TReP (Professional Training in Restorative Practices) is a project being implemented through an international partnership between SOS Malta (Lead Partner), SGM Solutions & Global Media GmbH (Berlin), Partners Bulgaria Foundation, Malta College of Arts Science and Technology, Brain Shuttle (Tenerife), S.L. and ourselves CDI. The project is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union.
The project aims to create and test a part-time online training course in Restorative Practices for a Level 5 Undergraduate Certificate, to promote alternative conflict resolution and management procedures and restorative methods to help prevent conflicts and minimise the occurrence of aggression, violence, bullying and other behaviours identified as risk factors.
Restorative practice methodology includes ‘the use of informal and formal processes that precede wrongdoing, those that proactively build relationships
and a sense of community to prevent conflict and wrongdoing”, but has also a reactive dimension, with ‘formal or informal responses to crime and other wrongdoing after it occurs” (website of the International Institute of Restorative Practices, 2015-2016).
The project started in September 2018 with a research ‘Regional Report’, which includes a summary on the history and use of restorative practices in Malta, Ireland, Bulgaria, Spain and Germany, including a background on restorative justice, and the report is available here. This summary is feeding into the course content, which is currently in development and will run as a pilot-test over the course of a year (2020).
The success of the course will be evaluated through an evaluation report, which will serve to indicate the value that the course has had for the participants and their respective clients and students.
The course will be targeting law enforcement officials, psychologists, social workers, teachers, and other professionals working with students, victims of crime and domestic violence, migrants, and other groups, with the aim of improving the implementation of restorative practices at local level.