Advocacy, Policy Formation, Professional Development of Prison Teachers, Networking and Research.
Key Activities:
Chairperson & CoE Representative
STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairperson
Representative at the Council of Europe for the EPEA
Email: chair@epea.org
Master of Arts in History and Social Anthropology, University of Zurich
Executive Master in Non-Profit Management, University of Applied Sciences Solothurn
Diploma as a teacher in History and Civic Education at public VET-schools.
Before having retired in 2023 I worked for more than twenty years in the penitentiary sector. During ten years as a director of an NGO which, on behalf of the state, offered work places in a recycling workshop for the execution of community sanctions. In addition, a home for prisoners released from prison and a halfway house for persons before their conditional release belonged to that foundation.
After an interlude as director of a housing cooperative, I joined the prison education system in 2011. Within the Swiss Institute for Education in Prison, a department of the Swiss Centre of Competence in Prison and Probation, I was the head of Eastern Switzerland and responsible for 14 teachers in 10 different prisons.
In this position I organised KA1-projects called job shadowing for teachers in prison education with partners in Belgium, Spain and Greece. Finally, I participated as a guest in the Erasmus+ KA2-project “Mentoring of Teachers In Prison Education – M-TIPE” in which my contribution turned out to be main part of the best practice in the final output of the project.
In addition, I’m still president of the Association for the Development of Probationary Services in Eastern Europe and have been volunteering there since 2006, co-designing and monitoring projects in the penitentiary system, e.g. in Romania, Greece and in Moldova, funded by the Charity Fund of the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.
Since 2019 I’m a member of EPEA’s steering committee, first as Regional Representative of the Central Region, since 2023 as chair.
Secretary
With a dynamic background in criminology, business administration, and project management, Sara Loja brings a unique and multidisciplinary perspective to the European Prison Education Association (EPEA). Passionate about advancing education and reintegration opportunities within correctional settings, Sara has dedicated her career to research, advocacy, and the development of innovative solutions in the field of prison education.
Sara holds a Master of Science in Criminological Research from the University of Stirling, where she specialized in the intersection of social control, human rights, and rehabilitation. Further strengthening her strategic and leadership capabilities, she also earned a Master of Science in Business Administration from ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, where her research focused on the impact of media in modern society.
Over the years, Sara has been deeply involved in European-funded projects aimed at enhancing social reintegration, improving prison conditions, and fostering innovative educational methodologies for incarcerated individuals. She has worked as a Consultant, Researcher, and Project Manager in multiple international initiatives, focusing on the development of digital learning tools, vocational training programs, and policy recommendations to support both detainees and prison staff.
A firm believer in the transformative power of education, Sara continues to advocate for policies and practices that empower incarcerated individuals through learning, skill development, and access to opportunities beyond prison walls. Through her role as Secretary of EPEA, she is committed to strengthening European networks, promoting best practices, and ensuring that education remains a cornerstone of rehabilitation efforts across the continent.
Treasurer & Project Secretary
STEERING COMMITTEE
Ruth McFarlane is an education specialist, lecturer and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and has significant experience of working with people excluded from mainstream education, especially in secure settings.
She is co-director of a social enterprise in the UK (www.dwrm.org.uk) which supports the provision of higher education for people in prison and on release, amplifying the voices of people with lived experience of the criminal justice system and enabling authoritative contributions to prison policy and research, as well as creating cultures of acceptance within universities and wider society.
She also serves as treasurer for the European Prison Education Association (EPEA) and assists with organising the bi-annual conferences. She has authored a wide range of academic publications, cited and featured internationally. Considering herself a student as well as a teacher, she is passionate about inclusion and equality. And most recently, secured access to the academic database JSTOR for all students in prison in the UK to be able to study.
Webmaster
Regional Representative, Central
Austria, Czech Rep., Germany, Hungary, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia & Switzerland.
My mission is my passion for education. I have been working with people in various fields for almost 30 years. I have always been able to find my way around and familiarize myself very quickly because I have a sound general education. Especially in the German-speaking world, education is the component that makes social advancement possible, or not.
In prison, at the edge of society, education is the means that not only enables re-insertion into society, but also offers opportunities for a different future.
Only for 2 years in the context of prison has it been very important to me to make this understanding of education as a guideline for my work and to emphasize my further work-aspirations for an opportunity-oriented prison system and thus society.
Regional Representative, Northern
STEERING COMMITTEE
Regional Representative, Northern
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway & Sweden.
Statsforvaltaren i Vestland
Postboks 7310, 5020 Bergen.
Paal Christopher Breivik serves as the Regional Representative for the Northern Region of the European Prison Education Association (EPEA), which encompasses Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
Professionally, Breivik has been working at the Statsforvalteren i Vestland (County Governor of Vestland), located in Bergen, Norway, since 2007. This office has been responsible for the national coordination of prison education since 1993, on behalf of the department of education. The main responsibilities include national Coordination of Prison Education within the “Import Model”. Norway follows the “Import Model”, where external educational institutions, the county, rather than prison staff, provide education to inmates. This means that inmates receive the same quality of education as the general population, increasing their chances of reintegration into society.
