Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network is a European network tackling marginalisation and social exclusion of various groups of people including drug users by improving their access to services.

Correlation es una red europea centrada en la marginación y la exclusión social de ciertos grupos de personas, entre ellos usuarios de drogas ilegales, a fin de mejorar su acceso a los servicios que necesitan.

Correlation est un réseau européen dont le travail est ciblé sur la marginalisation et l’exclusion sociale de certains groupes de personnes, y compris les consommateurs de drogues illégales, dans le but d’améliorer leur accès aux services dont ils ont besoin.

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network

At its bi-annual gathering the European harm reduction movement addressed the multiple challenges of our time: rising populism, shrinking space for civil society, changing drug markets and changing needs of people who use drugs. Watch our film we produced at the conference!

The 6th European Harm Reduction Conference took place at the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw, Poland, on 2-4 December 2024. As Alex Lakhov, director of the European Network of People Who Use Drugs (EuroNPUD) mentioned in his speech, to have this conference at this venue, built during Stalin’s years to represent totalitarian power, is a message of defiance. It would make Stalin furious to see that people discuss human rights under the roof of his former palace. Unfortunately it is not only the architecture of totalitarianism that survived but the spirit of Stalin is also alive and well. Civil society activists face the new threats of populism and repressive policies across Europe. The Drugreporter team filmed some key moments and interviewed several participants to learn how harm reductionists respond to new challenges in various European countries – please watch and share our conference video!

The conference marked the 20th anniversary of its main organiser, the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network (C-EHRN). On this occasion, the network published a report with the title “

“, highlighting a selection of key people and organisations. It is my honour that as one of the founder of Drugreporter, I am one of them. Happy birthday Correlation!

Opening Session + Polish Drug Policy: Persistence and determination towards drug law reform and putting people who use drugs at the centre.

Global paradigm shift: navigating human rights in drug policy reform

Medication assisted therapies in EECA: status and progress

Legally grey? Discovering loopholes in the national laws for drug checking services

Scaling up HIV and HCV prevention treatment and care in community-based settings

Think Global, Act Local – the important role of cities in innovating drug policy and practice + Wrap-Up Session

Satellite Event: Dealing with drugs II – Cities and the international pursuit of sensible regulation

How to regulate substances: detailed blueprints for local level experiments

Little things mean a lot: 6h European Harm Reduction Conference video highlights

As part of the BOOST Project, a series of webinars will be held in November for harm reduction organisations that are currently providing or planning to offer services in the fields of HIV and viral hepatitis.

The webinars aim to enhance the knowledge and skills of community-based and community-led organisations, helping them apply good practice models, tools, and methods to scale up integrated screening, testing, treatment and care for communicable diseases across Europe. Below we share the sessions, dates and registration links.

Community-led approaches to HIV/VH/STIs screening, testing, treatment and care for people who use drugs

Optimising data collection: a guide to COBATEST standardised data collection tools

Current best practices on community-based HIV/VH/STIs services

Improving linkage to care in harm reduction settings

BOOST’s peer-to-peer capacity-building webinar series

This Policy Brief provides an overview of the state of the art regarding Drug Consumption Rooms (DCRs), exploring developments, challenges and needs in their work, as well as an overview of recommendations and examples of good practices for policymakers that wish to support these harm reduction interventions. The paper draws from the activities of the European Network of Drug Consumption Rooms [ENDCR] and, in particular, from the DCR Technical Meetings organised by the ENDCR and the European Union Drugs Agency [EUDA] in 2023 and 

, respectively, in Lisbon and Athens. These meetings gathered DCR representatives from all over Europe to discuss key updates, monitoring, capacity building and advocacy needs and plans.

Creating safer consumption spaces in Europe: Evolving contexts and implications for policy

Drug Consumption Rooms are safe spaces where people can use drugs under hygienic conditions, with support, and without fear of violence or legal repercussions. Today, more than 140 legally-sanctioned DCRs operate in 11 European countries, as well as in Australia, Canada, Mexico and the USA. Join us on a global video tour to discover why they were established, how they support their local communities and how these life-saving harm reduction facilities have evolved over time. Watch the full film co-produced by Drugreporter and Correlation - European Harm Reduction Network.

