CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Indonesia is hosting the 7th World Congress on Probation and
Parole from 14 to 17 April 2026 at Bali.
We are looking forward to inspiring each other and discussing the central theme ‘Getting smart on justice: Healing Hearts & Safer Societies’ with you.
We invite you to submit a proposal to provide a parallel session at the World Congress on Probation and Parole 2026.
Getting Smart on Justice
Healing Hearts and Safer Societies
Healing Hearts and Safer Societies
The World Congress on Probation and Parole (WCPP) is held every two years. It brings together experts, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to promote and develop probation, parole, and community corrections by sharing practical, policy, and academic knowledge. The 7th edition of the WCPP will take place in Indonesia, on April 14-17, 2026.
Central theme “Getting Smart on Justice: Healing Hearts & Safer Societies”
- Getting Smart on Justice
“Getting Smart on Justice” means using probation strategies that are proven to change or deter criminal behavior effectively. We know there are efficient and cost-effective ways to address crime. As probation services worldwide, our goal is to prevent recidivism by supervising and supporting mandated clients, provide well-informed advice to judges, prosecutors, and prison authorities, and enforce community sanctions. - Healing Hearts
“Healing Hearts” applies both to our professionals and our clients. Probation officers work with both their hearts and minds. While we often emphasize the rational aspects of probation, resilience and motivation also come from the heart. For clients, “Healing Hearts” refers to restorative justice—helping victims and communities heal—as well as the personal recovery of identity and purpose. - Safer Societies
Probation work is ultimately about building safe communities. We support mandated clients in finding a sense of belonging—whether in a neighborhood, a social circle, or society at large, and by preventing reoffending. - Healing Hearts & Safer Societies
On a professional level, “Healing Hearts” and “Safer Societies” guide our approach to balancing risk and protective factors when advising and implementing community-based sanctions or measures. In supervision, they reflect the balance between support and control. In community sanctions, they highlight the importance of giving back to society while opening the door to a crime-free future.
With this in mind, we aim to benefit from the diverse perspectives on Getting Smart on Justice: Healing Hearts and Safer Societies throughout the world. We want to learn from probation and parole in different societies, legal systems, and practices. We will therefore organize the programme around the following subthemes.
This subtheme focuses on building a safe society. In probation, we work to establish mutual trust—helping society place trust in mandated clients while also supporting clients in rebuilding their trust in society. Probation serves as a bridge to social reintegration, ultimately contributing to a safer community.
Topics can be:
Framing
Creating a new narrative around the goals, methods, and value of probation, including clear definitions and language for fundamental concepts.Recalibrating the RNR Model
Exploring how probation services can adjust the Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) model to place less emphasis on risk and more on individual needs and responsiveness. This shift would allow for greater alignment with other models, such as desistance theories.
This subtheme explores how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other existing or emerging technologies can be integrated into probation in a safe and meaningful way.
Topics can be:
How can professionals effectively use AI and other technologies while maintaining human rights and the human touch as the driving force? What training programs should be developed?
What impact does AI and other technologies have on probation, and how can we manage the associated risks to human rights and other implications?
How do AI trainers operate, and what can we learn from them?
What ethical guidelines exist, and should be further established for AI application and other technologies in probation?
This subtheme examines the influence of political developments on probation and the ongoing trust in its strong scientific foundations.
Topics can be:
Telling the story of probation from the perspectives of all those involved.
Collaborating with people who have lived experiences and professional storytellers to create compelling narratives.
Ensuring that probation’s narrative has lasting value, so it is not reactive but instead based on a strong, consistent foundation.
Establishing the universal knowledge, skills, and expertise of probation officers as a basis for professional associations.
This subtheme focuses on global labor market trends and workforce changes in probation.
Topics can be:
Strengthening the role of strategic Human Resources management in addressing current challenges in probation services.
The future of the probation profession.
Essential skills and resilience required for probation officers.
Talent acquisition strategies.
Training and professional development.
Performance management and evaluation.
This subtheme explores collaboration across different domains—including voluntary services, 3rd sector/civil society, other professions, organizations, and individuals with lived experiences. The central question is: How can we keep collaboration effective and straightforward in an increasingly complex world?
Speakers in this session are encouraged to invite collaboration partners to the next conference. To guide discussions, questions can be:
What forms of collaboration are possible?
What strategies should be implemented to foster effective partnerships?
Which collaborations are essential for probation success?
Are there any collaborations that should be approached with caution or avoided?
