The conference will explore the theoretical and empirical challenges related to defining and measuring development, progress, and the national performance. The two-day event will provide a venue for discussion and reflection upon pressing issues in the field of development and globalization studies:

• Has globalization reached its limits? Are we witnessing its demise?
• The need for change: how can the existing models of development be adapted to fit current challenges?
• What are the most recent theoretical/empirical insights on measuring development in turbulent times?
• How did the economic crisis reshape the relation between development, poverty and inequality inside and outside the European Union?
• What are the trends most likely to impact the European Union’s medium and long term development?
• What development model for the European Union?
• What development model for Romania?
• What innovative ways of communicating progress can be envisaged at the government level?
• How does trust in the national institutions shape the citizens’ support for public policies? What is the relation between the measurable progress towards the development goals, and the public perception of that progress?
• What are the suitable tools and instruments to support evidence-based policy making?

The event is expected to bring together scholars, public and private experts, statistical producers, as well as all other key stakeholders to discuss data on development. It is a means for exchanging expert opinions on the conceptualization of development and the aggregation of statistical data.