European Strategies Consulting

🛡️ Cum putem proteja comunitățile religioase fără a limita libertatea de exprimare?

Riscurile pentru lăcașurile de cult nu încep întotdeauna la ușa unei clădiri. Uneori, ele se dezvoltă mult mai devreme, prin discurs instigator la ură, dezinformare, stereotipuri și narațiuni extremiste care circulă și se amplifică, în special în mediul online.

Un nou articol publicat în cadrul PARTESS-COM analizează tocmai această provocare: cm putem răspunde acestor fenomene și, în același timp, să protejăm libertatea de exprimare și caracterul deschis al comunităților religioase.

💬 Prevenirea nu înseamnă doar eliminarea conținutului ilegal. Comunicarea rapidă și credibilă, educația media, cooperarea cu societatea civilă și dialogul cu comunitățile afectate pot avea un rol esențial în limitarea impactului dezinformării și al narațiunilor ostile.

Prin PARTESS-COM, contribuim la consolidarea rezilienței comunităților religioase prin creșterea gradului de conștientizare, dezvoltarea capacităților și cooperarea dintre comunități religioase, specialiști în securitate și organizații ale societății civile. Scopul nu este transformarea lăcașurilor de cult în spații închise, ci sprijinirea lor pentru a rămâne deschise, sigure și mai bine pregătite.

📖 Citiți articolul complet:
https://www.scenor.at/post/protecting-without-silencing

On 22 October, we will continue the piloting phase of EPS 3.0 with a dedicated session involving Spanish practitioners, bringing another EU Member State perspective into the testing process.

Why is this important? Probation measures, alternative sanctions and legal frameworks differ across the EU, and understanding these differences is essential when dealing with cross-border cases. The European Probation Software is being developed precisely to make it easier for practitioners to identify and compare this information across Member States.

The session will allow participants to explore the beta version and provide feedback based on their own professional experience. By involving practitioners beyond the project’s partner countries, J-CAP Next aims to ensure that different perspectives from across the EU contribute to shaping the final tool. 🤝

Different national experiences, one shared goal: making European judicial cooperation work better in practice.

🤝 PARTESS-COM at the Romanian Palace of Parliament

We were glad to bring PARTESS-COM into an important conversation on faith, dialogue and cooperation, during an event organised by the Romanian branch of the Institute for Faith-Based Diplomacy (IFBD) and held in the White Hall of the Palace of Parliament in Bucharest.

The event brought together religious leaders, parliamentarians, academics and representatives with experience in public institutions, creating a valuable space for dialogue between different sectors of society.

During the event, our colleague had the opportunity to present PARTESS-COM and introduce its objectives and activities, highlighting the importance of strengthening the protection and resilience of religious communities and places of worship. 🛡️

For us, this was also an important opportunity to bring the project closer to people who are directly involved in religious communities, public life and academia — and to raise awareness of why cooperation between these actors matters when it comes to prevention, security and community resilience.

A very relevant setting for sharing the work of PARTESS-COM and for opening new conversations around the protection of faith communities across Europe.

We have just completed two intensive days in Belgium, together with specialists from Jilava Prison, taking part in a Training of Trainers on insect farming within the Social Bugs project.

The training marked an important step in preparing what comes next in Romania.
Over the two days, participants gained practical knowledge and skills that they will later use to train people in detention in how to work with and manage an insect farm — from understanding the insects and their life cycle to the day-to-day activities involved in running a small-scale farm.

The next step is to turn this knowledge into practice. As part of Social Bugs, we are preparing to set up a small insect farm at Jilava Prison, which will become a hands-on learning environment for people in detention.

The idea goes beyond learning how to raise insects. It is about creating opportunities to develop practical, future-oriented and green skills that can support social reintegration and improve employment prospects after release. 🌍

We are now looking forward to bringing the knowledge gained in Belgium back to Romania and taking the next steps towards making the Jilava insect farm a reality! 💚

On 21 October, J-CAP Next will hold a National Piloting Session in Romania, bringing together practitioners to test the beta version of the European Probation Software (EPS 3.0).

The session will be an important opportunity to see how the platform works from a practitioner’s perspective — exploring its features, navigating information on probation measures and alternative sanctions across EU Member States, and identifying what can be improved.

