holds an MSci in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.
Antti Makkonen
Sales Director for Graphic Papers
Sappi Europe Finland
Antti Makkonen is the Sales Director for Graphic Papers at Sappi Europe, overseeing global business across more than 65 countries and leading teams of over 100 professionals. With more than 25 years of international experience in sales leadership, strategic marketing, and commercial transformation in the paper industry. His career includes spearheading major business integrations, launching new product segments in graphic and speciality paper segments. Antti holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Cork and has completed executive studies at IMD Lausanne.
Adam Page
VP Reports
Smithers United Kingdom
Adam is VP Reports at Smithers, the worldwide authority for the printing, paper and packaging industries, with overall responsibility for its market reports business. in 2025, he launched the new Smithers Market Intelligence Platform which provides all reports and data in one fully searchable solution, and which is fully secure and accessible anytime, anywhere. Adam has more than 25 years’ experience in leading market research projects. During his time at Smithers he has published hundreds of market studies, reports, technical books and single-client projects across a range of industries including printing, paper and packaging, and has delivered many insightful presentations at conferences and events around the world. As part of this role, Adam manages a global network of experts, consultants and researchers who contribute to hundreds of primary research-based projects every year. Adam was trained as a journalist, and is a member of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals.
Normunds Popens
Deputy Director General
Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture, European Commission Belgium
Since January 2024, Normunds Popens is the Deputy Director General in the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. From 2011, Normunds Popens has been the Deputy Director General for Implementation in the Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy of the European Commission and in charge of overseeing the implementation of structural and cohesion fund programmes in EU member states and candidate countries. Before joining the European Commission in March 2011 he has occupied several posts in the Latvian diplomatic services. Notably from 2007 until 2011, he was a Permanent Representative of Latvia to the EU. Before that he dealt with European affairs as Undersecretary of State of the Latvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He has been also responsible for the issues of foreign trade and transatlantic relations and has worked as an Ambassador in Norway, Iceland and in the USA as a diplomat.
Marte Pupe Støyva
Senior Librarian
University of Stavanger Norway
Marte Pupe Støyva is a PhD-student at the Norwegian Reading Centre and a Senior Librarian at the Stavanger University Library. Her research revolves around students in higher education and how they read when reading for academic purposes. In her research, she explores questions regarding reading mediums, attention, and bodily engagement during reading. Marte Pupe Støyva holds a master’s degree in Nordic Languages and Literacy Studies. She is dedicated to books, literature, and the benefits of reading.
Ulrich Stetter
President
Intergraf Belgium
Ulrich Stetter is Intergraf President and Managing Director of printing companies within the Druckhaus Mainfranken Group - the production part of the flyeralarm group, based in Würzburg, Germany. Ulrich has 30+ years of experience in the European printing industry. He has served on the Intergraf board since 2018, taking over as President in 2021.