Smart Restart: preparing the trainers

28/10/2026

3 min.

First discussion meeting between trainers ahead of the launch of training programmes for prisoners

Preparing to train also means understanding the context, recognising people’s needs and knowing how to adapt tools and methodologies. With this aim in mind, the Fondazione Mondo Digitale organised an initial discussion meeting last Monday, 26 October, with the trainers involved in Smart Restart, the project that promotes training, support and work placement programmes for prisoners and those serving community sentences.
The meeting provided an opportunity to share the objectives, approach and characteristics of the training programme, but above all to reflect on the specific nature of educational work in the prison setting, ahead of the launch of the activities.

Smart Restart, coordinated by the Comunità di Sant’Egidio Acap Aps and implemented in partnership with Fondazione Mondo Digitale ETS, Intersos Italia and Cpia 3 Roma, is supported by the Fondo per la Repubblica Digitale Impresa sociale as part of the Fuoriclasse call for proposals. The activities involve the Casal del Marmo Juvenile Detention Centre, the Regina Coeli Prison and individuals supported by the external criminal enforcement offices.

Programmes tailored to the individual
The training programme offered by Fondazione Mondo Digitale integrates digital skills, soft skills and life skills, language training, career guidance, active job seeking and self-entrepreneurship.
The programme is not the same for everyone. It begins with an Individual Training Agreement, drawn up on the basis of each participant’s initial skills, needs and potential. This approach enables realistic and progressive objectives to be set and helps to link training more closely to prospects for independence and reintegration. The personalisation of the programme is one of the central elements of the model envisaged by Smart Restart.

Entering a complex context

A key part of the meeting was devoted specifically to the prison context, thanks to the contribution of a professional with experience in the field.

The discussion helped the trainers to identify the needs, constraints and potential challenges that may arise during the activities: from building an educational relationship to managing time and space, right through to the need to adapt language, tools and approaches based on the situations encountered.

In this context, the quality of training also depends on the ability to listen, observe and adapt. Technical skills remain essential, but must be accompanied by awareness, flexibility and a focus on the individual.

The meeting thus represents a first step towards building a community of trainers with a shared approach, ready to support participants on pathways that use digital technology not as an end in itself, but as a means to strengthen autonomy, interpersonal skills and opportunities for social and labour market reintegration.

Trainers

Project selected and supported by

The Fund for the Digital Republic is a partnership between the public sector and the social private sector (the Government and the Association of Foundations and Savings Banks – Acri), which operates within the framework of the digitalisation objectives set out in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and the National Digital Plan (PNC), and is funded by contributions from banking foundations, which are eligible for a tax credit. The Fund selects and supports training and digital inclusion projects for various population groups, such as NEETs, women, the unemployed and those never in employment, workers at risk of unemployment due to automation, employees, collaborators and volunteers of social economy organisations, pupils and students in lower and upper secondary schools, and prisoners. The aim is to assess the impact of the training projects supported and to replicate those deemed most effective on a larger scale, so as to provide the Government with best practices for use in shaping future national policies. For further information fondorepubblicadigitale.it

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Smart Restart: preparing the trainers