A free, open and multilingual European platform for training professionals working in the addictions field

Learn Addiction is a European cooperation initiative which, through three successive phases, has created and expanded an e-learning platform designed to facilitate access for professionals working in the addictions field to specialised, up-to-date and high-quality training. All courses are available free of charge, in several languages and with a practical approach, so they can be used both for self-directed learning and in continuing vocational education and higher education activities.

A platform that has grown through three phases

First phase (November 2019 - October 2021). The first version of the www.learnaddiction.eu e-learning platform was created and four online courses were published on addictions without substance, addictions among young people, the gender perspective in addictions and European quality standards in addiction prevention. This first phase was an initiative of UNAD - La Red de Atención a las Adicciones, in cooperation with UTRIP (Slovenia), Dianova Portugal (Portugal), SANANIM (Czech Republic), RHRN (Romania) and FedaBXL (Belgium).

Second phase (February 2022 - July 2024). The platform was expanded with a new specialised course on ChemSex. This second phase was an initiative of UNAD - La Red de Atención a las Adicciones, in cooperation with UTRIP (Slovenia), Dianova Portugal (Portugal), SANANIM (Czech Republic), De Regenboog Groep (the Netherlands) and Deutsche Aidshilfe (Germany).

Third phase: online course on Harm Reduction

The third phase of Learn Addiction was implemented between 1 October 2023 and 31 May 2026 through the Erasmus+ project e-Learning on Harm Reduction for Addiction Professionals (reference 2023-1-ES01-KA220-VET-000151012), a Cooperation Partnership in the field of Vocational Education and Training. Its purpose was to address a European gap in specialised Harm Reduction training and create the first open, multilingual online course of this kind specifically designed for professionals working in the addictions field.

The need for the course was established through evidence rather than theory alone. A previous European study involving 727 professionals from 24 countries confirmed strong demand for Harm Reduction training and highlighted the lack of accessible, structured and multilingual training resources adapted to professional practice. Based on this need, the partnership defined the learning outcomes, curriculum and methodology of the new course, seeking to combine technical rigour, practical applicability and European accessibility.

The third phase was coordinated by UNAD - La Red de Atención a las Adicciones and involved UTRIP (Slovenia), Dianova Portugal (Portugal), SANANIM (Czech Republic), RHRN (Romania), FedaBXL (Belgium) and Notdienst (Germany). Bringing together specialist organisations from seven countries made it possible to incorporate complementary knowledge and experience in drug policy, public health, social intervention, low-threshold services, treatment, prevention, training and Harm Reduction.

A collaborative process of development, testing and improvement

The course was produced through a progressive development and quality-control process. First, the technical teams of the partner organisations jointly developed the English BETA version and translated it into the project’s other seven languages. The eight language versions were published on Learn Addiction and tested by 128 professionals working in the addictions field in seven countries. Their feedback made it possible to assess the clarity and quality of the content, its practical usefulness and accessibility, and the navigation experience.

The testing results were reviewed jointly and used to agree specific improvements to the content, examples, structure, interactivity and learning resources. Once these improvements had been implemented, the final course was reviewed, translated again and published in eight languages: English, Spanish, Czech, Slovenian, Portuguese, Romanian, French and German. The final result was therefore not a mechanical translation of a single resource, but a professionally validated European resource adapted linguistically and pedagogically to different national contexts.

The result: a comprehensive, free and open-access course

The principal result of this third phase is an online course comprising ten learning units on Harm Reduction. The curriculum covers, among other topics, its foundations, ethical principles and human rights; intersectionality and stigma; substances and routes of administration; intervention settings; the main Harm Reduction responses and programmes; professional tools; community participation; policy advocacy; and emerging trends and challenges.

The course is available free of charge and can be completed at each learner’s own pace, with no completion deadlines. The core content can be accessed without registration and is offered in complementary formats to accommodate different learning preferences: podcasts, interactive presentations, short videos, downloadable PDF documents, self-assessment quizzes and AI-assisted learning resources. After completing the ten units and the final assessment, participants can obtain a certificate to add to their Europass documents.

A flexible and innovative learning experience

Each unit follows a simple sequence: listen, study, explore and assess. The podcast introduces the topic and key questions; the presentations, videos and documents support in-depth study; the interactive notebooks allow learners to ask questions, consult mind maps, use flashcards and watch summaries; and the quizzes help them check their understanding before moving on. A total of 80 interactive notebooks were developed, one for each of the ten units in each of the course’s eight languages.

The resources generated using artificial intelligence do not carry out open internet searches: they work from a closed corpus of materials selected and validated by the partner organisations. The AI-produced content and resources were also reviewed by expert professionals to ensure their rigour, consistency and pedagogical usefulness. Access to the interactive notebooks is optional and requires signing in with a Google Account; the course’s other core materials remain open and accessible without registration.

All course content is published as Open Educational Resources under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International licence (CC BY-SA 4.0). This licence allows professionals, organisations, training providers and universities to use, adapt and reuse the materials, provided that attribution is given and derivative works are shared under the same licence.

Continuity and sustainability

Learn Addiction will remain available after the end of European funding. UNAD will keep the platform online, and the participating organisations will continue to disseminate the course through their networks, training activities, events and projects. The partnership will periodically review the content and user experience using user feedback, certificate records and platform analytics, with the aim of maintaining quality and updating the materials whenever necessary.

All phases of Learn Addiction have been co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme. Thanks to this funding, the courses and materials remain freely available to professionals, organisations, trainers, academic staff, policymakers and others interested in improving prevention, intervention, treatment and Harm Reduction in the addictions field.