This year, over 1,200 abstracts were submitted for the conference and, in December 2007, the Executive Programme Committee (EPC) held a three-day meeting to create the programme. There will be over 50 sessions taking place at Harm Reduction 2008, featuring around 200 oral presentations – not to mention around 400 poster presentations, numerous satellite events and additional meetings, and the 5th International Drugs and Harm Reduction Film Festival (which will run alongside the main conference)!
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Click Here to Preview the Conference Book – Including the Final Programme
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Broadly, there are six types of sessions each lasting 90 minutes:
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Opening and Closing Sessions
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These sessions will attract over 1,000 delegates in the main auditorium (with translation available in English, Spanish, French and Russian). The conference will formally open on Sunday 11th May with a keynote speech (the 2008 Rolleston Oration) from Paul Hunt, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health since 2002. This will be followed by formal welcomes from the local conference hosts and partners. The five-day event will formally conclude on Thursday 15th May with a Closing Session including the presentation of the 2008 IHRA Awards.
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Plenary Sessions
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These take place in the mornings, and they are the sole focus of the conference programme at that time – attracting over 1,000 delegates in the main auditorium (with translation available in English, Spanish, French and Russian ). These sessions set the agenda for the conference as a whole and, in Barcelona, the Plenary Session topics will be:
• The Global State of Harm Reduction
• What Can Be Done to Ensure Gender Equality in the Field of Harm Reduction?
• Criminal Justice, Human Rights and Drugs
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Major Sessions
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These also take place in the mornings, typically following on from the Plenary Session. There are three Major Sessions running in parallel at any one time - each attracting around 300 delegates. A Major Session typically includes four 15-minute presentations followed by around 30 minutes for discussion and questions. Translation will be available for each Major session in English and Spanish, and some Major Sessions will also have translation in French and Russian. There will be twelve of these sessions in Barcelona, covering a range of topics such as ‘Harm Reduction in Spain’, ‘Harm Reduction Research’, ‘Alcohol Harm Reduction’ and ‘Discrimination Versus Rights’ (a Users Choice session organised by the International Network of People who Use Drugs).
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Concurrent Sessions
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These take place in the afternoons – in groups of six sessions at a time (each typically attracting around 150 delegates). In Barcelona, there will be 42 of these sessions covering a huge range of topics – each one consisting of four 15-minute presentations followed by around 30 minutes for discussion and questions. Out of each set of six Concurrent Sessions, translation in Spanish and English will be available for two sessions, with Spanish, English, French and Russian translation available in one session. The other Concurrent Sessions will be in English only.
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Living Rooms
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These sessions take place in the afternoon - at the same time as the Concurrent Sessions. Living Rooms are designed to be much more relaxed and informal than standard sessions, in order to encourage discussion and debate in key areas of harm reduction. Each session has a ‘host’ and four speakers, but each presentation is much shorter (around 5 minutes) and there is no PowerPoint projection. These sessions are available in English only.
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6 O’Clock Shows
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To end the day on Monday 12th May and Tuesday 13th May, there will also be some early evening sessions called the ‘6 O’Clock Shows’. These sessions are great opportunities for open debate and discussion on contentious or lively topics. They normally consist of four 15-minute presentations followed by around 30 minutes for discussion and questions, and are available in English only.
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