Italian Research Centre (Instituto Affari Internazionali (IAI) deputy director Dr. Nathalie Tocci conducted the symposium. The forum is part of a partnership programme funded by the European Union and supported by leading international organisations and think tanks, including Instituto Affari Internazionali, the Konrad Adenaur Foundation, the Center for European Studies, the Global Connections Center, the Centre d’Etude et de Pratique de la Survie, and the Observatoire Méditerranéen de L’Energie (OME).
Derasat external relations and international communication director Nancy Al-Sayyed Jamal addressed the session stressing the challenges facing the GCC member countries and European states, citing particularly demographic trends, globalization, climate change, the global financial meltdown and the energy security.