Boosting Competences in Penitentiary Staff in Europe

2026-07-22

"Objectives The 2 years B-ComPetent project ""Boosting Competences in Penitentiary Staff in Europe""- of 6 intersectoral partners of 3 countries is aimed at building capacity of prison civilian front-line staff through the acquisition of specific skills and competencies related to human rights protection with focus on foreign inmates’ special needs and rights, in line with the EU and international law and to Recommendation CM/Rec (2012)12. As national prison services recognize internal gaps in dealing with increasingly multi-ethnic correctional environments, the project addresses priority 1.b of the present call, tackling training gaps of prison staff: the innovative B-ComPetent cross-border train-the-trainers programme, combined with best practices sharing actions and awareness raising of innovative practical multilingual tools and materials, will provide trainers with multidisciplinary competencies necessary to properly train the civilian front-line prison staff who will gain increased knowledge of EU legislation and standards related to human rights, notably of foreign inmates' rights and will acquire horizontal skills to prevent radicalisation and enhance dynamic security in prisons. The following main activities will be implemented: In depth analysis based on triangulation method to map existing training gaps and best practices in 6 countries (4 EU MS and 2 pre-accession states) with regard to human rights and especially foreign inmates’ rights; Design, test and implementation of the online and transnational face to face train-the-trainers courses in 6 countries; Production of multilingual training materials and practical tools, animated video with case scenarios, guideline for trainers, handbook with exercises; Setting-up of a virtual and virtuous community of practice through the web platform involving relevant stakeholders: trainers, educators, psychologists, correctional officers, prison administrators, human rights observers, policymakers, researchers. Activities B-ComPetent project ""Boosting Competences in Penitentiary Staff in Europe"" aims to setting-up a knowledge, training and practice framework within which an increased protection of human rights in prisons will be achieved with special attention to the granting of foreign inmates’ rights according to EU and international legislation, notably with regard to Recommendation CM/Rec (2012)12. A coherent set of activities is therefore planned: - In depth study and preliminary analysis in 4 Member States (Italy, France, Spain, Greece) and 2 pre-accession countries (Albania, and Montenegro) to map training gaps related to human rights protection and foreign inmates’ rights within front-line civilian prison staff (according to UNODC recommendation of 2009 and COE recommendation of 2012); - Identification of solutions and best practices in the mentioned 6 countries about guaranteeing and enhancing human rights protection in correctional frameworks with specific focus on foreign inmates’ rights; - design and production of innovative training curriculum, materials and tools targeting trainers of prison front-line staff as well as directly prison front-line civilian staff working in multicultural settings; - designing, testing and implementing an online course of 10 modules and 6 crossborder workshops in 6 countries targeted to trainers of prison front-line civilian staff; - establishment of a virtual community of practice involving key stakeholders; - - Awareness-raising, information and dissemination about project’s findings and outputs. Type and number of persons benefiting from the project • Trainers of front-line prison staff • educational staff • social assistants • forensic psychologists • social workers • correctional officers They all will gain increased knowledge as well as practical tools and advice on how to guarantee human rights and especially foreign inmates’ rights in prisons Indirect beneficiaries: • Prison staff at larg e, in"

Italy

2026-02-01