Approaches which focus on alcoholism do not reach these 'normal' people. Furthermore, approaches which only aim at reducing the availability of alcohol and increasing the price of alcohol, have not been sufficiently successful in curbing harmful drinking, such as binge drinking amongst young people. The Alcohol and Harm Reduction movement is practical and realistic in its approach towards alcohol consumers; it is not moralistic. The most important concern is to reduce the harm related to alcohol use, rather than reducing the per capita consumption. Important tool in the harm reduction approach are targeted interventions. Before developing and carrying out such interventions, the basic question is addressed: Who abuses alcohol, where and when, and how can this be addressed in a practical manner? One of the key factors of targeted interventions is a constructive cooperation between all parties involved: those who abuse alcohol, their peers and parents, teachers, prevention workers, policy makers, researchers, security officers, hospitality industry and the alcohol industry).
top

Projects
Q4Q is involved in a number of projects in the area of alcohol and harm reduction, i.e.

• International Conferences on Alcohol and Harm Reduction
• Training
• Master Class 'Enhancing corporate responsibility'
• The Master Class Urban Nights
• European pilot ‘Parents to parents’
• The Alcohol Policy Seminar
• Alcohol and the City
• Publications

top

International Conferences on Alcohol and Harm Reduction
Since 2002, Q4Q has organized 4 International Conferences on Alcohol and Harm Reduction: the first one in Recife, Brazil, the second one in Warsaw, Poland, the third one in cape Town, South Africa and the 4th in Barcelona, Spain. A special website has been developed for these conferences: www.alcoholconference.org
top

Training
Q4Q offers specialized training. Some of these training is done in cooperation with ICAP. The training is tailor made and assists trainees to develop more insight into various alcohol policy options, targeted interventions, and the value of cooperation. The training is interactive and uses adult learning techniques. We make sure that trainees learn a lot in a short time, but also have a good time! Please contact our secretariat for more information.
top

Master Class 'Enhancing corporate responsibility'
This one day training aims at those who are working within the alcohol beverage industry and who are involved in further developing the corporate responsibility for their company.
Participants who followed this Master Class will:

• Better understand alcohol issues in society
• Be better equipped to develop partnerships
• Be better equipped to develop concrete activities
• Know how to work with the ICAP policy tools
• Take concrete things home (written materials, guidelines etc.)

Elements of Masterclass

• Introduction and expectations of the day
• Presentation about alcohol and society
• Exercise regarding the establishment of effective partnerships with key stakeholder
• Development in subgroups of a concrete plan for a specific region on a specific topic.
• Wrap-up and future actions

topUrban Nights Master Class
Many cities are facing the problem on how to manage the nightlife. On the one hand, it is realized that people like to have a good time and that nightlife contributes to the local economy, whilst on the other hand cities may face severe nuisance related to the nightlife, such as violence, noise, litter etc. To assist local policy makers, those who manage the hospitality industry and those who are responsible for safety, Q4Q has developed the Urban Nights Master Class. The Master Class is based on the three P’s: Pleasure, Peace and Profit. An interactive programme is offered, which includes a tour through the city at night. Please visit www.urbannights.org for more information.
top

European pilot ‘Parents to Parents’
We expect this project to start in September 2008 top

The Alcohol Policy Seminar
A special seminar was developed in cooperation with ICAP, Dinamo and IHRA to assist key stake holders, such as policy makers, practitioners, researchers and industry representatives in countries in transition to discuss and further develop a response to alcohol related problems. Key element in this seminar is the use of the policy tools developed by ICAP. A first pilot was done in South Africa. For more information, please visit www.alcoholseminar.org
top

Alcohol and the City
In cooperation with IHRA, the project Alcohol and the City was developed. This project was sponsored by Diageo and resulted in a concrete plan to develop server training in Copenhagen. For more information, please visit www.alcoholandthecity.org
top

Publications
In 2003, the book Alcohol and Harm Reduction was published. Later on this book was also translated into Portuguese and Spanish. The book is available as a Pdf file. (English, Spanish)
Furthermore, Q4Q developed a number of short videos, which can be seen at the website www.alcoholconference.org
top

Networking
Q4Q believes that effective harm reduction measures need an optimal cooperation between various stakeholders, such as parents, teachers, peer groups, policy makers, researchers, prevention workers, security officers, hospitality industry, alcohol beverage industry. Everybody plays a specific role. Respect for the each other's contribution is the key word.
Over the years, we managed to create a large international network of key people from various disciplines and from different geographic and cultural origin (Western world, countries in transition and developing countries). In our activities we try to optimally use the specific expertise available in this network.
top
Funding policy
Some of the alcohol projects are co-sponsored by the alcohol industry. To ensure that we can do our work independently, we have strict rules along which we work. For more information click here.
top