1. Prisons of the Future: opening speech
Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency
12 May 2014
Prisons of the Future: opening speech
Angeline van Dijk
Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency
Dear participants to the final working conference of Prisons of the Future
I like it very much to welcome you
We are together here with experts from prison & probation systems from (almost 25) European Countries
Very nice that you find the opportunity to visit our final conference of prisons of the future in The Hague
The topic of this conference is challenging us every day
In the Netherlands we had to close some prisons and very soon a new large prison will be opened
Some years ago the discussion started whether electronic monitoring would be more efficient than detention
We developed a frontdoor option of electronic monitoring as well as a backdoor option
However, due to political influence, only the backdoor option was politically acceptable
We further developed the backdoor option of electronic detention, in a basic and a ‘plus’ form
However, at the end, also the backdoor option of electronic detention was not needed anymore.
The objective of this final conference is to attain at innovative and realistic options for the future
In one way of the other, we should find a way to balance punishment & re-integration
in this regard, I like to focus your attention to the logo of Prisons of the Future
International Roundtable for Correctional Excellence - Helsinki May, 2014

2. ‘Prison of the Future’ according to our prisoners
The logo of prisons of the future is inspired by a re-integration project in the Northern part of the Netherlands:
During the project, prisoners were asked to develop their ‘prison of the future’
The picture shows where they came up to
The roof makes clear that a prison should protect offenders against the outside world
The ladders reflect the possibility of ‘growth’ of offenders
The open walls refer to the feeling to be free (see the text: ‘if you are locked away’)
The project took place in a house, outside the prison
The name of the house was ‘white building’ which refers to that you can always start again with a ‘white/blank page)
Prisoners were enabled to go from prison to this white building by bike
We now will look to a short movie of the white building

3. The White building

4. EU Project Prisons of the Future
Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency
12 May 2014
EU Project Prisons of the Future
Objectives An impression of the landscape of prisons of the future Mature alternatives to regular imprisonment A toolkit of innovative and realistic options By: mutual learning between European countries active participation in the conference attaining at practical applicable solutions
Together, we like in this final working conference to find:
the ‘buttons’ to improve penal/probation practice
to shape the ‘prison of the future’
I am sure, you are all very experienced on the topics of this conference and will actively participate
The presentations and speakers are very promising
At the end of the conference I hope you will have found some of the buttons we can use in practice and I am looking forward to it.
I wish you a very good conference!
International Roundtable for Correctional Excellence - Helsinki May, 2014

5. Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency
12 May 2014
Dutch Custodial Institutions Agency
THANK YOU
International Roundtable for Correctional Excellence - Helsinki May, 2014