At the start of this conference, we had a little chat with Tom Willox, coordinator of the ROLO conference for FORMAAT.

VER-Kijker: How many people are gathered here today for the ROLO conference?

Tom Willox: We welcome 110 guests today. Half of them are Flemish, the other half comes from across Europe. They all have a very different background: a lot of them are youth workers, but there are also delegates from the education and employance sector. We have people here from Latvia, Romania, and even from Armenia!

VER-kijker: what can we expect today?

Tom Willox: Participation will be the keyword today. Apart from the traditional lecturing situation, we want to stress that every one of our guests today has lots of opportunities to share his opinions. We want to challenge every one to exchange ideas. All this will be taken into account when we come to a conclusion at the end of the day.

VER-Kijker: Is there any speaker in particular you look forward to?

Tom Willox: I'm really excited to see Howard Williamsons, He chairs the Prevention and Inclusion Committee of the YJB, and the Consultative Committee for Wales. He really is a charming man that can inspire a whole auditorium. He told me he is going to do his presentation without any powerpoint assistance. He counts on nothing his expertise and his natural flair. And I am sure he can do that.

VER-Kijker: What kind of feeling do you want to have tonight?

Tom Willox: Of course I hope the practical organization of the day goes as it is planned. The whole team of FORMAAT has been working hard on this conference for more than a year. But most important for me is that all participants can inspire each other today. By listening to each other's ideas in a European perspective, I hope we can all broaden our horizon today.

Kristof D'hanens