Drug consumption rooms around the world - Video

The study aims to provide an overview of the range, scope and structure of care services for people who use drugs currently provided by drug consumption rooms in Europe. To this end, the study: describes the operational characteristics, capacities and services of DCRs in Europe, as well as their settings and client characteristics; and identifies recent developments in the operational characteristics, capacities and services of DCRs in Europe.

Drug consumption rooms in Europe – Operational overview

 The role of cities in promoting more just and effective drug policies


Cities are increasingly recognised as crucial drivers of innovation in drug policy. As interest in a new approach to deliver more just and effective drug policies grows, cities face significant challenges in finding room to design new drug policies and in their implementation, due to political resistance, public opposition, and the rise of populist ‘zero tolerance’ and ‘tough on drugs’ politics across Europe.

This webinar will address the important role of cities in forming progressive drug policies and discuss how cities can collaborate and push for positive change in cooperation with international partners and institutions.

The role of cities in promoting more just and effective drug policies

Webinar 4 – Fighting Disinformation and Moral Panics


June 18, 12:00 – 1:30 pm
Drug policies are often influenced by sensational media reporting that fuels moral panics about drugs and leads to the othering of people who use drugs. The spread of disinformation is a major barrier to drug policy reform, undermines basic norms and values like human rights and scapegoats civil society organisations. This webinar addresses strategies to fight disinformation in an age that is often characterised as post-truth. Participants will discuss what methods they use to educate the public about drugs and drug policies and how to defend civil society from politically motivated attacks.

Fighting disinformation and moral panics - Correlation webinar series

Webinar 3 – Meaningful Involvement of Civil Society

The meaningful involvement of civil society is now widely accepted in Europe as a crucial part of policy making. However, there is little or no consensus on what constitutes “meaningful” involvement. This webinar will present a new tool developed by the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs in 2022, the Quality Standards of Civil Society Involvement, and the findings of a focus group study to assess civil society involvement in four European countries (Hungary, Finland, Greece and Ireland). Participants will discuss the often opposing views on the role of civil society, the challenges and opportunities of civil society involvement in various political contexts at European, national and local levels. The webinar will address the worrying trend of shrinking space for civil society in Europe.

Meaningful involvement of civil society - Correlation webinar series

Please join us on Monday 13 May at 12.00 CET for the launch of the 

2024 Manifesto for a Progressive EU Drug Policy

 through a conversation on the future of European drug policy that will feature Members of the European Parliament and keynote European civil society speakers.

Please kindly register for the event through 

More than 260 European drug policy NGOs and 130 drug policy experts from 25 EU Member States have already signed the 2024 Manifesto for a progressive EU drug policy. We are coming together to call for a pragmatic and innovative EU drug policy that makes Europe safer, healthier, and more just.

If you want to support the manifesto, please make sure to:

Encourage your drug policy networks and colleagues to sign the manifesto.

Share the manifesto on social media with the hashtag #FutureDrugPolicyEU24.

If you want to get more involved in the campaign by translating the manifesto to your language or organizing a local launch event, please reach out to arogialli@correlation-net.org and kschiffer@correlation-net.org.

You can find the manifesto in Czech, English, Estonian, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Romanian, and Spanish, and the list of signatories, 

Thank you very much for your support, and we are looking forward to seeing you on Monday 13 for the launch of the manifesto.

Correlation – European Harm Reduction Network

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Related Content

Little things mean a lot: 6h European Harm Reduction Conference video highlights

BOOST’s peer-to-peer capacity-building webinar series

Creating safer consumption spaces in Europe: Evolving contexts and implications for policy

Drug consumption rooms around the world - Video

Drug consumption rooms in Europe – Operational overview

The role of cities in promoting more just and effective drug policies

Fighting disinformation and moral panics - Correlation webinar series

Meaningful involvement of civil society - Correlation webinar series

Manifesto for a Progressive EU Drug Policy 2024 - Launch event