The RE-WAY COOP Project was an innovative partnership between RESHAPE and Wayback, funded by the Fund for Bilateral Relations of the EEA Grants. The project promoted the exchange of experiences and best practices to improve the social reintegration of individuals deprived of their liberty and to transform the prison system. The initiative included mutual visits between the countries involved, which strengthened cooperation and brought both closer to change through the sharing of knowledge.
In July, representatives from RESHAPE visited Oslo, where they participated in workshops, exchanged experiences with local prison staff, and visited the Gamlebyen Unit, a transitional house intended for inmates serving the final part of their sentences. The team also visited a social enterprise, Erlik Kaffe, which produces coffee inside Norwegian prisons and offers job opportunities to people in vulnerable situations.
This exchange followed Wayback's visit to Portugal in April. During this visit, Wayback members participated in the international event Prison Insights’24. The team also visited the Torres Novas Prison, where they learned about the innovative Upfarming project and participated in a workshop with Torres Novas Prison staff. Representatives from the European movement RESCALED, which aims to transform the prison system by promoting small-scale detention houses, were also present.
This initiative brought important recommendations for actors in the Portuguese prison system, particularly implementing small-scale deprivation of liberty units as a crucial measure to promote the social reintegration of inmates.
Learn more about this project, access the Final Report here.