The third in a series of European Alcohol Policy conferences will take place in Barcelona, 3rd-5th April 2008 during the forthcoming Slovenian Presidency of the European Union. The conference, which is supported by the Ministry of Health of Spain and the Ministry of Health of Slovenia, will be hosted by the Health Department of the Government of Catalonia, the Institute of Public Health of Slovenia and the Building Capacity Project. It is co-financed by the European Commission, the Health Department of the Government of Catalonia, the Institute of Public Health of Slovenia, the Directorate of Health and Social Affairs of Norway, ACTIS Norway, and IOGT-NTO Sweden. It is co-sponsored by the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization and Eurocare, the European Alcohol Policy Alliance.

The main theme of the conference is to build capacity on alcohol policies and programmes at European, country, regional and municipal levels to invest in the health of Europe’s citizens. The conference will be structured around the five objectives of the Commission’s Communication on alcohol: to protect young people, children and the unborn child; to reduce injuries and death from alcohol-related road accidents; to prevent alcohol-related harm among adults and reduce the negative impact on the workplace; to inform, educate and raise awareness on the impact of harmful and hazardous alcohol consumption, and on appropriate consumption patterns; and to develop and maintain a common evidence base at EU level. The conference will include a session on effective alcohol policy at the EU level, and will profile ongoing European Commission co-financed projects in the field of alcohol.

Alcohol-related accidents and injuries are the most important component in alcohol’s contribution to ill-health and premature death in Europe, are particularly prevalent in young people, and are a particularly important cause of inequalities between and within European countries. As such, it is proposed to include a special focus on the prevention of alcohol-related accidents, injuries, and inter-personal violence within the framework of the conference.

Sufficient time will be provided for advocacy development, networking, partnership building and exchange between the participants. The conference will follow the format of a mix of plenary presentations, and highly specialized parallel sessions and workshops, which will attempt to build capacity amongst scientists, policy makers, policy advisors, and programme implementers. The aim of the workshops will be to present new and pragmatic ways of tackling problems that are encountered by participants. Non-governmental organizations, the Building Capacity project, relevant European organizations, Commission co-financed alcohol projects, and other key organizations at all levels (European, country, regional and municipal) are invited to submit proposals to convene and run workshops. The conference material will be placed on the Building Capacity project website.

The conference is organized to meet the needs of policy makers, policy advisors, programme implementers, health promoters, prevention specialists and prevention planners working in governmental and non-governmental organizations at the local, regional, country and European levels, as well as researchers, clinicians, and addiction service providers. It is designed to be of interest to policymakers, policy advisors and programme implementers who have direct responsibility for alcohol-related public health and social welfare, as well as those who work in other sectors, such as finance, road safety, consumer and family affairs, education, entertainment, communications, and marketing and advertising.

The conference will conclude with two statements: recommendations for alcohol policy and programme development to invest in the health of European citizens at European, country, regional and municipal levels; and recommendations to reduce alcohol-related accidents, injuries, and inter-personal violence at European, country, regional and municipal levels.