Posted on 2026-02-23 - 5 minute read

At DDD Europe 2026, we're structuring the conference around our main programme and two dedicated tracks, let’s talk about the Foundations track.

Foundations Track: Starting Your DDD Journey

New to Domain-Driven Design? The Foundations track is designed specifically for you. This track features talks and hands-on labs that introduce the core concepts and practices of DDD, providing a solid grounding for those beginning their journey.

In this track, you'll explore:

What is Domain-Driven Design? Understand the fundamental principles of DDD and discover how this approach improves software design. Learn why DDD matters and when to apply it to your projects.

Strategic DDD Fundamentals Get introduced to concepts like bounded contexts, context mapping, and how to align your software architecture with business domains.

Tactical DDD Building Blocks Explore entities, value objects, aggregates, repositories, and other tactical patterns that help you model complex domains in code.

Beginner-Friendly Topics Whether it's ubiquitous language, domain events, or collaborative modelling techniques, all topics in this track are presented at a level accessible to DDD newcomers.

If you've been curious about Domain-Driven Design but haven't known where to start, the Foundations track will give you the knowledge and practical skills to begin applying DDD in your own work.

Three Full-Day Workshops

Before the conference starts, we have the tradition of organising workshops to extend the experience and provide focused training on your preferred topic.

• Strategic Domain-Driven Design with Maxime Sanglan-Charlier

Learn how to identify bounded contexts, map relationships between systems, and align your architecture with business strategy through collaborative exercises and real-world examples.

• Implement Tactical Patterns with Stijn Vannieuwenhuysse

Gain hands-on experience building aggregates, entities, value objects, and domain services whilst learning how to protect business invariants and maintain consistency in your domain model.

• Domain Storytelling with Henning Schwentner and Stefan Hofer

Master the visual modelling technique that helps teams discover and communicate domain knowledge through pictographic language, bridging the gap between domain experts and developers.

Three Hands-on Labs:

Each hands-on lab is 2 hours long and runs parallel to the talks. This is your chance to get a deep dive into a specific topic.

• Context Mapping with Paul Rayner

Discover patterns for managing relationships between bounded contexts, including customer-supplier, conformist, and anticorruption layers, through interactive mapping exercises.

• From Anemic Domain Model to Well-Designed Aggregates with Arnaud Courtès and Julien Gaubert

Transform procedural, data-centric code into rich domain models by applying aggregate design principles, encapsulation, and consistency boundaries in practical refactoring exercises.

• Domain Storytelling in Practice with Henning Schwentner

Put Domain Storytelling into action by facilitating collaborative modelling sessions, learning facilitation techniques, and practising the pictographic language with real scenarios.

Four Foundation Talks:

Listen to these speakers during 50-minute talks:

• Rework is just discovery you paid for twice with Paul Rayner

Discover how investing in discovery and collaborative modelling upfront reduces costly rework later, with practical techniques for uncovering domain knowledge before writing code.

• Just start (with Value Objects) with Katharina Damschen

Learn why value objects are the perfect entry point to DDD, bringing immediate benefits through type safety, validation, and expressiveness without requiring deep architectural changes.

• Event Sourcing: dealing with an eventful past with Hannes Lowette

Explore how event sourcing stores state as a sequence of events, providing audit trails and temporal queries whilst learning when this pattern adds value and when it introduces unnecessary complexity.

• So you want to be a DDD practitioner with Talysson Oliveira Cassiano

Get a roadmap for your DDD learning journey, including which concepts to tackle first, common pitfalls to avoid, and how to build expertise through practice and community engagement.

Start your DDD Journey in Antwerp!

Whether you're completely new to Domain-Driven Design or ready to deepen your foundational knowledge, the Foundations track provides the structured learning path you need. With workshops, hands-on labs, and talks carefully designed for newcomers, you'll leave DDD Europe 2026 with practical skills and the confidence to apply DDD in your own projects.

Ready to explore DDD Europe 2026? Check out our speakers and program to see who's joining us this year.