The organizing committee is inviting you to contribute to the congress programme by providing a parallel session in English. You have until Monday October 20, 2025 to submit proposals for parallel sessions through this form
You will find all the information regarding the submission of your proposal below:
- An overview of possible session formats
- Proposal requirements
- Reviewing criteria
- A timeline
To emphasize the importance of including the perspective of practice during the congress, the organizing committee encourages submitters to bring along presenters with a role in the day-to-day practice of probation and parole, such as probation officers or experts by experience.
Possible session formats
To ensure a varied programme, we are facilitating different ways to organize a parallel session. We are inviting you to submit proposals that fit one of the following formats:
| Inspirational talk | An inspirational talk is a parallel session for a large group of participants (more than 50). It provides the audience with an inspiring angle on the future of probation and parole, based on results and lessons learned from a research project, a tested best practice or a personal view on probation and parole. Build-up A talk lasts about 15 minutes and consists of a presentation, followed by a Q&A with the audience (30 minutes). In one sessionof 105 minutes, there will be five talks. |
| Deep Talk | A deep talk is a parallel session for a small group of participants (up to 25). A deep talk offers the opportunity to delve more deeply into a hot topic or dilemma, ranging from interesting methods to emerging trends, to gather new perspectives and insights. Build-up A round table lasts 75 minutes and consists of a short introduction to the topic, concluding with a dilemma, statement, or hypothesis. The introduction is followed by a group discussion. |
| Out-of-the-box | In addition to the formats mentioned, we offer the opportunity to submit a proposal with an out-of-the-box, creative format. For example, an escape room, musical method, or a role play. Submitters are free to propose their own format, within the requirements of an interactive session of 30 or 75 minutes. If the proposal is selected, we will discuss how we can facilitate this format at the congress venue. Please include in the proposal the time needed. |
Proposals can be submitted until Monday October 20, 2025 through this link:https://www.wcpp2026.id. Only proposals that are submitted online before the deadline will be included in the selection process.
Every proposal must be in English and include the following information:
- The title of the parallel session (max. 100 characters).
- The subtheme (society, technologies, politics, workforce, and collaboration) that is most applicable for the proposal.
- The session format (inspirational talk, deep talk, out-of-the-box) that you prefer.
- An abstract of the content of the parallel session, which describes the main topic, the essence and build-up of the session and the intended result for participants (max. 300 words).
- A description of how the parallel session contributes to the main theme and subtheme(s) (max. 100 words).
- A description of how you establish the interaction with the participants (max. 250 words). In addition, for the deep talk and out-of-the-box sessions, the description must include the following information:
o The practical requirements you need.
o The number of participants you are able to host. - A description of how you include the perspective of practice (max. 100 words).
- Names and contact information of the presenters (max. 2 per session), including the countries they represent.
- A short description of your thoughts on getting smart on justice (max. 100 words)
Reviewing criteria
Every proposal will be reviewed individually by at least two reviewers. In case of doubt or insufficient agreement, the programme committee will decide. Proposals will be examined on the following reviewing criteria:
- The quality of the content of the proposal.
- The contribution to the future development of theory and practice in probation and parole.
- The level and quality of the proposed interaction in the session.
- The way in which the perspective of practitioners and/or probationers is included.
If the total number of submitted proposals is higher than the number of available slots for parallel sessions, the programme committee will decide which proposals are accepted for the congress. In that case, the programme committee takes the diversity of the content and formats in the entire set of proposals into account. The programme committee can therefore decide to accept a proposal on the condition that adjustments are made to the content or format. Proposal submitters will receive a decision on 30 November 2025 regarding the result of the review. There will be one of three possible outcomes:
1) Accepted.
2) Accepted, under the condition of adjustments or in another format.
3) Rejected.
Registration mandatory
If a proposal is accepted, we expect the presenter(s) to provide his/her/their parallel session during the WCPP on 15 or 16 April 2024. Submitters, presenters and others participating in the organization of the parallel sessions need to register online for the congress as a participant. They will not receive a discount or reimbursement. Please make sure you check with your organization if you can send in a proposal and make sure you have your costs covered before sending in the proposal.
Timeline
| Monday October 20, 2025 | Deadline submission of proposals |
| November 11 – 29, 2025 | Result of the review |
| 29 November 2025 | More information on registration for presenters |
| 30 November 2025 | Publication official programme WCPP 2026 |
| April 14 – 17, 2026 | World Congress on Probation and Parole 2026 |
ORGANIZING COMMITTEE OF WCPP 2026
The WCPP 2026 is organized by the Indonesian Probation Service.
Secretary :
Telephone : +62 85285547470
Email : wcpp7th2026@gmail.com
Website : www.wcpp2026.id
