The project aimed to strengthen offender rehabilitation by enabling both organisations to learn from each other’s working methods and to develop a joint online handbook with clear, step‑by‑step guidance for implementing the Expert by Experience educational model and the Moral Dilemmas Discussion Group intervention. Through structured training, we sought to improve the skills, knowledge and competence of professionals and volunteers, allowing them to expand and enhance the services they provide. A key objective was to address the lack of rehabilitative programmes and further training in Greece, where staff often work with outdated practices. The project also aimed to build transnational cooperation and develop new working methods. By combining the two interventions, we intended to create a meaningful rehabilitation pathway for individuals with criminal and substance‑abuse backgrounds, supporting their employability, education, digital skills and social participation. Ultimately, our goal was to improve the situation of both target groups by tackling the barriers that hinder reintegration.
We applied for this project because both organisations work daily with offender rehabilitation and clearly see the gaps that hinder successful reintegration. Across Southern Europe, and also in Finland, correctional professionals face heavy workloads, staff shortages and limited resources. In Greece, rehabilitation programmes are scarce, often unstructured and inconsistently implemented, and further training for staff is largely absent. As a result, professionals must work with outdated methods, while individuals with criminal and substance‑abuse backgrounds struggle to access meaningful rehabilitation, education and employment pathways. By integrating services and bringing professionals, volunteers and the target group together, we aimed to strengthen cooperation, share knowledge and address insecurities on all sides. Our close contact with both professionals and hard‑to‑employ individuals gives us direct insight into their needs. Through this project, we seeked to improve the situation of both groups by providing structured training, new working methods and better support for employability and social reintegration.