Trentino-Alto Adige: “Io Riparto”, the podcast that gives voice to restorative justice and young people’s stories of change.
An initiative of the Center for Restorative Justice that transforms the experiences of young people involved in drug-related crimes into testimonies of hope and transformation.
Trentino-Alto Adige: “Io Riparto”, the podcast that gives voice to restorative justice and young people’s stories of change.
Trento, An innovative podcast that gives voice to the experiences of young people involved in drug-related crimes. This is the content and the objective of the new initiative of Restorative Justice Center of the Autonomous Region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol, which presented “I repair, I start again” stories to repair, stories to start again.
The Centre for Restorative Justice of the Region has been offering restorative justice courses for years aimed at minors and young adults involved in drug-related crimes. Through dialogue with representative victims and the mediation of qualified experts, participants are guided towards a conscious and concrete assumption of responsibility.
"The goal of this podcast is to be able to compare stories of change of people who have committed similar crimes and completed significant journeys of personal transformation - explained Antonella Valer, expert mediator of the Restorative Justice Center of the Region - identify the direct or indirect victims of their actions and participate in restorative dialogues with members of a local community in Trentino, who asked them, as a restorative agreement, to tell their experience to raise awareness among other young people and prevent the repetition of the same mistakes. We hope that anyone who listens to these stories can grasp their transformative value and participate, even just by listening, in this journey of repair and restart".
"This is a very important initiative. I believe that in the last four years the Court of Trento has significantly increased the percentage of juvenile defendants who have been sent, through probation, to Restorative Justice Centers - commented the President of the Juvenile Court of Trento, Giuseppe Spadaro - it is a path that must be constantly encouraged. We must move in a diametrically opposed way to what in recent years has unfortunately been an exclusively punitive trend. This is not how problems are solved, but by offering opportunities for redemption even to those who commit the most serious of errors, that is, those who commit crimes".
“The stories told are not only an act of responsibility towards the victims and the community – underlined Amedeo Savoia, volunteer of the Dalla Viva Voce Association – but they can become a precious tool for prevention and sensitizing other kids with respect to the dangers of addictions and the damage caused by certain behaviors”.
The stories of these young people have been collected and transformed into a podcast, a product that is usable and accessible to all. Each episode is an authentic testimony, a journey narrated in the first person, in which errors, reflections e hope they intertwine to send a strong and clear message: you can change, you can start again.
Made with the technical and professional support of Radio Dolomites, the podcast is the fruit of a restorative justice journey that has been able to transform stories of mistakes into tales of awareness and change.
“We enthusiastically accepted to join this project for its evident high social value – explained the director of Radio Dolomiti, Michela Baldassari – we created these podcasts with these kids that can now be listened to on our website”.
“Restorative justice represents an alternative model to traditional justice, based on dialogue, listening and taking responsibility – said Daniela Arieti, expert mediator of the Restorative Justice Centre of the Region – it allows the victim of the crime, the person indicated as the perpetrator of the offence and other subjects belonging to the community to participate freely, in a consensual, active and voluntary way, in the resolution of issues arising from the crime, with the help of an impartial third party, called a mediator”.
“Restorative justice is not limited to sanctioning behavior, but offers a space to recognize and understand the consequences of the crime on the victims, the perpetrators themselves and the community – commented President Arno Kompatscher, who, even if he was unable to attend the presentation, still wanted to praise the initiative – the program “Io RiparTo” and the podcast represent a concrete example of how restorative justice can create bridges between those who have done wrong, those who have suffered and the entire community. It is an invitation to listen, reflect and empathize. It is a sector in which we believe a lot – concluded the president – and which we want to continue to develop”.
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