As an independent production we are so grateful to work with sponsors that totally get us. Today we say thanks to our sponsor The Resilience Initiative. The Resilience Initiative promotes resilience around the world through their writing, speaking, and education programs. Their new course, HOW to Fortify Your Resilience, is designed to help people like you discover the joy of building a resilient life through meaningful connections and a robust support system.























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Picture this: life as a game, with the odds stacked against you. Imagine the playing field, not a pitch or court, but the concrete confines of a prison yard. In this episode, we explore the intersection of resilience and rehabilitation through sports within correctional facilities – and beyond.







Meet Ricardo Parger, Founder of Phönix – Training for Life















Born in Vienna to a Spanish mother and an Austrian father, Ricardo  studied law not just to apply it, but to rethink it. He is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in the sociology of law, focusing on climate litigation. In his current roles, he manages Phoenix, Training for Life, an NGO dedicated to social rehabilitation programs within the Austrian prison system and leads the creation of an umbrella organization for mentoring programs in Austria. 







For his work he received the 2021 Social Impact Award. However, his most meaningful achievement is witnessing the transformative impact of his sports programs on young People in prison.







Prison sports project “PHÖNIX” wins Social Impact Award 2021







“Working in Prisons is tough. The atmosphere, the architecture, everything that makes it a so called “total institution””Ricardo Parger







Ricardo realized that  if he wants to change a social system – like prisons or the way our society deals with crime –  he needs to get to know how we currently deal with it. Not only theoretically by studying law for example, but also the reality of it. 















“Losing my freedom for a few minutes only made me grasp how dehuminizing it can be. For thousands of people that are being locked up every year.”Ricardo Parger







Loss of freedom







In this episode Ricardo shares how he experiences this loss of freedom first hand – even if only for a few minutes and how this experience continues to fuel his social impact work further. 







Ricardo believes that change happens when we see the problem, and find allies to solve it – within the system. 







His pilot programme already bears fruit. 















“I learned through the training what it means to be there for each other and how to give each other advice instead of dragging each other down,” shared one of the individuals that was part of the pilot programme at the correctional facility Korneuburg.







It’s a team effort