Gulp or Sip? Alcohol Culture in the 21st Century

‘Gulp or Sip’ is a training programme designed to provide opportunites for participants to share, exchange and promote models of good practice over 6 working days that deals with alcohol culture. The event has been organised against the backdrop of Derry~Londonderry’s 'UK City of Culture 2013' status which presents a significant opportunity to address the culture of alcohol and its social, political and educational implications but primarily its health implications for local communities. 'Gulp or Sip?' is targeted at youth work practitioners, young leaders and other practitioners with a remit or responsibility for the welfare of young people but who through their interest in and commitment to the use of pro-active alcohol-related strategies and approaches are looking to reduce alcohol-related harm among young people. The programme aims to provide space and time for participants to share and promote examples of good practice but discuss the implications of using different approaches and methodologies to address the culture of alcohol in different environments and settings that cut across diverse cultural boundaries (and draw conclusions as to what is effective practice). It will also provide space to examine issues, concerns and questions related to the use of harm reduction tools. Participants will also have the opportunity to present, exhibit and share practice and learning from their own local, regional and national context with the aim of increasing knowledge and skills and enhancing attitude of other participants - this in turn not also enhances the capacity of partner organisations but can be applied across geographical boundaries. The programme will also examine ways of building upon practice profiled during the training in an effort to reach out to those countries not represented as part of a longer-term approach to Alcohol Culture. An action planning phase is geared towards creating post-programme actions. Participants will come away from the training much better informed and ‘upskilled’ with a clear direction of how they can use practice in their work setting and with a clear ideas for introducing some of what they have learnt into their local practice.