The City of Kristiansand, Norway, hosted annual conference for Norwegian network of cities in ECAD on January 5, 2012. ECAD Director Jörgen Svidén was one of the participants.

Representatives of Norwegian cities in ECAD meet once a year in January to focus on actual drug issues and discuss activities in their respective cities, to strengthen established contacts and to create new ones. Besides this, there are lectures on different topics to broaden perspectives and to give inspiration and new knowledge. The participants have various professional skills and roles, from leading politicians to practitioners and scientists.

Among great speakers was Else Kristin Utne Berg from Bergen, who presented a survey on trends of drug use and, based on that, ideas on how to react on these figures. The audience also got an interesting and engaged presentation from Kristiansand’s City medical practitioner, Dagfinn Harr, on success factors in the fight to help people overcome drug problems.

Norwegian initiative for ECAD member cities is most welcome in ECAD and is something that should be a role model for cities in other countries, as an important social factor and a professionally useful meeting. Gatherings like this are very inspiring and help set focus on the issue we all work on: how to create a better environment so that as few as possible get in contact with drugs and as many as possible stop taking them.

 “Ut av tåka 2012”, a Norwegian annual seminar on cannabis, will be organized on February 22,  and "Erfaringsdag", a seminar for drug coordinators from all over Norway, in connection to "Ut av tåka 2012" event will take place on February 21, 2012. Download seminar programme below.

 "ERFARINGSDAG" PROGRAMME (PDF)

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