For inmates, the advantages of participating to education and training activities are multiple. Being usually low educated and without qualifications, they gain confidence, and by acquiring basic competences, and developing transversal and vocational skills, they increase their chances to be employed when they are free. Yet, access to employment is one of the conditions for a sound rehabilitation in autonomy, while reducing the risk of recidivism. But training opportunities may be limited because not all prisons have the technical premises needed to provide vocational courses. And, if there are some opportunities, prisoners may be reluctant to participate or may drop out after a while.Virtual Reality for Training Inmates (ViRTI) wants to act on these two limiting factors: 1) by creating virtual environments it is possible to compensate a lack of laboratories, material or tools; 2) by introducing interactive features and gamification in the learning content, it is possible to attract more participants and to maintain their motivation thus reducing dropping out rates.ViRTI gathers four partners, one expert of prison systems, two education and training centers with a long experience in training inmates and one developer of interactive learning content experienced in virtual reality. Together they will:- analyse the potential of virtual reality for education and training in prisons and specify some use cases- develop an interactive gamified training path in the construction sector, using virtual reality based on 360° videos- pilot it in three different prison contexts: short term convicts, juvenile justice centre and detention centres welcoming prisoners sentenced to more than one year with positive perspectives for rehabilitation.- provide guidelines to 1) Penitenciary administrations, 2) Funding bodies, 3) Educators and trainers, 4) Learning content and technology providers; so that they are able to introduce virtual reality tools for training prisoners. Then, more virtual reality based content can be used in prisons, and more prisons will introduce it in collaboration with education and training providers and more inmates will benefit from its added value. They will develop skills and competences, acquire knowledge of economic sectors lacking workforce, increasing their chances to be employed. This is applicable for the participating countries as all results will be available in French, Spanish, Catalan, Greek, Portuguese. The English versions disseminated will allow a transfer to any other country.

"Peer Pro-social Modelling in Probation (PPROMPT) project aimed to structure a peer pro-social modelling, through the development and implementation in probation systems enhancing both the competencies of management and probation experts to address offenders’ needs. Project targeted to explore and implement an approach that builds social capital and resilience within people that are under probational measures. The need for more innovation and effectiveness in working with offenders,the great potential of peer education and The EU recommendations around the peer education were the reasons behind implementing this project.Specific goals included:1. To develop andragogical materials (manuals and programme contents) that support training for both staff and management in the field of peer training and pro-social model interventions;2. To develop and pilot a ""train the trainer"" course for probation workers in each country, giving them the ability to train, continuously, selected well- behaved offenders on peer training and pro-social modelling;3. To train the selected pool of inmates in each country on pro-social modeling and peer training, under the supervision of the probation trainers4. To analyse the pilot sessions and revise the manuals accordingly before disseminating the programme. The Project covered building up a Peer Pro-Social Model Team, trained by the Probation staff - professionals of this field. The selected well-behaving offenders were trained on newly prepared Pro-Social Model Programme and were expected to work as peer trainers for the others. The project needed to be a multicultural one since;*Special attention should have been paid to the selection of peer volunteers, to ensure that they are appropriate for the role, have the right motivation to complete the training. *The topic had to be handled by a consortium, composed of different cultures, experience and practices. *The probation staff needed to be well-trained both on the techniques and the possible problems that may arise during implementation phase which needs a full co-operation. *Training probation staff supported the system's sustainability in all partner countries, where released offenders can be replaced by the new offenders trained by the probation staff. The outputs of the project are;*A need assesment survey on the present probation groupwork and semminar activities was done;*A report on literature review and analysis of best practices on peer training was prepared;*A report on meta-analysis of pro social modelling practices was developed;*A curriculum on peer pro-social modelling in probation systems was structured;*A manual on peer training was prepared;* PPROMPT Life Skills Training Programme was prepared (It is a cognitive behavoural program focusing on the most important criminogenic needs like criminal attitudes, decision making, offending behaviour, planning for the future, family life, leisure time. The programme is interactive, structured and gives answers to the needs of the probationers);*Train the trainer course material for probation experts was prepared;*22 probation experts coming from partner countries attended a 5 day ""training of the trainers programme"".*Train the trainer course for the offenders were held in 3 different countries;*In the piloting phase trained offenders in different countries delivered the newly prepared programme to other offenders under the supervision.*Under the dissemination activities, 3 national semminars were organized in Turkey, Romania and Portugal.*Total number of adults who have benefited from the project added up to approximately 1000 persons.As a result of the PPROMPT Project:*A Peer Pro-Social Model system was structured for the Probation System.*The efficiancy of the groupworks and semminar programmes were increased.*The capabilities of the staff working for the Probation System were improved.*New methods on the rehabilitation and the reintegration of the offenders were structured and tried within the system. *The service quality in the Probation System of the partner countries was increased.The following actions to be taken in future will be adjusting the program in the light of the lived experience and evaluations , expanding the program to other probation services and other correctional settings and distributing the program to other probation services across Europe."

