Thierry Charlois

Recommendation for safer nightlife in Europe

In the framework of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs contribution to the next EU Drug Strategy, I wrote a recommendation for safer nightlife in Europe on behalf the French Harm Reduction Association.

This recommendation is actually a annex to the Forum's recommendation on EU drug policy presented in April 2012 to the European Council.

We will see by the end of 2012 if this recommendation will have an impact on the next EU Drug Strategy...

> Read the recommendation on safer nightlife HERE

> Read the Forum's recommendation on EU drug policy HERE

The Party+ Network

The PARTY+ Network was created by four safer nightlife Labels and Charters: Quality Nights in Belgium, Fêtez Clairs in France, Q de Festa ! in Spain and Safer Clubbing in Switzerland.

The PARTY+ network aims to improve nightlife settings through community empowerment among European cities and regions by implementing qualty Labels and Charters for nightlife venues and by enhancing existing ones.

As Fêtez Clairs project manager, I am involved in the Party+ steering committee and in expert visits proposed to cities and regions.

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.

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.

Article on Fêtez Clairs in a French magazine

The French magazine Espaces, Tourisme et Loisirs (Spaces, Tourism and entertainment) edited a excellent thematic document called Nuit Urbaine et Tourisme (Urban night and tourism).

At this occasion, I wrote a article (in French of course...) presenting Fêtez Clairs and the nightlife context in Paris.

> Download the article...

Club Health Conference 2010

The 6th Club Health Conference will take place in Zurich from 7 to 9 June 2010.

The focus of the conference lies on preventive and harm reducing measures which make nightlife safer and more attractive as well as promoting partygoers’ health.

The Club Health Conference addresses national and international experts from the harm reduction, prevention and health promotion domains and provides a unique opportunity to exchange the latest scientific knowledge, political efforts, project proposals and experiences.

As coordinator of the Fêtez Clairs project, I will take part in a workshop on safer nightlife labels and charters led by the Party+ Network.

Come to meet us in Zurich (cool city...)! :o)

Exass Net - Safer Nightlife in Europe

 

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. This network is carried out by the Pompidou Group, Council of Europe.  

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 drug prevention in recreational settings (Safer Nightlife). As member of the EXASS Net steering committe and in order to open the practice sharing during the seminar, I wrote a background document on Safer Nightlife in Europe. This document brings an overview on the situation, the local responses, the involved EU networks in this field as well as the related EU policy.

> Download Safer Nightlife in Europe

> See post on EXASS Net