It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of Rowdy Yates, one of the pioneers and proponents of the drug-free therapeutic community in Europe. Rowdy was a gifted speaker and lecturer (University of Stirling), of whom many staff members and students of the Department of Special Needs Education (Ghent University) have fond memories. Together with the late Prof. Broekaert, Rowdy Yates founded the European Working Group on Drugs Oriented Research (EWODOR) in the 1980s.

Until recently, he was president of the European Federation of Therapeutic Communities (EFTC) and inspired young people and adults all over the world with his lived experience and powerful insights. As one of the few English-speakers, he fully understood what 'orthopedagogics' meant and he felt it was a real pity that there is no comparable discipline/science in the English-speaking world. Rowdy was a visionary in other fields as well, launching online, interactive courses in 'Addiction studies' already 20 years ago. Rowdy was not only a very passionate counsellor and competent researcher, but also a good musician and singer, and above all a proud Scot.

With Rowdy we have lost a warm and wise man, who was always a pleasure to be around.
We wish his family, friends and the TC family - as he liked to call them - much strength. We will miss Rowdy.

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