Identifying skill needs and incentivizing the exchange of knowledge and practices to promote higher qualification standards for the 21st century european prison officer.
During the 13th and 14th February, IPS hosted the Kick-off Meeting of PO21 project (European Prison Officers for the 21st Century).
After a virtual Kick-off Meeting in November 2019, the Consortium met face-to-face aiming to review partner’s tasks during the project’s lifespan, while exploring in depth the necessary actions to achieve the project’s main goals. Project objectives include the prospective development of a professional role by fomenting sustainable cooperative relationships between relevant sectorial stakeholders; the identification of existing and emerging skill needs for prison officers to develop an innovative training curriculum; the support skills recognition mechanisms and its deployment throughout the sector on an EU-level.
Sectoral representatives (prison administrations, trade unions, VET and research organisations, and representatives of correctional private and public sector members from different European jurisdictions) discussed the development of sectorial skills, aiming at supporting EU prison officers in terms of skills harmonisation, actualisation and modernisation, bearing in mind the new and complex challenges faced by correctional services.
The aforementioned issues were thus discussed by the partners: BSAFE LAB – Law Enforcement, Justice and Public Safety Research and Technology Transfer Lab, Beira Interior University (PT), leading the consortium; Bremen Senate of Justice and Constitution (DE), responsible for the organisation of a corrections skills advisory platform; IPS_Innovative Prison Systems (PT), charged with the development of the training curricula, its piloting and finetuning; International Corrections and Prisons Associations (ICPA, NL) and the European Organisation of Prison and Correctional Services (EuroPris, NL), which will work towards the establishment of a repository of learning materials and their production; whereas national trade unions, National Trade Union of Prison Policemen (SNPP, RO) and Sindicato Nacional do Corpo da Guarda Prisional (SNCGP, PT) and prison services, Belgian Public Service of Justice (BE) and the Direção Geral da Reinserção e Serviços Prisionais (DGRSP, PT), will contribute deeply to the project’s development through their practical know how and wholesome experience in the area, besides actively contributing during piloting activities.
If you wish to access further information about PO21, please visit the project’s official website.