Worldwide more than 10.74 million people are currently being held in penal institutions and the global prison population rate is increasing. Mental illness is prevalent in prison populations, by far exceeding the rate of mental disorders in the general population. Prisoners are also a high-risk group for suicide and self-harm. These mental health issues are exacerbated with age: over 20% of adults aged 60 and over suffer from a mental or neurological disorder. As the world’s population ages rapidly, the number of the elderly in jails and prisons is increasing as well, at an exponential rate of 3 times that of the general prison population. Palliative care (PC) and dying with dignity are considered human rights to those who need essential pain treatment. This topic is even more important considering that the prison population is getting old and that there are negative attitudes about compassionate release. The aim of the project was to increase the response to mental health disorders within prisons and the quality of palliative and end of life care services provided by enhancing the competences of management and frontline staff to address prisoners’ mental health needs and the special needs of older prisoners. The project includes a partnership composed of 8 public and private institutions working in mental health, geriatrics and in corrections. The strategic partnership brings together multi-agency and cross-sectorial agencies (a PC foundation- HCS, 4 prison administrations – DGRSP, ANP, FOD Justitie, a private company specialized in prison staff training & innovation- IPS, a health sciences faculty- UBI, a university hospital- Helse Bergen, and the European representative of prisons and corrections-Europris) to develop new, innovative and integrated approaches to the field of adult education in prison and probation settings. In order to achieve the project objectives, MenACE partnership undertook the following activities: a state of the art and best practices review was made in the fields of mental health, ageism and PC, with a clear focus on these realities in the prison environment (IO1). Particularly, a questionnaire was developed to collect information in the partner countries. The literature review and collection of approaches underpinned the development of the second and third intellectual outputs, namely the training curricula and program (IO2) and the e-learning training course (IO3), addressing the current and future needs of prison staff in 3 key areas of learning: mental health, geriatrics, PC in prison. The integrated training program was designed to be delivered on a blended format, combining an e-learning course with classroom sessions. In parallel, a train the trainer course (IO4) was developed with the aim of ensuring dissemination and sustainability of the proposed approach over time. All outputs were piloted and fined-tuned by the Romanian, Belgian and Portuguese Prison Services. In the end, the partnership delivered a European roadmap with policy recommendations (IO5), that presents transversal and specific proposals regarding staff training, legal framework and services / resources / infrastructure for the 3 areas under analysis: mental health, geriatrics and PC in prison. The following tangible results were achieved during the project: 1 state of the art and best practices report• 1 panel of experts• 1 training toolkit• 1 training guide with detailed competences, skills and indicators• 6 training courses (The essentials of prison health, Mental health in prison, Geriatrics in prison, Palliative care in prison, Staff health and well-being in prison and Dynamic security) •1 learning management system•1 train the trainer course• 1 European roadmap with policy recommendation• 3 course manual• 304 participants to 6 multiplier event • 71 participants in the short term joint staff training events•133 trainees in the piloting of the training program and e-learning course.The project’s results contributed to the development and enhancement of prison staff’s transversal skills. All participants gained new knowledge and tools which are helpful and useful for their everyday work-related challenges and for the effective identification, supervision and care of prisoners. In specific an enhanced capacity of staff to recognize and manage mental health disorders• an improved capacity of staff to identify prisoners at risk of particular distress and anxiety• a greater awareness of age-related needs and challenges regarding social rehabilitation of older inmates• an improved healthcare and palliative care in the targeted prisons• a beneficial impact on the quality of life of prisoners and an improved diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders and age-related diseases in correctional settings. Further, as long-term results, we expect to raise awareness among policy makers about these important challenges that are part of public health.

