The Polish Federation of the Therapeutic Communities Association is holding the 19th European Conference of Therapeutic Communities on September 24-26th of this year at its headquarters in Gdansk. This is in conjunction with the European Federation of Therapeutic Communities, the National Center for Addiction Prevention, Gdansk City Hall, the Res Humanae Foundation, the Regional Centre for Social Policy at the Pomeranian Marshal’s Office as well as the Gdansk Tourism Organisation.

As organisers of this conference, we are delighted that Poland has been given the honour of overseeing this event. Today, more than ever, there is a need for international collaboration by sharing together the latest research findings and innovations to develop both our knowledge and skills in such broad and challenging areas of counteracting addictions and social exclusion issues. The 19th European Conference of Therapeutic Communities will be held under the slogan ‘Shaping the future together’ and is primarily focused on those workers, organisations, institutions and societal councils that provide professional assistance to people suffering from addiction problems, the homeless and those socially excluded, for example, when due to homelessness in old age or infirmity.

This will be an ample opportunity to exchange scientific expertise and experiences for workers engaged in using the therapeutic community method and/or those seeking innovative forms of working practice, that are aimed at specific target groups, for example deprived women, mothers with children, inmates of penitentiaries, LGBTQiA+ communities and the ethnic and cultural minorities. It will involve sharing details of this therapeutic program, disseminating ethical and moral work standards and ensuring that new quality standards of this method are implemented based on the experience of other countries. In all, we are expecting around 450 delegates to attend our conference coming from dozens of countries from around the world.