“The true measure of our future progress is our willingness to embrace the possibilities of prison reform and rehabilitation.”
– Martin Luther King
THE THREE PILLARS
Pillars guiding our direction
Our activities are built on three pillars through which we support rehabilitation efforts in prisons and drive societal change.
We aim to provide incarcerated individuals with the opportunity to rebuild their lives and integrate positively into society. We respect and support the rights and needs of victims of crimes, incarcerated individuals and their families, and all staff working in prisons and the wider criminal justice system.
We employ evidence-based practices to effect positive change and contribute to a safer society.
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Advocacy
Social integration and rehabilitation enable incarcerated individuals to have a chance to (re)build their lives and contribute positively to our society by (re)integrating into it. Our commitment ensures that the rights and needs of victims of crime, incarcerated people, and their families are respected and supported.
As experts in justice reform we engage in systemic advocacy by reviewing policies, identifying gaps in practice, promoting evidence-based reforms, and advising decision-makers. We strengthen change through strategic stakeholder engagement, bringing together prison staff, civil society organisations, policymakers, and people with lived experience. We communicate insights and lessons widely through publications, briefings, and reports, and create opportunities for learning and dialogue via study visits, events, and targeted convenings. Finally, we apply needs-focused analysis to identify barriers and solutions that ensure policies and practices translate into real, positive outcomes for individuals, families, and communities.
Through these combined efforts, we aim to unlock potential, strengthen practice, and foster meaningful, lasting change across the justice system.
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Leadership Education & Training
Our global network provides a unique space for collaboration with organisations committed to justice and safe communities, fostering the exchange of ideas and the development of innovative solutions. Central to our work is leadership training as we elevate professionals in and around the justice system to strengthen their skills, navigate complex challenges, and lead change within detention settings.
Through national and EU-wide collaborations, we implement projects that advance prison practices, promote evidence-based reforms, and improve detention culture at large. By combining systemic advocacy, stakeholder engagement, publications, events, and targeted needs analysis with leadership development, we create incremental change to foster a justice system that is more effective, humane, and responsive.
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Community - Building
At Richtungswechsel, community-building is creating a dynamic, sustained space where knowledge, experience, and leadership converge. We act as an anchor point for our global network of practitioners, organisations, policymakers, and people with lived experience, ensuring that connections are meaningful, actionable, and durable.
Through curated forums, community-engagement, public workshops, and collaborative events, we facilitate the implementation of best practices and the engagement of civil society across countries and detention settings. We help our partners identify opportunities for collaboration, foster alliances that strengthen local and regional initiatives, and ensure that insights from one context can inform practice elsewhere.
By amplifying voices often unheard, especially those with lived experience, we ensure that the community is inclusive and representative. Our role is to translate these connections into tangible impact: new partnerships, shared projects, co-created strategies, and collective advocacy that advances humane and effective approaches to justice.
Ultimately, our community-building strengthens the capacity, cohesion, and resilience of the civil society and justice sector, turning isolated initiatives into a coordinated movement for change locally, nationally, and globally.
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Advocacy
Social integration and rehabilitation enable incarcerated individuals to have a chance to (re)build their lives and contribute positively to our society by (re)integrating into it. Our commitment ensures that the rights and needs of victims of crime, incarcerated people, and their families are respected and supported.
As experts in the field of corrections and effective, sustainable socialisation, we advocate for social reintegration to unlock potential, thereby preventing recidivism and reducing crime rates.
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Projects
Our global network provides a unique opportunity to collaborate with other organisations committed to justice and rehabilitation, fostering the development of new ideas. Simultaneously, through national and EU-wide collaborations, we can implement projects in Austria and beyond aimed at advancing our prison systems.
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Best Practices
We believe in highlighting evidence-based practices and best practices.
Why reinvent the wheel?
There are outstanding examples worldwide that demonstrate the positive changes justice systems and its professional staff can achieve. At the same time, there are external organisations and NGOs that promote social (re)integration and systemic change through their initiatives.
Inspiring practice: RESCALED
RESCALED challenges the concept of traditional prisons and instead proposes the concept of ‘Detention Houses’. Detention Houses are small-scale, individualised, and integrated into the community. Through these three principles, they contribute to more sustainable, secure, and inclusive societies.
RICHTUNGSWECHSEL - PLATFORM
We are connecting Austrian organisations focusing on the prison system, its reform, and the societal logic of penology.
