Events

European Prison Regime Forum Workshop (autumn/winter 2020)

COVID-19

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the information currently available, the EPRF could take place in the coming autumn or winter. We encourage participants to submit abstracts until July 1^st, 2020. If the situation is not under control, we will not put conference participants at risk, and the conference will not take place as planned. If that is the case, we will organize a smaller virtual conference in which we will include as many panels as possible on the basis of the abstracts received until July 1^st.

Event date & location: Autumn/winter 2020 – exact date and location to be determined.

Call for papers

For over 20 years, the European Prison Regime Forum has brought together practitioners, NGOs and academics to speak about prison work. The traditional focus on labor has already been expanded to vocational training and will this year also include sports. If you would like to submit your abstract (max 300 words) please submit it to [email protected] until 1 July 2020 by using this template.

EuroPris is seeking papers for presentations in two streams:

Stream I: Future-proof prison labor & vocational training

Papers are welcomed that focus topics relating to the following questions:

How can prison labour be designed to benefit elderly prisoners, for whom labour no longer serves reintegration on labour market, because they are approaching or are already beyond retirement age? Papers may include perspectives on prisoners who serve long-term (15 years or more) or life sentences with no realistic expectation of reintegration into society.
What are suitable programs for prisoners with a partial work ability, for example because of a physical disability or a low IQ? To what extent does the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2008) offer guidance in this regard?
How do we prepare prisoners for the employment needs of modern society? In some European countries, certain sectors are in need of skilled staff. Can prisons work together with companies to train prisoners in these field? In addition, new information and communications technologies and systems, including artificial intelligence, require trained staff. How can this be organized within prisons?

Stream II: Prison sports (papers and market place)

In its 2019 status report on prison health in the WHO European Region, the WHO stressed that prisons need to be health-enabling environments that can contribute to an improvement in health and well-being. It recommends that time spent in custody should be used to improve existing health conditions through appropriate treatments and modify health-risk behavior for NCDs through, for example, physical activity. Papers are invited that offer guidance for such activities, both in theory and in practice. What should be the parameters of sports programs in prisons and what are best practices and challenges? How can they be made more widely available? For this stream in particular, abstracts are also invited for workshops that include real life experiences or video presentations.