Rebecca, it's wonderful to feature your story. To begin, could you tell us a bit about your professional background and what initially drew you to Manchester and Manchester Met?
I came to Manchester in 2003 after completing a BA (Hons) Sociology at Sheffield Hallam University. I always wanted to live in Manchester, growing up in Preston in the 90s, Manchester was full of glamour and possibility for me. I was drawn to the music, fashion and culture and one of my best mates was in his final year of university at Man Met and so I moved in with him in Fallowfield and the rest is history. I have been a South Manchester resident ever since. I was working in Liverpool (LJMU) directly after my PhD, which I completed at the University of Manchester. When a Lecturer role came up at Man Met and I applied and thankfully got it. Manchester is renowned for sociocultural research on alcohol and other drugs and therefore this is home for me academically, as well as personally.
Congratulations on the resounding success of the recent ISSDP Conference. Can you tell us a bit about the Society and the main objectives of this year's conference in Manchester?
ISSDP is the largest global network of drug policy scholars, known for its strong research focus and interdisciplinary approach, spanning fields like criminology, sociology, public health, and economics, and utilising diverse methodologies.We're thrilled with the feedback from the conference; delegates truly felt the "Mancunian welcome" we aimed for. As the 18th edition of the ISSDP conference, it was wonderful for it to "come of age" in our city.
This year's theme was social justice, exploring everything from equitable access to treatment to drug policy reform and its socioeconomic impact. We covered subthemes like drug markets, harm reduction, and methodological innovation. We specifically aimed to encourage researchers from underrepresented countries, and it was fantastic to see strong representation from Latin America. A key goal was also to provide a platform for early career researchers and to foster knowledge exchange and networking beyond academia, connecting with practitioners, policymakers, and journalists. We believe we delivered on ISSDP's reputation for inspiring and cutting-edge discussions.
What made Manchester and Man Met the ideal choice for hosting the ISSDP Conference?
Our city is a particularly exciting place to be at the moment. There is huge investment and celebration of its rich cultural history and diversity. The theme of social justice is relevant to Manchester and resistance movements – the suffragettes, Peterloo, and workers’ rights movements to name but a few. Plus, this is a city of innovation, which resonates with our vision of creating the drug policies of the future through collective methodologies, and we wanted to inspire new research collaboration and ideas.
What were your personal highlights of the conference?
I particularly enjoyed Thomas Martinelli’s ‘Once upon a crime’ presentation about his ethnographic research in the Netherlands and the use of storytelling within research. Keynote speakers Dr Kojo Koram and Matt Southwell were excellent. Isabelle Volpe is visiting DPSC Manchester Met from her home country, Australia. Her presentation ‘What is Youth Participation in Drug Policy?’, was insightfully delivered attending to the both the explicit and implicit ways in which we participate in policy matters. She jointly won the Early Career Researcher prize, which was well-deserved. The reception drinks watching the sun set over Manchester at Cloud 23 and Hilton Manchester Deansgate and the conference dinner at Manchester Art Gallery were also really special. Huge thanks to Marketing Manchester for helping us to facilitate those. It helped us deliver a first-class experience for our delegates.
DPSC also organised an honorary award in memory of the work of Dr Leah Moyle, a UK criminologist and drug markets researcher who sadly died in 2023 after a short illness aged 38. DPSC scholars met her at ISSDP 2018 in Vancouver and admired her work, and it was important for us to honour her research contributions at the conference. Her husband attended the memorial speech (delivered by Dr Jack Spicer) and presented the award to the winner, Dr David Decary-Hetu (Canada). This was a poignant moment, and I am glad that we had to chance to let her family know how highly regarded she was even though her career was cut so tragically short.
What kind of feedback have you received from delegates regarding their impression of the city and Man Met?
We have had brilliant feedback – delegates felt welcome, they felt inspired, they loved the opportunity to get to know the city. Our welcoming address was by Chris Hoyle who runs a ‘What’s the Story MCR’ walking tour and he had great feedback, as did Mike Linnell Manchester’s Harm Reduction introduction talk in the opening ceremony. Mike is a Manchester harm reduction pioneer, and his art-based education (Linnell Publications) formed a conference exhibition. Delegates felt like the city was full of pride and warmth, which I like to think is pretty accurate.
What benefits did hosting the ISSDP Conference bring to you personally, your research group, the university, and the wider academic community?
The conference has put DPSC, Man Met and the city on the map for a global network of drug policy scholars. I think it was a great opportunity to showcase our research, make new connections and invite collaborations. Plus, it gave local practitioners and those with lived and living experience to participate in knowledge exchange. Man Met is a university that champions research with impact and DPSC strives to ensure our research findings reaches the public and community audience.
We understand you embarked on an innovative project to employ an intern from Man Met's International Event Management course, Denisa. Can you tell us more about this initiative?
Denisa Racaceanu was employed as events management support through the Jobs 4 Students initiative. She is studying for a MSc International Events Management at Man Met and she excelled in every aspect of her role. She has an LLB with Law and Criminology from the University of Liverpool and therefore had a mix of academic and professional experience. We liaised with the from the Department of Operations, Technology, Events and Hospitality Management who helped us recruit. This was a great way for Denisa to get some hands-on experience in her chosen field, and she performed like a trusted colleague, taking initiative and she was extremely dedicated to the smooth running if the conference. We were very lucky to have her and know she has a bright future ahead.
What support did you receive from the Manchester Convention Bureau and Manchester Met's conference team?
We had excellent support from Marketing Manchester and the university which enables us to run a seamless and high-quality event. Both teams provided excellent support that was invaluable to us and saved us so much time. This means I could focus on the content, programme creation, working on panels and key notes – which is the fun creative aspect side of conference organising. Previous conference hosts were really impressed with the support we received, and we felt lucky to have it.
Laura and Olivia from the Manchester Convention Bureau organised an Accommodation Booking Service platform for delegates, which made my job booking keynote speakers much simpler as we had preferential rates in the city and a range of budgets. We also had their support to help decide where to have the welcome drinks and conference dinner which allowed us to secure two of the best venues in the city.
Manchester Met's Conference and Events team did all the larger logistical things like operating the conference venue, booking meeting space, organising catering and IT support. Saffie was there for the entire conference to help where required. With the addition of an engaged group of volunteers and support from the rest of DPSC, we really did have complete wrap-around support to host this conference.
What does being an "Mbassador" for Manchester mean to you, and what would be your key message to others considering bidding to host events in Manchester?
I am so proud to call Manchester my home and I have enjoyed the opportunity to reconnect with the city and show delegates around. I have wanted to host the ISSDP conference for a few years, but I was hesitant due to the amount of work it would take alongside my already busy schedule. But, when Anthony got in touch with me and told me about the support that we would get from the Manchester Convention Bureau and its partners, that finally gave me the push to go for it.
If you are looking to raise your profile, and you want to facilitate knowledge exchange and networking, then I think a conference is a great way to achieve that. I am already hearing about new connections, collaborations and possibilities emerging from the event which is fantastic. Yes, it is hard graft. Yes, it takes your attention away from other things in the run up. Yes, it is a challenge, but all successful things usually are a combination of all those things. And with all the positive feedback from delegates and the exhilaration of the success afterwards, it was definitely worthwhile.
