In December 2003, the University of Padua signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Penitentiary Administration of the Ministry of Justice aimed at bringing university education into the prison environment, promoting an educational offer dedicated to people in detention throughout the Triveneto area. The project involves all the adult penal institutions in Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Trentino Alto Adige. Due to its territorial location, the “Due Palazzi” penal institution in Padua, the only prison in Veneto, was identified and therefore elected as the main location for academic activities held in prison.
In 2013, the project, already consolidated in the local environment, was enriched thanks to the signing of the Declaration of Intent that recognizes the University of Padua as the leader in sharing similar training experiences present throughout the national territory. From 2003 to 2018, the Association Gruppo Operatori Carcerari Volontari was also involved in the initiative, which managed some activities, dealing, among other things, with tutoring, the purchase of books and IT equipment.
“Bringing the University to prison, allowing inmates to study and graduate – says Gilberto Muraro, President of the Cariparo Foundation – means offering a precious opportunity for human development, which gives them the opportunity to use their time profitably, laying the foundations for an integration path at the end of their detention period. These are the main reasons that lead the Foundation to support the University Center in prison, an intervention that fully responds to one of the strategic lines that guide our philanthropic activity: social inclusion”. “Thanks to the support of the Cariparo Foundation, we can accompany our students by guaranteeing them the necessary material for their entire study path – says Professor Francesca Vianello, the University’s delegate for the University in Prison Project -. The attention of the territory to the University in Prison Project is also an incentive from a social point of view. Knowing that someone on the outside supports you and believes in you gives responsibility and trust. This year there are approximately 50 students in detention enrolled in a degree course, in addition to another 5 in external penal execution”.
