Based at the Longueuil Campus of the Université de Sherbrooke, La GID has been conducting various participatory research projects since 2018 aimed at improving addiction services in Quebec and reducing the stigma and marginalization experienced by people with lived experience of substance use. Several of our projects incorporate creative activities that help recognize and value the experiential knowledge of people affected by substance use. In particular, as part of a La GID research project aimed at improving services for young adults experiencing social precarity, a panel bringing together young people with diverse lived experiences participated in various creative activities with the research team between 2020 and 2023. These activities gave young people an opportunity to express themselves, make sense of the research findings through the lens of their own experiences, and share their own messages. These efforts led to the publication of a zine entitled La face cachée de la société, featuring the young participants’ creations (drawings and poems), as well as a series of photo-novel vignettes exploring the panelists’ experiences in relation to various themes that emerged from the research findings, such as stigma.

The zine also includes recommendations from the young participants on how to improve the services intended for them. The panelists then organized and hosted a zine launch event. They also took part in outreach activities with people experiencing social precarity and with community organizations. In parallel, recommendations made by the panelists were incorporated into a research report based on the key messages shared in the zine, with the young people credited for these ideas.