Our Format

Phase 1, which began in January 2021, established focus groups to address three primary goals:

1. Enhance Community Safety and Cohesion
2. Reduce Violence, Crime, and Incarceration
3. Transform Judicial and Prison Systems

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these focus groups were conducted online. In them, a core network of stakeholders (see PARTICIPANTS in the left side menu) was invited to:

• Identify key stakeholders and relevant institutions to collaborate and build a wider community.
• Generate ideas, critical questions, and research outputs on priority topics.
• Appraise measures and interventions along a continuum from radical innovation to gradual reform and maintenance of the status quo.
• Set priorities and build visibility for Phase 2 of the Program.

The Focus Groups identified five key areas, which were then taken up by respective virtual Working Groups through 2021:

1. The Culture of Justice
2. Public Health Approach to Justice
3. Data & Metrics
4. Public Communication
5. Youth Violence and Safety

Drawing from the groups’ findings, content, and emerging questions, Phase 1 produced the first public version of an extensive report, and also included two to three larger-scale public webinars, co-created with partners and participants to raise visibility, generate momentum, and foster wider public and policy engagement for the next phase.

Phase 2 of the multi-year Program, in 2022-23, brought together the core network of Fellows —in-person at Schloss Leopoldskron, Salzburg Global’s headquarters, as well as through collaborations among Fellows, to explore the program’s goals in a more integrated way.

During this phase, Fellows identified and advanced the most promising global examples of violence reduction and criminal justice transformation, grounded in research and proven to be effective, viable, and replicable. Recognizing the urgency of finding solutions in increasingly polarized societies, further strained by the COVID-19 pandemic, stakeholders examined and evaluated practices, tools, and technologies across four key areas:

• New intervention points with long-term potential to reduce violence, injustice, racism, and implicit bias within and beyond criminal justice systems;
• Multi-country comparisons, initially focusing on jurisdictions that had pioneered innovative justice policies and practices;
• Direct engagement with people and communities of color and other marginalized groups to learn from and amplify their lived experiences;
• Initiatives designed to shift behaviors, attitudes, and investments in response to global racial and social justice movements and evolving post-pandemic risks.

Findings and strategies from Phase 2 were disseminated globally to policymakers and communities through publications, video interviews, media products, targeted recommendations, and the development of a cross-sector research agenda to shape future reform.

Phase 3, in 2024-2025, builds directly on the insights and momentum generated in Phases 1 and 2. While meaningful progress had been made in many jurisdictions, Salzburg Global, along with the MacArthur and H.F. Guggenheim Foundations, recognized that overlapping global crises—such as post-pandemic mental health challenges, educational and social development losses, systemic racial and ethnic injustice, climate change, migration, rising authoritarianism, technological disruption, and economic precarity—were continuing to shape the outlook for youth and the justice systems that serve them. In response, a follow-up phase was launched to examine whether youth safety and justice systems need to be fundamentally rethought and reconceived.

The 2024–2025 Rethinking Youth Safety and Justice Systems Program brings together a renewed and expanded group of Fellows from policy, practice, and research, roughly half of whom participated in the earlier program phases. The current phase is designed to equip stakeholders to better understand the changing contexts in which they are operating and to co-develop forward-looking strategies that support youth, foster resilience, and address the deeper drivers of violence.

Program activities have been organized around four key thematic modules:

• Understanding the Global Landscape of Youth Disaffection and Violence: Fellows explored global and local dynamics influencing youth disaffection, including economic insecurity, rising social polarization, and the long-term impacts of the pandemic.
• Reframing Justice and Safety: This module challenged prevailing punitive frameworks and examined alternative models of justice and accountability that center on dignity, restoration, and community well-being.
• Innovative Interventions and Community-Led Solutions: Through case studies from Brazil, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, and South Africa, participants studied grassroots responses to systemic inequities and considered how to strengthen community engagement, institutional trust, and locally driven safety strategies.
• Innovative Policy and Practice Approaches: A mix of world cafés, workshops, and case-based dialogue focused on early intervention, alternative justice pathways, and collaborative policy design.

To carry this work forward, Fellows have formed five dedicated working groups, each focused on designing targeted responses to specific systemic challenges in youth justice and safety. These groups continue to collaborate virtually—refining solutions, sharing knowledge, and building cross-sector momentum for implementation.