 The EMCDDA recognises that the lived experience of people who use drugs and the experience of service providers adds rich and important qualitative information to the quantitative data it collects. The EMCDDA's transponder methodology, which uses multiple social research methods to explore topics of concern, has changed my perspective on how large EU organisations can meaningfully engage with civil society. This methodology can provide timely information on what's happening on the streets, at local and national level, and inform responses to these issues in as close to real time as possible, and that isn't valuable. The agency knows that it cannot monitor drugs from an ivory tower, and I gain great satisfaction from working with the EMCDDA team who do understand the drug-related issues that individuals, their families and their communities are experiencing.