9. The Åland Declaration

Background

Nordic countries have a long history of developing and implementing restorative justice. However, its development has stalled in some countries, and lags behind in others.

In multiple fields, Nordic cooperation bases itself on common values and a strong commitment to mutual aid and meeting the needs of its citizens. There is a need to develop structures to enhance and coordinate further cooperation in restorative justice research, law, policy, practice and language between Nordic countries.

In 2025, practitioners, service leaders and researchers from all Nordic countries met at the Åland Islands Peace Institute, Åland Islands, to discuss the future cooperation. It was agreed to establish a new network, RJ Nord, with a specific purpose, a shared vision and objectives.

RJ Nord will bring together participants from the Nordic region with a professional interest in the development of restorative justice. RJ Nord will share knowledge and challenges, disseminate best practice and collaborate to support the development of restorative justice. In addition, RJ Nord will advocate the use of restorative justice in each Nordic country. We hope this will also help to inspire other European regions and countries.

Vision

Restorative justice is increasingly used across Nordic communities to build safety and trust, ensuring access for all – regardless of age, type of offence, or stage in the justice process.

Purpose

To provide an infrastructure to support the Nordic region to collaborate regarding restorative justice development and practice.

Objectives

To provide cross-border support for countries to develop restorative justice.
To support national coordination and the development of national action plans in cooperation with the full range of criminal justice professionals on the development and implementation of restorative justice.
To collectively undertake political engagement at the regional and domestic levels.
To provide opportunities for practitioners to share, reflect and agree on common standards and values for practice.
To engage the wider public to raise knowledge of, and support for, restorative justice.

Actions

To produce a report based on the learning from the 2025 RJ Nord expert seminar.
To establish a management or steering committee, building on the steering committee for the 2025 RJ Nord expert seminar, of researchers and practitioners from each Nordic country to develop a strategy for RJ Nord.
To enable the wider RJ Nord network to meet altogether in one country, potentially in Denmark in 2027, with researchers, service leaders and practitioners, to support research and practice exchange as well as identify and share on key priorities and themes (e.g., restorative values).
To enable a tighter network of organizing authorities to collaborate directly to share implementation, knowledge-based strategies and advice to Governments to further develop RJ, a network potentially lead by Norway.
To identify language from European and Nordic legal and policy instruments to be used in documentation and ensure alignment between the work of the RJ Nord network and the work of political platforms.

The Åland declaration is the stated opinions of the participants attending the RJ Nord expert seminar and does not necessarily reflect the views of the institutions represented.