And that last part matters. 👥 Feedback gathered during the piloting sessions will feed directly into the fine-tuning of the software, helping ensure that the final version reflects the realities and needs of the professionals who may use it in their daily work.

One more step towards making cross-border judicial cooperation more accessible, practical and digitally supported. ⚖️

Yesterday, the GreenPP project brought together professionals and stakeholders for its second online webinar, “From Estate Strategy to Staff Capability: Embedding Sustainability into How Prisons Are Run.”

The session focused on an important part of the transition towards more sustainable prison systems: the people who make those systems work every day.

During the webinar, we explored:
🌍 the GreenPP project and its approach to sustainability in prison settings;
♻️ Northern Ireland’s journey towards becoming a sustainability champion, sharing practical experience from the Northern Ireland Prison Service;
🧩 the findings from the GreenPP Staff Green Skills Competency Assessment, helping identify existing skills and potential training needs among prison staff;
💬 and the next steps needed to strengthen green competences and embed sustainability into everyday prison management.

One of the key messages from the discussion was clear: greener prisons are not only about infrastructure or environmental policies. They also depend on giving staff the knowledge, skills and confidence to turn sustainability goals into everyday practice.

We look forward to continuing the conversation and supporting the development of more sustainable, resilient and environmentally responsible prison systems across Europe.

Safety starts long before an incident happens. Being aware of potential risks, knowing what measures are already in place and making sure staff and volunteers are prepared can make a real difference.

The PARTESS-COM “Prepare to Protect” poster offers a simple, practical resource for places of worship, connected schools and community centres to support conversations around security and preparedness.

It highlights key areas such as:
🔹 awareness of vulnerabilities
🔹 preparation and existing security measures
🔹 staff and volunteer training
🔹 stronger community cooperation

📌 Print it. Display it. Use it to start the conversation.

The poster is available free of charge and in multiple languages:

👉 https://partess-com.eu/posters

Because preparedness is not about expecting the worst — it is about giving communities the knowledge and confidence to respond when it matters.

👮 The importance of staff in the transition to greener prisons

Building greener prisons requires going beyond infrastructure and taking into account the people that work in the system daily.

This is why prison staff with green skills are a key piece of the puzzle towards greener and more sustainable prison systems. 🧩

During our upcoming webinar – From Estate Strategy to Staff Capability: Embedding Sustainability into How Prisons Are Run – we’ll take a closer look at how the GreenPP Staff Green Skills Competency Assessment Tool can help identify where those green skills gaps lie.

The webinar will also present the GreenPP project, discuss how Northern Ireland built one of the most sustainable prison systems in Europe, and encourage discussion of the next steps for the future.

📅16 September 2026 🕛 12:00-13:15 CET 💻 Online

➡️ Register here to participate: https://lnkd.in/gFkPYT4Z

Stay tuned for more details about the sessions and the speaker announcement!

🐛 Two days of learning, ideas and practical discussions within the Social Bugs project!

On 9–10 September, we welcomed participants to a two-day training dedicated to edible insects, entrepreneurship and social innovation.

The first day focused on the edible insect sector, from their role in the food system and production methods to market opportunities, consumer acceptance, risk management and legislation.

On the second day, the discussions moved towards the entrepreneurial side: Product–Market Fit, business models, social entrepreneurship, social value, stakeholder engagement and social impact measurement.

Beyond the theoretical content, the training created space for questions, practical discussions and exchanging ideas on how innovation in the edible insect sector can be connected with entrepreneurship and positive social impact.

It was great to see participants actively engaging with a field that is still relatively new, exploring both its opportunities and its challenges.

A big thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed to these two days! 🤝

Would you trust a system you don't fully understand?

Now imagine that the decision you need to make involves two different justice systems.
Different probation measures.
Different alternative sanctions.
Different legal frameworks and practices.

This is one of the less visible challenges of cross-border judicial cooperation in Europe.

When professionals do not have an easy way to understand what measures exist in another Member State, cooperation can become more difficult, procedures can take longer and potentially useful transfer mechanisms may seem too complex to use.
And this is where mutual recognition depends on something more fundamental: mutual trust. 🤝

J-CAP Next is addressing this challenge through the development of European Probation Software 3.0, designed to provide a centralised way to identify and compare probation measures and alternative sanctions across EU Member States.
But the goal goes beyond building another digital tool. 💻