The Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe, in cooperation and partnership with the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), successfully completed the cascade of 10 regional trainings for Georgian school directors and representatives of local self-government bodies (municipalities). The concluding training took place for Zestaponi representatives on November 13-14, 2023.

Apart from Zestaponi, the trainings were conducted in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Gori, Telavi, Akhaltsikhe, Batumi, Poti, Zugdidi, and Kutaisi. In total, up to 80 school directors and nearly 70 representatives of the municipalities and local councils have been trained throughout the period of May-November 2023.

Each two-day training integrated both practical and theoretical elements, covering a range of crucial topics. This included epidemiology of psychoactive substances, the significance of prevention strategies, the language and methodologies, evidence-based approaches, international and European standards (EDPQS) in prevention, as well as school-based, family, and environmental prevention, prevention at workplace, media, and community related prevention. The programme also addressed advocacy, monitoring and evaluation practices in prevention programmes. The training content largely followed the Georgian version of the European Prevention Curriculum (EUPC) which was adopted by the EMCDDA in Georgia in 2022.

The sessions were facilitated by the Council of Europe experts, EMCDDA accredited EUPC national trainers – Ms. Darejan (Jana) Javakhishvili and Ms. Mariam Razmadze.

These cascade trainings were conducted in the framework of the Pompidou Group project "Developing a Drug Prevention Support Network for Parents and Professionals in Georgia".