Given the challenges of technology access in prisons, the County Governor works on alternative methods, such as controlled digital learning environments, together with the correctional services.
Paal has been active in the Norwegian branch of EPEA since 2009.
Regional Representative, Eastern
Regional Representative, Southern
Albania, Andora, Cyprus, Hellas, Italy, Malta, Monaco, N. Marcedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Spain & Turkey.
Academic background:
José Pinto holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Education Sciences from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal). He also obtained a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Didactics and School Organisation from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). His research focuses on the professional development of prison educators.
Professional background:
Since 2007, he has been teaching in Portuguese prisons and collaborating with several institutions dedicated to providing education and vocational training in prisons.
From 2017 to 2020, he was the Secretary of the EPEA.
In 2017, together with other prison teachers, he founded the Portuguese Prison Education Association (APEnP), the Portuguese branch of EPEA. One year later, in 2018, he became its President. In 2022, he was re-elected for a second term, a position he still holds.
He is currently seconded to APEnP at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.
Regional Representative, Western
Belgium, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, N. Ireland, Scotland & Wales.
I have been a language teacher for 21 years. I started my career in my hometown Barcelona with students of primary and secondary school and I kept working as a teacher for adults after I moved to Antwerp. In 2010 I took a new challenge: teaching in prison. This was by far the least expected outcome, but it has become the most enriching experience in my professional career.
In 2013 I travelled to Malta for a training week organised by the Maltese EPEA branch and I realised how many professionals were involved in prison education. Since that moment I have been following the EPEA and I have been a member of the general council of Klasbak, the EPEA branch of Flanders, since it was founded.
I was also involved in several Grundtvig and Erasmus+ projects on prison education, I organised a job shadowing between Belgium and Switzerland and was a guest lecturer at the Summer University of Granada in 2016. I participated with a KA1 mobility in the EPEA meeting of 2019 in Dublin to prepare several projects on prison education.
I like teamwork and I believe that our job can only be successful if we get to achieve a smooth cooperation among the professionals of all sectors involved in education throughout Europe.
Newsletter Editor
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Sharon is an Associate Lecturer with the Open University Business School (UK), Faculty of Business and Law, tutoring undergraduate (level 1 and level 3) and postgraduate (MBA) business students. With a particular interest in prison education, many of her undergraduate students are currently under incarceration restrictions.
Professional Background:
She obtained her MBA with the Open University (UK) in 1999, subsequently working in the public and private sectors as an Organisation Development Consultant. She achieved Senior Fellowship with Advance Higher Education in 2024, which featured module authorship and a higher education change and development project in Myanmar.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Chairperson
Representative at the Council of Europe for the EPEA
Email: chair@epea.org
Master of Arts in History and Social Anthropology, University of Zurich
Executive Master in Non-Profit Management, University of Applied Sciences Solothurn
Diploma as a teacher in History and Civic Education at public VET-schools.
Before having retired in 2023 I worked for more than twenty years in the penitentiary sector. During ten years as a director of an NGO which, on behalf of the state, offered work places in a recycling workshop for the execution of community sanctions. In addition, a home for prisoners released from prison and a halfway house for persons before their conditional release belonged to that foundation.
After an interlude as director of a housing cooperative, I joined the prison education system in 2011. Within the Swiss Institute for Education in Prison, a department of the Swiss Centre of Competence in Prison and Probation, I was the head of Eastern Switzerland and responsible for 14 teachers in 10 different prisons.
In this position I organised KA1-projects called job shadowing for teachers in prison education with partners in Belgium, Spain and Greece. Finally, I participated as a guest in the Erasmus+ KA2-project “Mentoring of Teachers In Prison Education – M-TIPE” in which my contribution turned out to be main part of the best practice in the final output of the project.
In addition, I’m still president of the Association for the Development of Probationary Services in Eastern Europe and have been volunteering there since 2006, co-designing and monitoring projects in the penitentiary system, e.g. in Romania, Greece and in Moldova, funded by the Charity Fund of the canton of Zurich in Switzerland.
Since 2019 I’m a member of EPEA’s steering committee, first as Regional Representative of the Central Region, since 2023 as chair.
With a dynamic background in criminology, business administration, and project management, Sara Loja brings a unique and multidisciplinary perspective to the European Prison Education Association (EPEA). Passionate about advancing education and reintegration opportunities within correctional settings, Sara has dedicated her career to research, advocacy, and the development of innovative solutions in the field of prison education.
Sara holds a Master of Science in Criminological Research from the University of Stirling, where she specialized in the intersection of social control, human rights, and rehabilitation. Further strengthening her strategic and leadership capabilities, she also earned a Master of Science in Business Administration from ISCTE – Instituto Universitário de Lisboa, where her research focused on the impact of media in modern society.
Over the years, Sara has been deeply involved in European-funded projects aimed at enhancing social reintegration, improving prison conditions, and fostering innovative educational methodologies for incarcerated individuals. She has worked as a Consultant, Researcher, and Project Manager in multiple international initiatives, focusing on the development of digital learning tools, vocational training programs, and policy recommendations to support both detainees and prison staff.
