The project seeks to address a growing demand for specialisation in the prevention and management of drug abuse. It aims to create an international network of therapeutic communities in Europe with a view to formalising and evaluating two training courses through exchanges of experience. The first, Type B, course will be a week-long themed training session focusing on a selected problem area; the second, Type C, will involve in-depth study of the same problem area in three different therapeutic communities. The project combines the tradition of the trade guild with the methodology of the therapeutic community.