Inauguration of the Academic Year at the “Due Palazzi” prison in Padua

On Friday, 12 May at 10.00 am, in the presence of the authorities of the University of Padua, the inauguration of the Academic Year was held at the Auditorium of the “Due Palazzi” Prison, a commitment that has continued fruitfully for twenty years, and which has proven to
be a virtuous example of inclusion and participation in culture.
In fact, in December 2003 the University of Padua signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Prison Administration of the Ministry of Justice to extend and include university education to the prison environment in the Triveneto area. Ten years later, the project was enriched with the signing of the Declaration of Intent, which assigned the University the lead role in sharing similar training experiences throughout the country. Unipd is also one of the founding members of the National Conference of Rectors’ Delegates for
Penitentiary University Centres, a network of universities set up in 2018 at the CRUI (conference of rectors of Italian universities) to guarantee the right to university studies for people in detention. To this date, Unipd is the forerunner among 40 Italian universities that each year extend their teaching and training activities to 80 penal institutions, thus guaranteeing the right to study to more than 1,200 people. Currently 63 of these studentsserving sentences are enrolled at the university.

The 2022-23 academic year was inaugurated by Claudio Mazzeo, Director of the Padua Prison, and by Daniela Mapelli, University Rector, together with Maria Milano Franco D’Aragona, Regional Superintendent of the Prison Administration for the Triveneto region, and Attilio Favaro, President of the Association of Voluntary Prison Workers. This was
followed by speeches by Francesca Vianello, the Rector’s Delegate for Unipd’s “University in Prison Project”, and by Antonio Paoli, the University’s Pro-Rector for Well-being and Sports.
At the end of the ceremony, those present were taken on a tour of the exhibition at the Due Palazzi “Museo in valigia” space by curators Monica Salvadori, Pro-Rector in charge of the university’s artistic, historical and cultural heritage, and Mauro Varotto. The initiative, organised by the “Accessibility and Inclusion” work group of project Musei al futuro – Padua City of Science, aims to make some materials belonging to the collections of the University Museums known to students under detention, with a view to promoting the dissemination and movement of culture, thus making it accessible also outside the context of the buildings
and venues where the heritage is preserved.
To learn more about the “University in Prison” project, please refer to the dedicated page.