The FORINER project meeting was held in October.
16.12.2016 FORINER, prison education, projects

European cooperation for prison education

The FORINER project is building its network of pilot partners to implement various projects around prison education in Europe.

The FORINER project, connecting EU foreign inmates to their national education centres in order to provide them quality, low threshold education, has taken steps to develop the network and start the project implementation phase.

The project has been collecting pilot projects around Europe during the year.

The pilot project partners met in October to facilitate collaboration. The conference supported the formation of a cross-border network between individuals and organisations in order to exchange educational material across Europe.

Before January 2017, FORINER will ensure formation of numerous pilot projects. Six of the most representative pilots will then be selected and evaluated based on a formalised assessment criteria, providing a basis for the FORINER project’s subsequent milestones.

A diverse network

To realise the pilots, 39 pilot partners were found from 19 different European countries. The pilot partners are prison schools, prisons, national prison services,ducation providers and ICT companies. The pilot projects can be made out of any combination of these partners. For example, a Belgian education provider can send a course in Dutch to a Belgian prisoner in an Italian prison. Or a Polish prison school can send a course in Polish to a Polish prisoner in a Norwegian prison.

From January until June 2017, the aim is to have at least 50 foreign national prisoners study a distance course. The course should be provided by a school or institution from the country of origin of the prisoner, in his or her home language.

Collecting and comparing best practices

The FORINER pilots will be monitored and evaluated. Based on the conclusions of this evaluation, the FORINER partners will be able to determine good practices. The different pilot partners will each use a different approach for the pilot, based on their own expertise and capacity.

The approaches that work will be selected and further examined. In the end, it will lead to general conclusions on how to best provide distance education to foreign national prisoners in Europe.

More information

Text: FORINERPhotos: FORINER

News

More news >
05.11.2026 adult educators

Lifelong Learning Across Borders: Holistic Approaches to Supporting Adult Skills Learners in Europe and the United States

How can holistic approaches better support adult learners? Experts from Europe and the United States explored shared challenges, good practices and new perspectives on making adult learning more inclusive and accessible, in collaboration with the American Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) and the Coalition of Lifelong Learning Organizations (COLLO).

05.11.2026 key competences

Steps taken towards a lifelong learning competence framework rooted in judo values

The benefits of movement for physical and mental health are well known, but sport can also enrich personal and social experience. EAEA’s Manifesto (2024) notes that well-being and resilience have a very positive impact on social life and professional development. But how can we move beyond theory towards a practical sports-rooted competence framework?

04.11.2026 adult educators

From Theory to Practice: Testing, Learning and Adapting

Testing learning materials in real-life settings helps us to understand whether they meet learners’ needs, whether the content is relevant and accessible, and whether the intended learning outcomes can be achieved.

29.10.2026 advocacy

Adult Learning at the heart of a resilient, democratic and competitive Europe

Joint statement by the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) and AONTAS, The National Adult Learning Organisation, in the context of the Irish Presidency of the Council of the European Union and at the dawn of a new Europe.