The 8th Conference of the European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR) was held in Vienna between 20 and 22 September 2017. As reported previously in Drugnet Ireland,1 the EUSPR was established to promote ‘the development of prevention science, and its application to practice so as to promote human health and well-being through high quality research, evidence based interventions, policies and practices’.2 The cornerstones of its work are a cross-disciplinary network of scientists, policy-makers and practitioners; the development of methodologies; the promotion of higher education and career development in prevention; and the implementation of research.

The conference theme for 2017 was ‘Quality in Prevention’ and plenary speakers addressed a range of topics on the theme,3 including: 

• How to attain and maintain quality in an evidence-based programme
• The implementation of suicide prevention in existing measures of addiction prevention
• How to support a professional culture of quality in prevention
• What are the consequences of prevention polices?
• Rethinking the dynamics of primary prevention: mobilisation, implementation, and embeddedness in open systems 

Speakers represented the international community working in the area of prevention. Posters and parallel session presentations covered a wide range of topics, including programme evaluations, methodological approaches, and broader debates on the role and value of prevention.

Preventing substance use was just one of the behaviours addressed in the conference. Related presentations included an update of the International Standards on Drug Use Prevention from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),4 originally launched in 2013. These standards are currently being updated to take account of progress made in prevention research and to ensure the standards provide guidance based on the most up-to-date evidence on what makes effective prevention. The team conducting this work will carry out a systematic review of reviews and a review of primary studies to capture ‘the research on the emerging areas of prevention, not yet accumulated enough to register at the level of reviews’ (p. 30).5

Irish papers presented at the conference included:

‘Because we do it together’ family based prevention: a ten-year overview of implementation and outcomes of the Strengthening Families Programme in Ireland’, presented by Donna Butler of the Families Matter Programme.

‘Factors concerning access to a potential drug consumption room’, presented by Emma Atkin-Brenninkmeyer of Trinity College Dublin.

‘Getting prevention on the political agenda: the Irish experience of influencing policy and practice’, presented by Marian Quinn of the Prevention and Early Intervention Network.

‘Alcohol drinking behaviours and perceived norms: longitudinal trends among Irish adolescents aged 12—15 years’, presented by Kathy-Ann Fox of the National University of Ireland, Galway.

2  More information on the EUSPR and the conference is available at www.euspr.org.

3  Plenary speakers’ presentations are available to download at http://euspr.org/plenary-talks/

4  United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) (2015) International standards on drug use prevention. Vienna: UNODC. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/19481

5  European Society for Prevention Research (2017) Quality in prevention: 8th EUSPR Conference and Members’ Meeting; Vienna, 20th—22nd September 2017. Warsaw: EUSPR. https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/27987/