Bart Staes - Member of European Parliament for the Greens

Bart Staes (Member of European Parliament) represents the Greens (Groen!) in the committees Budget Control and Environment/Food Safety. As he is very interested in youngsters and youth policy, he launched last April - together with the European Youth Forum - a written declaration on devoting more attention to youth empowerment in EU policies. In his lecture he will share his viewpoints on the recognition of non formal learning among young people.

Dr Howard Williamson - University of Glamorgan

Howard Williamson is Professor of European Youth Policy at the University of Glamorgan. He is involved in youth policy development in Europe, having been part of the European Union White Paper on youth policy process and a contributor to the Council of Europe's international reviews of national youth policies in western and eastern Europe. In the UK and in Wales, he has contributed to youth policy development in vocational training, curriculum development, combating substance misuse, youth work and criminal justice. He chairs the Prevention and Inclusion Committee of the YJB, and the Consultative Committee for Wales.

Manfred Von Hebel - European Commission

Manfred von Hebel was born in 1966. As an Educational Scientist he was apointed Managing Director of the Association for Youth and Social Work in Lower Saxony, Germany (LAG JAW) from 2001 till 2005. Since 2005 mr. von Hebel became a national expert at the Youth Policy unit of the General Directorate for Education and Culture of the European Commission.

Betina Schwarzmayr -Youth Forum Jeunesse

President of the European Youth Forum, the international youth organisation gathering more than 90 members, both national youth councils and international youth organisations. She is dealing with general representation in the YFJ, information and communication and organisational development.

As YFJ vice-president in 2005-2006, Bettina was responsible for Council of Europe coordination and Advocacy. She was previously a member of the Executive Committee of ESIB, and has worked in cooperation with other regional students organisations, and in the fields of anti-discrimination and inclusion. In her role as a member of the Executive of the National Union of Students in Austria, Bettina was involved in major decision-making processes such as the Austrian Bologna Process follow-up Group and the EU white paper on Youth. Her knowledge of education policy and her hands-on experience with non-formal education (NFE) has lead to her taking a special interest in the recognition of NFE.