GFN taking the debate on vaping on the road

In March the GFN team organised a series of three dialogues in the UK to explore ‘How safe is vaping? Media coverage, dilemmas and solutions in work and social spaces’ These, each hosted by local partners, took place in Leicester, Liverpool and Glasgow.

The format was for a panel of leading thinkers and advocates to give short introductions, followed by a discussion involving the audience. Each event was designed to last for about 2 hours.

Across all three dialogues some 147 people took part, representing consumers and consumer advocates, academics, public health professionals, producers and distributors of products and members of the general public, and I think it is fair to say there was lively debate and a wide range of views put forwards during each event.

We are pleased now to be able to release some video coverage of the three dialogues, which we hope will serve to promote and inform further discussion of these important issues related to vaping, as part of our growing on-line archive of content from GFN as a whole.

Professor Gerry Stimson introduces the GFN ‘road trip’ here .The other films show footage recorded during each of the dialogues, attempting to capture the main points of discussion and key contributions made.

Based on feedback we received from almost half of those taking part, the dialogues seem to have created a useful space for a complex and often polarised discussion to take place - somewhere that those who would not ordinarily have the chance to exchange views to do so. Once you have had the chance to watch the videos, we would also welcome any feedback you might have, including subjects we might address in future editions.

We are now examining the possibility of producing a further series of dialogues, to take place in the autumn, including one in Ireland. The locations, dates and topics are yet to be decided and we aim to have this information available before the GFN conference, in Warsaw, in June.

We are open to assist, where we can, in enabling similar activities in other places – not restricted to the UK – and hope that the model is one that might be easily adapted for use in these different places. If you would like to discuss the possibility of hosting a dialogue, please contact us at gfndialogues [at] kachange.eu.