In December 2003, the University of Padua signed a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Prison Administration of the Italian Ministry of Justice to bring university education into the prison environment, promoting training for people in detention throughout the Triveneto area. 

The project involves all adult penal institutions in the Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia and Trentino-Alto Adige regions. Due to its location, the ‘Due Palazzi’ penal institute in Padua, the only prison in the Veneto Region, has been identified and therefore chosen as the main venue for the academic activities held in the prison.