A firm believer in the transformative power of education, Sara continues to advocate for policies and practices that empower incarcerated individuals through learning, skill development, and access to opportunities beyond prison walls. Through her role as Secretary of EPEA, she is committed to strengthening European networks, promoting best practices, and ensuring that education remains a cornerstone of rehabilitation efforts across the continent.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Ruth McFarlane is an education specialist, lecturer and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and has significant experience of working with people excluded from mainstream education, especially in secure settings.
She is co-director of a social enterprise in the UK (www.dwrm.org.uk) which supports the provision of higher education for people in prison and on release, amplifying the voices of people with lived experience of the criminal justice system and enabling authoritative contributions to prison policy and research, as well as creating cultures of acceptance within universities and wider society.
She also serves as treasurer for the European Prison Education Association (EPEA) and assists with organising the bi-annual conferences. She has authored a wide range of academic publications, cited and featured internationally. Considering herself a student as well as a teacher, she is passionate about inclusion and equality. And most recently, secured access to the academic database JSTOR for all students in prison in the UK to be able to study.
Austria, Czech Rep., Germany, Hungary, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia & Switzerland.
My mission is my passion for education. I have been working with people in various fields for almost 30 years. I have always been able to find my way around and familiarize myself very quickly because I have a sound general education. Especially in the German-speaking world, education is the component that makes social advancement possible, or not.
In prison, at the edge of society, education is the means that not only enables re-insertion into society, but also offers opportunities for a different future.
Only for 2 years in the context of prison has it been very important to me to make this understanding of education as a guideline for my work and to emphasize my further work-aspirations for an opportunity-oriented prison system and thus society.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Regional Representative, Northern
Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway & Sweden.
Statsforvaltaren i Vestland
Postboks 7310, 5020 Bergen.
Paal Christopher Breivik serves as the Regional Representative for the Northern Region of the European Prison Education Association (EPEA), which encompasses Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, and Sweden.
Professionally, Breivik has been working at the Statsforvalteren i Vestland (County Governor of Vestland), located in Bergen, Norway, since 2007. This office has been responsible for the national coordination of prison education since 1993, on behalf of the department of education. The main responsibilities include national Coordination of Prison Education within the “Import Model”. Norway follows the “Import Model”, where external educational institutions, the county, rather than prison staff, provide education to inmates. This means that inmates receive the same quality of education as the general population, increasing their chances of reintegration into society.
Given the challenges of technology access in prisons, the County Governor works on alternative methods, such as controlled digital learning environments, together with the correctional services.
Paal has been active in the Norwegian branch of EPEA since 2009.
STEERING COMMITTEE
Albania, Andora, Cyprus, Hellas, Italy, Malta, Monaco, N. Marcedonia, Portugal, San Marino, Spain & Turkey.
Academic background:
José Pinto holds a PhD and a Master’s degree in Education Sciences from the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (Portugal). He also obtained a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Didactics and School Organisation from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain). His research focuses on the professional development of prison educators.
Professional background:
Since 2007, he has been teaching in Portuguese prisons and collaborating with several institutions dedicated to providing education and vocational training in prisons.
From 2017 to 2020, he was the Secretary of the EPEA.
In 2017, together with other prison teachers, he founded the Portuguese Prison Education Association (APEnP), the Portuguese branch of EPEA. One year later, in 2018, he became its President. In 2022, he was re-elected for a second term, a position he still holds.
He is currently seconded to APEnP at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.
Belgium, England, France, Ireland, Netherlands, N. Ireland, Scotland & Wales.
I have been a language teacher for 21 years. I started my career in my hometown Barcelona with students of primary and secondary school and I kept working as a teacher for adults after I moved to Antwerp. In 2010 I took a new challenge: teaching in prison. This was by far the least expected outcome, but it has become the most enriching experience in my professional career.
In 2013 I travelled to Malta for a training week organised by the Maltese EPEA branch and I realised how many professionals were involved in prison education. Since that moment I have been following the EPEA and I have been a member of the general council of Klasbak, the EPEA branch of Flanders, since it was founded.
I was also involved in several Grundtvig and Erasmus+ projects on prison education, I organised a job shadowing between Belgium and Switzerland and was a guest lecturer at the Summer University of Granada in 2016. I participated with a KA1 mobility in the EPEA meeting of 2019 in Dublin to prepare several projects on prison education.
I like teamwork and I believe that our job can only be successful if we get to achieve a smooth cooperation among the professionals of all sectors involved in education throughout Europe.
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Sharon is an Associate Lecturer with the Open University Business School (UK), Faculty of Business and Law, tutoring undergraduate (level 1 and level 3) and postgraduate (MBA) business students. With a particular interest in prison education, many of her undergraduate students are currently under incarceration restrictions.
Professional Background:
She obtained her MBA with the Open University (UK) in 1999, subsequently working in the public and private sectors as an Organisation Development Consultant. She achieved Senior Fellowship with Advance Higher Education in 2024, which featured module authorship and a higher education change and development project in Myanmar.
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