EFRJ Committees & Working Groups: Calls for Topic & Members 2024

Since its origins in the late 1990s, the European Forum for Restorative Justice (EFRJ) relies on the commitment of its members to support certain core activities of the organisation. At first, starting from 2000, individual members gathered together in “Committees” to support the long-lasting objectives of the organisation (such as communications, or practice and training, or research). Only in early 2019, members proposed to work in teams on specific areas of application for restorative justice (such as restorative cities or violent extremism) and the first thematic “Working Groups” were established.

Almost 25 years later, in the Summer of 2024, we count on almost 120 members involved in 4 Committees and 6 Working Groups. This means that about 25% of our members (individual pioneers, or staff members in one of our 91 organisational members) contribute voluntarily in at least one of our Committees (Editorial Committee; Training Committee; Values and Standards Committee; Research Committee) or Working Groups (Working Groups on Restorative Cities; Violent Extremism; Restorative Schools; Restorative Environmental Justice; Gender-Based Violence; Institutions). 

Thanks to these active members, the EFRJ Secretariat (composed of 5 part-time employees) and Board (9 members) can better execute a series of activities to further advance the restorative justice field, and it is in regular contact with its membership to identify new areas of development. The cooperation between the EFRJ core team and its members is a valuable source of inspiration and connection that allows the EFRJ to be considered the main international network organisation in Europe and that ensures that its main objective is moved forward (i.e. to promote access to high quality restorative justice for all). 

Both Committees and Working Groups are composed of 7-12 members (with 2-years mandate, renewable, selected with biography and motivation). Individuals (i.e. individual members or delegated by organisational members) can be involved in maximum 2 teams (i.e. Committees or Working Groups). Organisational members may appoint their employees without limits (as far as these individuals can commit to the 2-years term). 

The Chair and Vice-Chair of each Working Group and Committee are chosen among and by the group members (at the beginning, this role is taken over by the two proposers). Additionally, one Board member and/or one Secretariat member join the meetings and support the connection with the main work of the EFRJ.

After a few months from their establishment (normally at the 4th meeting latest), the groups are asked to propose a concrete 2-years’ work plan (in case of a request to extend the mandate, a new plan is needed).

The mandate of (most of) our Committees and Working Groups’ members is coming to an end soon (31 December 2024). For this reason the EFRJ launches this new call for members, divided in two phases:

PHASE 1

The call for topics (open: end August; deadline: 12 October 2024) refers ONLY to the topics of our future Working Groups (i.e. areas of application for restorative justice). Maximum 4-6 topics will be confirmed by the Board within two weeks after the deadline. At least two proposers (members of the EFRJ from two different countries) must join forces to suggest the topic. In the past few years, Working Groups were dedicated to restorative cities, restorative schools, environmental justice, gender-based violence, institutional abuse, violent extremism, hate and polarisation. If any of these topics is re-presented for a renewed 2-year mandate, it is crucial to explain the relevance for the topic to stay on the EFRJ agenda. Keep in mind that the EFRJ Secretariat can only support the work of maximum 8-10 groups (including 4 Committees), thus it is possible that not all proposals will be considered at this stage (as only 4-6 Working Group topics will be accepted). Priority will be given to new and/or innovative topics (e.g. prisons, children, migration and asylum, mental health, addiction, technology, cyber-crimes, corporate crimes, police).

PHASE 2

The call for participants (open: beginning November; deadline: 31 December 2024) is for EFRJ members who wish to express their interest in joining one of the Working Groups or Committees. Exceptions can be made to involve people with lived experience of restorative justice (who may not necessarily be interested in joining the EFRJ membership). Individuals may join up to 2 groups, to ensure that they can commit, with time and resources, to the group they belong to. Organisational members may appoint more colleagues, without limit (as far as they can commit for the 2-year mandate). The main criteria for the selection are: experience, profession, motivation, availability, and country representation, to ensure a variety of different professionals within each group. Maximum 12 members (per each group) will be contacted by the EFRJ Secretariat within two weeks after the deadline. 

The webform must be submitted by at least two proposers (i.e. two EFRJ members from different countries). The two proposers will act as Chair and vice-Chair of their Working Group for the first WG meetings, at least until the two-year plan is put together (or longer, if agreed with the group).

The webform includes the following questions (to be prepared in advance by the two proposers):

• Personal details of 1st proposer (name, email, job title, organisation, country/ city, type of membership ind/org/ student/ I don’t know, short 50 words biography)
• Personal details of 2nd proposer (name, email, job title, organisation, country/ city, type of membership ind/org/ student/ I don’t know, short 50 words biography)
• Your proposed Working Group's theme
  • Name of your proposed Working Group (or keywords)
  • WG topic summary (what areas of application for restorative justice would you like to explore with other EFRJ members? Why is this topic important/ relevant for advancing the field? why would you like to engage with other EFRJ members on this topic?) - max 250 words
  • WG plan (What objectives would you like to achieve in two years? What activities and/or outputs do you envision for this group? How do you plan to manage/ coordinate the group? What would you suggest as a sustainability plan after the two-year mandate? What support would you expect from the EFRJ Secretariat/ Board?) - max 250 words
  • WG complementarity and innovation (How is this topic building on previous EFRJ initiatives, and how is it innovative? Do you know other EFRJ members experts on this topic that you would like to invite to join you in this group?) - max 250 words
  • Remarks/ comments/ questions - max 50 words

We will also ask you to upload the Word file of your proposal, as elaborated among the two proposers.

This call will be open in the beginning of November, once the Working Groups topics will be announced. It will include the possibility to choose to participate either in one of the newly established Working Groups, or in one of the Committees. 

The answers to the FAQs about the EFRJ Committees and Working Groups have been collected in a working document presented at the 2022 Annual General Meeting of the EFRJ membership. The document is meant to guide members to better understand the aims, responsibilities, establishment, closure (and much more) of these groups. It is not a binding document, and finally each group is free to decide their best working methods within their two years mandate.

You can join the EFRJ membership now: the official approval of your membership will be at the next Annual General Meeting (Athens, 15 May 2025) but you can already now benefit from all advantages of being a EFRJ member, including applying for these calls!