As businesses, financial institutions and nations all over the world continue to struggle with the most serious global financial crisis and recession since the Great Depression, it is clear that global economic recovery will require new ideas and innovative approaches. With this in mind, and to support the generation of ideas for governance improvements, The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) brought together its research team and other experts from around the world in Waterloo, Ontario, on October 2-4 2009, to address the factors that caused the crisis, and to debate the policy and institutional responses aimed at preventing a recurrence and creating a more stable global financial and economic system. This report provides an overview of the conference proceedings and the major themes of the discussions.