The Concept Symposium 2008 welcomed 90 specially invited participants from governmental agencies, academia, consultancy firms, privately owned companies and project management associations. All participants were selected resource persons with particular experience related to the symposium topic and hailed from Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sudan,  Sweden, The Netherlands, United Kingdom and USA.

The Concept Symposium 2008 focused on the failure of many large investment projects to meet expectations in terms of producing anticipated long-term benefits has highlighted the need for improved project governance during the last few years.

The 3rd Concept Symposium zoomed in on this phenomenon from four different angles contributing towards an understanding of this complex issue:  

• The overall national public management perspective
• Experience with governance regimes in selected countries
• The business case and lessons from initiatives to improve quality at entry
• Recent research findings from the Concept research program