This is the first volume in our new Studies in Restorative Justice book series. The book is based upon on an action research project supported by the Criminal Justice Programme of the European Union. The project developed a new restorative justice programme, called Building Bridges, for use in prisons across Europe. The programme was piloted in seven diverse European countries: the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain. This book looks at the successes and failures of the pilot programmes and the lessons that can be learned concerning the future of restorative justice, victim support and penal reform. One innovative and distinctive feature of the book is its use of a social-ecological approach to evaluation, which allowed the authors to pose and answer questions about what is required to create sustainable restorative justice (and similar) programmes.
