'Alcohol and the City' is a project run by IHRA and Diageo in Copenhagen, Denmark. It aims to demonstrate how alcohol related harms can be reduced using practical and feasible harm reduction interventions at a city level.
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Background
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Project Aims
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Timeline and Activities
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Project Funding
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Further Information
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Background
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Cities around the world face complex issues associated with the consumption of alcohol, which is a major source of pleasure and entertainment, but also a major cause of crime, social nuisance, and a wide range of acute and chronic health problems. The challenge for cities is to create a drinking environment in which pleasure and social benefits are maximised and harms are minimised.
There are several reasons for focusing on cities:
1. Cities without alcohol are difficult to imagine in Western society. Drinking alcohol is part of daily life, and alcohol has an important economic impact on cities.
2. Cities are normally centres of entertainment and the venues for major events, national celebrations, cultural festivities, carnivals etc. At these events in particular, drinking can play an important role, both positive and negative.
3. It is often in cities that the negative impacts of irresponsible drinking (such as unsafe public spaces, quality of life, traffic accidents, health problems and violence) are felt the most.
4. The problems are often exacerbated, as cities also tend to attract multi-problem persons (such as psychiatric patients, refugees, homeless, and the long-term unemployed), for whom alcohol abuse can be one of (or an escape from) numerous problems.
5. Many agencies which can do something to influence drinking operate at a city (rather than regional or national) level.
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Project Aims
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The overall aim of the project is to demonstrate how alcohol related health and social problems might be reduced by a range of appropriate, practical and feasible harm reduction interventions operating together within a city-wide context. A wide range of local government agencies and private sector organisations is potentially involved in each city. These include the entertainment and tourism industries, law enforcement bodies, transport providers and planners, non-governmental organisations, alcohol services, hospitals (especially emergency wards), and community groups.
The immediate beneficiaries of this project are the populations and stakeholders in the target cities. However, the wider benefits are that the proposed project will demonstrate how to reduce alcohol related harm, enhance the drinking environment, and raise awareness of harm reduction policy options. As such, the wider beneficiaries should include decision makers (such as the European Union and national governments), and anyone interested in assessing the relevance of city-wide, targeted harm reduction for alcohol.
The key questions that this project seeks to answer are:
1. Is it feasible to establish city-wide alcohol harm-reduction strategies? Who is involved? How do they work? What facilitates or impedes their work?
2. Do city-wide alcohol harm reduction strategies enhance the local capacity to respond and do they lead to the development and implementation of new interventions (or the enhancement of existing ones)?
3. Do these interventions have a positive impact on the drinking environment through maximising responsible drinking and minimising the adverse social and health consequences of drinking?
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Timeline and Activities
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May 2006
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An initial stakeholders meeting took place in Copenhagen to discuss alcohol problems in the city and how this project could help. The attendees included academics, the police, public health organisations, local government, the alcohol industry, IHRA, and Quest for Quality (Netherlands).
There was a lot of interest in the project and it was agreed to proceed with the next steps.
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 Brief Meeting Report [PDF: 101KB]
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Summer 2006
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One of the outcomes from the May 2006 meeting was to commission a 'rapid assessment' in Copenhagen to look at alcohol consumption, drinking behaviour and related problems, and current service and intervention delivery.
The assessment was carried out by Vibeke Asmussen and Sebastian Tugenges from the Centre for Alcohol and Drugs Research, University of Aarhus. Information was collected from existing data sources and stakeholder interviews.
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Copenhagen Rapid Assessment Report: Full Report (English) [PDF:530KB]
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Copenhagen Rapid Assessment Report: Executive Summary (English) [PDF:118KB]
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Copenhagen Rapid Assessment Report: Executive Summary (Danish) [PDF:117KB]
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October 2006
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A second, larger meeting was held in Copenhagen, with the aims of discussing the results of the rapid assessment report, and discussing potential interventions and ideas for Copenhagen.
The outcome of this 'expert meeting' was a final 'wish list' of practical alcohol harm reduction interventions which the participants felt would benefit the city of Copenhagen. These interventions could then form the basis of a city-level approach to reducing harm.
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Brief Meeting Report [PDF:22KB]
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Click on above images to view larger.
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2007 - 2009
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Since the 'expert meeting', IHRA and Diageo have been working with local stakeholders in Copenhagen to generate political and financial support for a city-level alcohol harm reduction approach that reflects the 'wish list' agreed in October 2006. This approach will focus around the creation of a comprehensive server training programme for Copenhagen, but will incorporate a wide range of interventions and activities.
After a spate of highly publicised violent incidents in Copenhagen in 2008, political and public interest in alcohol harm reduction has increased. It has been a long time coming, but under the guidance of Ronni Abergel (a consultant from Copenhagen with a background in alcohol harm reduction and racial intergration), negotiations with a range of stakeholders - including the alcohol industry and local Government - have continued throughout the year, and we hope to make a positive announcement in early 2009 about this project.
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Project Funding
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The initial development of this project was supported by a donation from Diageo, one of the largest alcohol manufacturers in the world, as part of their ongoing commitment to the responsible use of their products.
In the initial stages, IHRA was the project lead and worked in partnership with Quest for Quality - an specialist training and consultancy company based in the Netherlands.
Since 2008, IHRA no longer receives any funding from the alcohol industry - including for this project. As the project continues to develop in Copenhagen, IHRA is working in an advisory role alongside the local partners in Copenhagen, the City of Copenhagen, and Diageo.
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IHRA's policy on funding [PDF:21KB]
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Further Information
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- For more information about the Alcohol and the City project in general, please contact Jamie Bridge.
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- For more information about the proposed intervention in Copenhagen, please contact Ronni Abergel.
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