Dear colleagues,

I am pleased to have learned that you are to take part in the workshop on Decent Work and Poverty Reduction. You can find on this site a list of confirmed participants, a tentative programme outline and a recent note on by Pat Holden as further background reading.

I would like to remind you that all ILO colleagues taking part are expected to arrive in Turin by Sunday evening 30 June, at the latest, and to stay the whole length of the workshop, i.e. till lunch on Wednesday 3 July.

In due course you will be informed about travelling to and from Turin. In principle, Geneva-based colleagues are expected to travel by bus, as arranged for the purpose. Field-based colleagues will be contacted by Turin's Ms.Martha Tirelli (m.tirelli@--NO-SPAM--itcilo.org) one by one so as to agree on arrangements.

As mentioned in the invitation, all participants are expected to pay for board and lodging at the Turin Centre from their per diem. Bed and breakfast are to be settled directly at the Centre's reception, while other meals (except dinners offered on Sunday and Tuesday evenings) are to be paid wherever they are taken.

In the tentative programme you will find that all participants are expected to play an active part in the proceedings. As it happens, some will be more equal than others, however. There are, basically, five categories of special roles to be played: presenters, panellists, discussants, reporters, and chairpersons/facilitators/group leaders.
In a manner which is in part and unavoidably arbitrary, everyone has been given one of these roles (with apologies to those who feel that they should have been given a different one).

Presenters, some insiders and some outsiders, will have 30-45 minutes each to make a major statement on subjects as proposed in the programme.

Panellists will have (at most) 15 minutes each and are expected (with power points or overhead sheets if they like) to develop a particular view, to elaborate a particular experience, to share recent developments, or a particular concern, or experience pertinent to the topic on the agenda. It would be appreciated if they would bring a text to be handed out or posted on this web site.

Discussants will have (at most) 7 minutes each and are expected to be the first to intervene in a plenary discussion after a number of substantive presentations. Reporters (two of them) are expected to draft a concise yet substantive summary of proceedings. Chairpersons will chair and facilitators facilitate. Group leaders will organise the work of discussion groups and will report back to plenary ( 5 minutes each).

This website has been developed to keep you up to date with the latest developments of the conference and also to serve as a resource centre on the subject of the conference. As well as providing practical information, it includes a collection of background documents. We need YOUR contribution to make this collection as complete as possible. Please forward any document that you would consider particularly interesting in the light of the topics to be discussed during the workshop to me, f.fluitman@--NO-SPAM--itcilo.org or to the webmaster n.serriere@--NO-SPAM--itcilo.org.