Cities around the world face complex issues associated with the consumption of alcohol – which is a major local source of pleasure, entertainment and income, 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. The ‘Alcohol and the City’ programme aims to demonstrate how alcohol related harms could be reduced using practical and feasible harm reduction interventions at a city level.
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 In May 2009, the Tryg Den Af project – a partnership to ensure a safer nightlife in Copenhagen – was launched as part of the City of Copenhagen’s ‘Safe City’ campaign. This project is the result of two years of stakeholder engagement and advocacy work in the Danish capital as part of IHRA’s ‘Alcohol and the City’ programme. The project will comprise several different elements - including bespoke training for bars and a social marketing campaign – all based on local needs and potential impact, and on international experiences and best practice. The project will be thoroughly evaluated throughout by an independent team from LG Insight in order to provide valuable learning from the process and impacts, and to help build on the global evidence base for alcohol harm reduction interventions.
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The ‘Alcohol and the City’ programme ran in Copenhagen from 2006 to 2008, and was supported by a donation from Diageo – one of the largest alcohol manufacturers in the world. IHRA was the project lead and worked in partnership with Quest for Quality. The project sought to engage a wide range of local government and private sector groups, all of whom were potentially involved in alcohol harm reduction – including the entertainment and tourism industries, law enforcement bodies, transport providers and planners, non-governmental organisations, alcohol services, hospitals and emergency services, and community groups.
The key questions for the project were:
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?
In May 2006, an initial stakeholders meeting took place in Copenhagen to discuss alcohol problems in the city and how this project could help. One outcome from this meeting was that the Centre for Alcohol and Drugs Research were commissioned to conduct a ‘rapid assessment’ looking at alcohol consumption, drinking behaviours, related problems and current services and interventions in the city. A second, larger meeting was then held in Copenhagen in October 2006 to discuss the ‘rapid assessment’ report, discuss potential interventions, and devise a “wish list” of interventions for Copenhagen.
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 Click here to view a brief report from the May 2006 meeting [PDF:101KB]
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Click here to view the ‘Rapid Assessment’ report [PDF:530KB]
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Click here to view a brief report from the October 2006 meeting [PDF:22KB]
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