The conference included 40 panelists drawn from the International Monetary Fund, European Commission, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, various governments, leading Washington and Brussels-based think-tanks and universities across the world. The panelists were organized into six sessions, which focused on the Asian challenge to Europe, global imbalances, migration, aid and trade, governance and economic development and the European Union and its near abroad. Keynote addresses were given by Martin Wolf of the Financial Times, who spoke on the challenges and risks of globalization, Alan Gelb of the World Bank, who gave an overview of the economic development of Africa and Oleksandr Savchenko of the National Bank of Ukraine. Conference participants traveled from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia to participate in the event.

"The European economy is part of the global economy, an economy which has undergone profound changes during last two decades, a fact which is often neglected in the intra-European debate," explained Marek Dąbrowski, chairman of the CASE supervisory council, in his opening remarks to the conference. Dr. Dąbrowski also stressed that Central and Eastern European countries are eager to join Western Europe in hosting international conferences on global economic issues and challenges.

"Winds of Change: The Impact of Globalization on Europe and Asia" is the fifth in a series of bi-annual international conferences organized by CASE.