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Minutes of meetings the annual general meeting,

June 8th, 2000, held in Oslo during the 26th annual Alcohol Epidemiology Symposium

 

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The meeting was opened and chaired by the KBS president Moira Plant

1. Approval of minutes of 1999 annual meeting.

2. Robin Room moved that these minutes be adopted. Seconded by Karen Elmeland. The motion was passed unanimously.

Reports from working groups

International Research Group on Gender and Alcohol (IRGGA)

As Sharon Wilsnack had to leave the KBS meeting earlier in the week, Kim Bloomfield reported on the group’s activities. This year the group held its 8th annual meeting during the conference. Since last year the group has launched a multinational study involving more than 15 countries. A core set of questions has been identified to be included in study partners’ questionnaires. Members have been involved in writing grants and expect to hear next month if a grant proposal to NIAAA has been approved. IRGGA is also seeking other sources of funding and intends to send a proposal to the European Union in October.

Consortium of European Alcohol Research Centres (CEARC)

Christoffer Tigerstedt reported that the group is planning a seminar with the European Comparative Alcohol Study in collaboration with the WHO conference in Stockholm in February. The focus will be on the relationship between research and policy making.

The group is also planning a seminar/conference on alcohol policy in contemporary society, perhaps in London in collaboration with the Society for the Study of Addiction.

There are three new member Institutes - from Stockholm, Israel ???

Finally there are plans for a research course in 2002 on comparative studies of alcohol/drug treatment systems in Europe.

Round table discussion on comparative perspectives on alcohol policy

Pekka Sulkunen reported that there were 16 participants at the first meeting of this group and that the group will meet again next near. The focus of this year's discussion was on "what", "why" and "who" dimensions of alcohol policy. What is the focus? Why is this a concern? What methods are used to implement policy? Who is responsible for different policy initiatives? Pekka indicated that many participants felt that traditional boundaries between government, business and the voluntary sector are breaking down.

3. Report from the treasurer

Trygve Ugland reported that about 40 people had paid fees during the conference and that the KBS Society will now be able to afford the next annual conference! He also reported that he will be working with the secretary to remind all those who have ever joined the Society of their membership status and to invite those who have not paid their fees for sometime to do so. Trygve also invited all conference participants to check their membership status and, if necessary to pay their past dues.

4. Report from the secretary

Alan Ogborne reported that he had been working with the treasurer to ensure that a complete database of new and previous members is available and which can be used to generate labels for mailings.

Alan also indicated that Andrée Demers has proposed the creation a database of basic information on previous conference. This could be put in the Website. Alan and Andrée will look into this and Alan will contact Andrea Mitchell to see what information she has. Robin Room cautioned that this could involve quite a lot of work.

Alan also reported on the decision to move the KBS Website to SIFA and encouraged members to visit the site and to send ideas for improvements to Ron Roizen. Alan also said that he will be pleased to hear from anyone (by email) interested in taking part in a virtual discussion about the Website.

Alan asked if all those present were familiar with the Listserv and no one indicated otherwise. Alan also encouraged members to participate in Listserv discussions.

In response to a question from Alan members reported few concerns about the use of electronic communications in connection with the Oslo conference. However, several members urged that important communications (e.g. conference announcements and voting slips) be sent by hard copy. This will continue to be the case.

5. Nominating Committee

Members are:

Robin Room (Sweden)
Gerhard Gmel (Switzerland)
Pia Rosenquist (Finland)

The following members have agreed to stand for the offices indicated:

President or Vice President (2 to be elected)

Andrée Demers (Canada)
Thomas Greenfield (USA)
Paul Lemmens (Netherlands)
Ingeborg Rossow (Norway)

Coordinating committee members (5 to be elected)

Kim Bloomfield (Germany)
Inge Bongers (Netherlands)
Tanya Cassidy (Ireland)
Marie Choquet (France)
John Cunningham (Canada)
Siri Hettige (Sri Lanka)
Harald Klingemann (Switzerland)
H?kan Leifman (Sweden)
Pia M?kelä (Finland)
Guillermina Natera (Mexico)
Giora Rahav (Israel)
Sharon Wilsnack (USA)

The following current members of the coordinating committee will continue to serve next year:

Allaman Allamani (Italy)
Andrée Demers (Canada)
Thomas Greenfield (USA)
Marja Homila (Finland)

The election wil be run by Gerhard Gmel and will be held in connection with the announcement for next year's meeting.

Thomas Greenfield indicted that the ballot sheet will also provide members with an opportunity to vote on the decision to split the treasurer/secretary role and to give those who occupy the new roles of treasurer and secretary voting rights in the coordinating committee
 
5. Recent thematic meetings

Robin reported that about 40 people attended a thematic meeting on measurement issues in Stockholm in April. Some papers will be published in a special edition of the Journal of Substance Abuse edited by Deborah Dawson. There was some consensus on the measurement of consumption patterns but less so on the measurement of problems.

Moira indicated that we need more thematic meetings and urged members to come forward with proposals.

6.  Report from organizers of Oslo conference

Moira proposed a vote thanks to Sturla and other members of the local organizing committee and members responded with a hearty round of applause.

Sturla reported that members of the local coordinating committee had worked well together and were pleased that everything ran smoothly. There were 170 participants at the meeting

Sturla indicated that the workload of the local planning committee was increased because some participants did not meet the deadlines for registration, sending abstracts or papers. He saw this an indicating that there were indeed still plenty of  'old problems in the new millennium'!

Sturla indicated that Andrée Demers has developed guidelines for those involved in planning future meeting and that he will be working with Andrée to ensure that the guidelines reflect the experiences of the Oslo planning committee.

Sturla indicated that it will be possible for papers that are not yet on the conference Website to be added. The site will probably remain active for at least a year.
 
7. Future meetings

For a variety of reasons the preferred venue for the next meeting is Toronto. Louis Gliksman has been asked to try to give a firm commitment to this meeting as soon as possible. Possible dates are May 28th - June 1st and June 4th - June 8th. The fall back will be Sweden. If Louis is willing to have the 2001 conference in Toronto then Toronto will not also be expected to host the proposed thematic meeting on Community Response. Norman Giesbrecht and Alan Ogborne will be members of the planning committee and Andrée Demers has also indicated her willingness to help out.

If all goes well, the 2002 meeting will be in Paris Marie Choquet is to go ahead with plans for such a meeting.

It was anticipated that the 2003 meeting would be held in Cracow, Poland, and the 2004 meeting in Helsinki. Seattle, Sweden or Israel may be able to host thematic meetings or meetings in 2005 or beyond.

Robin Room has proposed a thematic meeting on Youth cultures and subcultures: functions and patterns of drinking and drug use. Possible dates are March 26-30th, 2001 or April 23-27th. The Coordinating Committee has approved this as a KBS thematic meeting.

Kerstin Stenius reported on plans for a thematic meeting in London, England in late autumn, 2001 on Comparative Perspectives in Social Responses to Alcohol Problems and Other Addictions in the Late 20th Century.

Allaman Allamani indicated that there may be a meeting on Community Action Studies in 2002 in Helsinki or Lapland. This would replace  the planned  2001 meeting in Toronto, if instead the annual June Symposium meeting is in Toronto that year.

Moira indicated the need for more thematic meetings and urged members to come up with proposals. Such meeting usually attract 30-50 people and last 2-5 days. They have the blessings of the KBS Society but the Society is not able to provide any funding. Meetings are not limited to KBS members but they are good for advertising the Society and can bring in new members. They can also contribute to local planning needs.

There being no further business the meeting concluded with a further round of applause in appreciation of the Oslo conference.

 

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