IAEA safeguards symposia are important forums for substantive and detailed interaction between the Secretariat of the IAEA, its Member States and the international community on safeguards and verification issues. The 11th Symposium on International Safeguards, Preparing for Future Verification Challenges, was held in Vienna, Austria, from 1–5 November 2010. The aim of the symposium was to help the IAEA to prepare for future verification challenges by engaging in dialogue and information exchange with Member States, technical experts, the nuclear industry and members of the broader safeguards and nuclear non-proliferation community. This publication provides a summary of the symposium plenaries, technical sessions, panels and forums.