Setting the scene: Tórshavn 2026

We are on our way to Tórshavn.

Every NordAN conference is shaped partly by its programme, but also by the place where we meet. This year that feels especially true. The Faroe Islands are a small society with their own history, institutions and policy choices, but many of the questions we will discuss are familiar across the whole Nordic and Baltic region.

How do we protect and preserve policies that safeguard health, wellbeing and safety at a time when commercial interests are strong and political pressure is often pushing in the opposite direction? How do we explain the value of policies that work quietly, by preventing problems before they become visible? And how do we keep long-term public health goals in focus when the public debate is increasingly shaped by other priorities?

These are definitely not new questions. In fact, one of the useful things about meeting colleagues from different countries is that we are reminded how often the same debates return in slightly different forms.

Alcohol policy is a good example. We know a great deal about what reduces harm: price, availability, marketing restrictions, strong public systems, early support and treatment. Yet knowing what works does not mean that these measures are politically easy to maintain, especially at a time of national budget cuts, pressure to reduce public spending and wider calls for deregulation. The arguments for greater availability, more consumer choice and fewer restrictions are usually simple and attractive. The benefits of prevention are much harder to show, because success often means that something bad did not happen.

That creates a challenge for all of us working in this field. How do we make prevention visible? How do we talk about the value of systems that may seem restrictive at an individual level, but protect health at a population level?

This is closely connected to another theme of our conference, young people.

Societies often put a lot of emphasis on helping young people make good choices. Rightly so, of course, but choices are never made in isolation. They are shaped by the environment around them, by availability, advertising, social norms, family life and the behaviour of adults. So the more useful question is not only what we expect from young people, but what kind of environment we as adults are creating for them. That is something we already know very well.

The drug policy discussion raises similar questions. Across Europe, policies are changing, sometimes quickly. New approaches are presented as modern, pragmatic or more humane. Some changes may indeed bring benefits. Others may also create new problems. And behind some reform initiatives there may be interests that go beyond public health or the wellbeing of people affected by drug use, which makes it even more important to ask who is driving the change, for what purpose, and with what likely consequences.

This is where careful discussion is needed. Public health should not become trapped between two extremes, punishment on one side and commercialisation or normalisation on the other. We need to keep asking what actually reduces harm, what protects young people, and what helps people who already need support.

And support matters.

It is easy in policy discussions to focus on laws, systems and population figures. But behind all of this are people. While our network mainly focuses on these national or international policies, every time we come to one of the member countries, we hear and learn about this crucial work that is being done among the people.

Good policy has to work at both levels. It should reduce the number of problems that develop in the first place, and it should make sure that people who need help can actually get it.

That is one of the things we want this conference to do: to connect the bigger policy questions with the reality on the ground, and to learn from both.

We will talk about retail systems, prevention, drug policy, screening, treatment and lessons from different countries. But underneath all of these subjects is the same basic question: what kind of society are we trying to build, and what role should public policy play in protecting health and wellbeing?

There are no perfect answers, and no country has solved everything. That is exactly why these meetings matter.

Having our group of “Elders” together again is also an opportunity to look beyond the Nordic and Baltic region. When NordAN met here 21 years ago, the assembly urged the EU to adopt its first European alcohol strategy. Where do we stand today? What challenges do we face across Europe and globally, and how can we contribute to addressing them?

We come together to compare experiences, challenge assumptions and sometimes rediscover ideas that we already knew, but perhaps had stopped explaining clearly enough. But we should also be brave and open-minded enough to recognise when something is clearly not working, and be willing to rethink our approach.

So while travelling to Tórshavn, perhaps keep one question in mind:

Could I learn something from others here that we have not yet considered in our own work?

See you in Tórshavn.