Date/Time
Date(s) - Thu 22 October
12:15 - 13:00
As we head into the start of Spring, SCANZ is launching an online Month of Learning.
Hosted over four weeks, this is a series of online talks designed to expand and build upon the conversations from their 2026 SCANZ conference.
They want to continue exploring ideas and practices that are shaping the field and bring together people who are curious to learn, question, and connect.
Bring your lunch and settle in.
Click here to register and be sent the Zoom details
Panel speakers
Dr Jai Whelan, Postdoctoral Fellow – Tāura Kairangi Whatutoto, University of Otago
Dr Rose Crossin, Senior Lecturer, University of Otago
Rhiannon Davies, Communications team lead / Administrator / Wellington Regional Manager, KnowYourStuffNZ
Zoë Deans, Communications Manager, NZ Drug Foundation
Week 4
12:15 – 1:00 pm – Panel Discussion (45 mins)
Note: This session starts 15 minutes later than the other Month of Learning weeks, because it will be preceeded by the SCANZ 2026 Annual General Meeting from 11:45 am – 12:15 pm. (open only to SCANZ Members). Following the AGM, they will open to Zoom session for everyone else to connect for the Month of Learning panel.
Drug communication has a rough history. For many decades, talking at or about, rather than with, people who use drugs has largely led to stigmatisation. This has mostly occurred within a high-tension environment of politics, media sensationalism, misinformation, and institutional risk-aversion.
Through reflecting on their own experiences and perspectives of different drug-related kaupapa, the panel will discuss challenges and opportunities to improve drug-related communication.
They’ll explore questions like: How does the language we use as communicators reveal value judgments? How do we keep the community adequately informed without leaning on fear? What are the roles and responsibilities of scientists as advocates across the drug policy landscape?
By centring harm reduction and lived experience within our narratives, this discussion challenges listeners to consider how the most effective science communication not only shares information but is led by and for the communities it serves, in ways that prioritise self-determination.