EIGEP project is targeting an educational area extremely challenging but relevant especially in today's context of violent extremism and radicalization: juvenile justice and the quality of learning outcomes arising from this context. At this point, in the European Union there is no common understanding of how education in juvenile justice should be delivered, it is not a topic explicit on the European Agenda. Not even at national level is this priority publicly assumed on the policy agenda. Research has demonstrated the correlation between lack of educational attainment and involvement in the juvenile justice system and the importance of education in preventing recidivism. For example, researchers have estimated that 35% of academically low-performing children became delinquent compared with only about 20% of academically high-performing children (Maguin & Loeber, 1996). Children and youth involved in the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, like all children, deserve a quality education that allows them to develop the skills and competencies necessary for them to become productive adults. Regrettably, this is infrequently the case. Many of these children and youth leave school without a regular diploma, and still others graduate without the academic skills and social-emotional competencies that constitute twenty-first century learning skills. EIGEP will analyses the existing practices in the juvenile justice education and develop an understanding of the context within which decisions are made for policy and practice for the main topic areas: importance of adapting education to the special context of juvenile justice and specific professionalization of education staff that delivers inside the juvenile justice system. We will go further and propose a solution for the found reality, instrument key policy stakeholders to work with our solution and push for making a spot on the public agenda for this frequently overlooked side of education.

The issue of violent extremist and radicalisation poses a challenge not only to the states’ security but also to fundamental values that lie at the heart of the European Union: respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights. Radicalisation in prison and probation environments is a paramount point of concern. Firstly, people who are sentenced for terrorist acts end up in prison. A part of them will remain hardboiled and are determined to be faithful to their ideology, while others might want to quit their radical activities or want to stop being a member of a radicalized group. A third group are prisoners who are at risk of being recruited and get radicalised during imprisonment. Prison and probation services are, therefore, primary agencies in fostering exit strategies that can help radicals disengage and de-radicalise. The supporting role of the wider community, particularly in the often-difficult transition from prison to release, is vital in this de-radicalisation process. INTEGRA “Integrated community, probation and prison services radicalisation prevention approach” strives to improve the transition process between prison and/or probation systems and the community for those at risk of radicalisation or who have been radicalised. It attempts to achieve this outcome by promoting a holistic radicalisation prevention initiative focusing on skills development of offenders, front line staff and organisations. The project's specific achieved goals are : • To upscale existing practices and understand their role for a holistic prevention of radicalisation and disengagement /de-radicalisation, • To develop a skills-enhancement programme for frontline staff working with inmates throughout its transition back into society, including prison and probation staff, and community organisations working closely with the prison services; • To establish a local mentorship model to support ex-radicals upon release and their families; • To ensure knowledge sharing and collaboration among the relevant authorities and organisations regarding people vulnerable to radicalisation or who have been radicalised, who are in prison and on their release. INTEGRA partnership achieved these goals by developing a State of the Art Analysis and best practices review (IO1), followed by the Needs and Radicalisation Risk Assessment (IO2). Radicalisation prevention training programme for prisons, probation and community as a mentoring model and programme (IO3), a E-learning course and a train the trainer course (IOs 4, 5 and 6).A Multi-agency cooperation guide with policy recommendations for the effective implementation and follow-up of de-radicalisation/ disengagement/ rehabilitation programmes (IO7) The project gathered direct participation of more than 500 persons (less than 850 persons as expected in the begining of the projects mainly because off the the withdrawal of University of Brescia (Italy) midway through the project’s lifespan, as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic and such as the lockdown, social distancing and barrier measures).This direct paticipation included: a) 170 stakeholders in the desk & field research: • 10 conducted interviews; • 10 conducted focus groups and; • around 80 questionnaires applied to prison governors; b) 35 mentors(the initial number changed after the withdrawal of the University of Brescia as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic). c) 252 prison, probation and community organisations’ practitioners from 4 countries (the initial number changed after the withdrawal of the University of Brescia as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic). • 97 trainees in the E-learning piloting team • 155 participants in the short term joint staff training events; d) 28 trainees in the Train the trainer course;(the initial number changed after the withdrawal of the University of Brescia as well as difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic). e) at least 200 participants in the multiplier events: A total 65 participants in national seminars taking into consideration that the national seminars initial number was affected by the difficulties exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic (one seminar per country with end-users), plus almost more than 90 participants in the final international seminar. INTEGRA’s impact has : -increased awareness about radicalisation and extremism that lead to terrorism in detention environments (national and EU levels); -improved understanding about detecting “red flags” of violent radicalisation and about the prevention and detection mechanisms currently in place in Europe through real-life case studies; -provided better capacity to deal with detainees at risk of radicalisation or already radicalised by receiving training where they will gain new knowledge and tools useful for everyday challenges;- increased awareness and capacity of community service providers to deal with ex-offenders deemed vulnerable to radicalisation and/or ex-radicals along their reintegration process; -increased knowledge about the mentoring schemes as a tool for social support of ex-radicals or previously identified inmates vulnerable to radical messages upon release and their families; -improved multi-agency cooperation and planning for release, by providing prison and probation systems with the tools that allow them to analyse the existing networks, information gathering and communication processes between different agencies (prison-probation-police-intelligence services-community services).