Thierry Charlois

The NEW Implementation project

 

The partners of the DC&D Safer Nightlife platform and the members of the Basics Network submitted with success an application at the EU Public Health Programme called "Nightlife, Empowerment, Well-Being Implementation project" (NEWIP). This 3-year project (2011-2013) proposes responses to the new challenges in the field of synthetic drugs harm reduction such as partygoers’ mobility (party tourism), new youth cultures and trends of drug uses, necessity of improving nightlife community empowerment as well as filling the gap in terms of geographic coverage.

The specific objectives of the project are:

• improving field work interventions;
• adapting responses to partygoers mobility;
• developing innovative responses adapted to youth cultures;
• developing community empowerment (nightlife and health professionals, local authorities, etc.) ;
• implementing new projects and enlarging the network (mainly among new member states);
• improving rapidity of responses. 
  

To reach the objectives, the partners will: 

• collect, adapt and implement best practices standards and guidelines;
• organise training sessions and study trips;
• organise common field interventions in 6 big international music festivals (180 000 people);
• support the implementation of safer party labels in 12 EU cities involving the local communities;
• set up a database on synthetic drug checking results and develop an early warning system on dangerous substances and new trends of uses;
• organise the "EU NEW Safer Night" and a dissemination conference.
  

I was involved as a consultant for the main partner, ABD - Energy Control, to submit the application. During the project development, I will manage the external cooperation of the network. My support to the application submission was made into the framework of the European Action on Drugs.

Supporting the integration of the AFR at the EU level

The French harm reduction association (AFR) is a national umbrella gathering individuals as well as organisations in order to advocate towards the French institutions and to share practices among members. Since 2007, I have been involved with the AFR as a consultant and volunteer with the aim of improving their integration at the European level as well as the members' capacity to work in local partnerships.

Until now, the results of this mission are:

• the creation of the AFR working group for local and international partnerships;
  
• The integration of the AFR in the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs;
• the participation of the AFR in the European Harm Reduction Network , in the ACCES project as well as in a Leonardo project;
• The integration of the AFR in the International Drug Policy Consortium.
  

Since October 2009, I am member of the AFR board of Directors and since October 2010, the treasurer of the organisation.

The Democracy, Cities & Drugs conference "New Challenges, New Solutions" - Vienna, Feb. 23-25, 2011

The partners of the Democracy, Cities & Drugs II project organised the New challenges, New solutions conference in Vienna on February 23^rd – 25^th 2011. This conference approached the DCD II topics that the working groups dealt with during the project, as well as the new challenges and solutions the local partnerships will have to tackle with.

This event made possible the participation of European Mayors, local elected officials, representatives of International and European Institutions as well as practitioners, researchers and experts active in the field of drug policies.

The result of this conference has been the Democracy, Cities & Drugs resolution.

As consultant, I was in charge of coordinating the conference Scientific Committee elaborating the programme.

Expert visit to the Safer Nights programme in Cyprus

On April 2011, in the framework of the NEWIP project, I was invited as consultant by the Cyprus Anti-drug Council, which leads the Cyprus safer nightlife programme called "Safer Nights", in order to support the development of their project. The activities undertaken during this 2-day visit were:

 

1. A meeting between the expert and the Safer Nights management board;
2. A training session for the outreach workers;
3. A meeting with the involved nightlife professionals.

This visit was an opportunity for the local team to share their practices with a European expertise and to join Party+, the European Network of Safer Nightlife Labels.

The Prague Declaration on the principles of effective local drug policies

The Prague Declaration is a statement of representatives of municipal governments, decision makers responsible for local and municipal drug policies, workers in the field of drug prevention, regulation, treatment, and harm reduction, and researchers in the field of drugs. It was prepared in Prague for the conference Urban Drug Policies in the Globalised World (September 30^th – October 2^nd, 2010) and it is open to be signed by anyone interested in urban, municipal and local drug policy.

I took part in the Prague conference and supported the dissemination of the Prague Declaration at the Democracy, Cities & Drugs conference in Vienna.

Consulting for EXASS Net

 

EXASS Net is a European network of partnerships between stakeholders at frontline level responding to drug problems providing experience and assistance for inter-sectoral cooperation. Initiated in 2006 by the EU Finnish presidency, this network is carried out by the Pompidou Group, Council of Europe. EXASS Net gathers the cities of Amsterdam (NL), Budapest (HU), Frankfurt (GE), Krakow (PL), the Lancashire (UK), Oslo (NO), Turku (FI), Zagreb (HR) as well as the Russian Federation, the Romanian Anti-drug agency, the Finnish Health Ministry, The UK Home Office, the networks Correlation network and Democracy, Cities & Drugs.

EXASS Net organises two plenary meetings a year in different cities during which participants share practices on a specific topic and visit local drug services. In June 2009 in Budapest, the EXASS Net members worked on Safer Nightlife.

> Read the background document on Safer Nightlife in Europe

The Amsterdam meeting in October 2009 focused on self-organised drug users' groups, drugs users' empowerment and Dutch cannabis policy.
 

> Read the background document on Drug user participation and EU cities

The Oslo meeting in June 2010 focused on Early intervention targeting youth at risk.

> Read the background document on Early intervention targeting youth at risk and EU cities

I was involved as consultant during the first 3-year phase of the project to be part of the EXASS Net steering committees, to co-animate the EXASS Net seminars and to write out background documents and Internet guides.

Improving European networking with Euro-TC

Euro-TC is a European network of treatment centres for drug-addiction. This network is involved in the Democracy, Cities & Drugs projects by leading a platform on "treatment challenges".

On May 2009 I was invited at the Euro-TC General Assembly in order to raise awareness of the Euro-TC members on EU drug policies and the key issue of improving alliances between European networks.

From 2009, as a consultant, I supported each year EuroTC in submitting (with success!) and reporting an application for obtaining an operating grant from the Drug Prevention and Information Programme.