Alcohol consumption remains an important public health challenge across the lifespan, yet effective alcohol reduction requires approaches that account for differences in age, identity, social context, and drinking culture. This symposium brings together perspectives from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to examine how alcohol reduction can be supported through behavioural interventions (e.g., Dry January), changes in social environments (e.g., early screening within healthcare), and alcohol-free alternatives.
Programme
10.30-10.45 Introduction (Dr. Emma Davies & Prof. Jacqueline Vink)
10.45-11.30 Keynote (Dr. Emma Davies)
11.30-11.40 Coffee break
11.40-12.00 Early recognition of alcohol-related problems (Judith Visser & Jurre van der Mast, Tranzo, Tilburg University)
12.00-12.15 From young people's perspectives to co-created action (Marit van de Pol & Nina Hoffland, BSI, Radboud University)
12.15-12.30 Mix It Up! (Dr. Kirsten van Hooijdonk & Lise Dams, BSI, Radboud University)
12.30-13.00 Panel discussion
13.00-14.00 Lunch (provided by the BSI)
About the keynote speaker
Dr. Emma Davies is an associate professor at Oxford Brookes University in Oxford, United Kingdom. Her research focuses on alcohol and substance use prevention and harm reduction, with particular expertise in the development of behavioural and communication-based interventions. She has led and contributed to a programme of work that combines behavioural science, co-production, and experimental methods to understand how individuals engage with alcohol reduction strategies in real-world contexts. This includes the development of the SPACES intervention (Storytelling Promoting Alcohol Choice, Empowerment and Sharing), alongside other digital and co-produced interventions targeting both young people and mid-life adults. A key strand of her research examines alcohol-free and low-alcohol (NoLo) products as a harm reduction strategy. Her work has identified barriers to NoLo uptake in an international context, experimentally tested how alcohol and NoLo advertising influences drink choice, and explored how context, identity, and social norms shape engagement with these alternatives.
