to procedural rights. The aim of the group is to facilitate exchange via email about recent developments in research, legislation, and case law. It is planned in 2023 to hold quarterly updates on custody via Zoom. The expansion of this group to include sympathetic police officers is an example of how well the project worked in terms of stakeholder collaboration. Through involving police officers in travelling to other Member States to learn from their peers and including them in preparing for the Irish regional consultation, as a means to exhibit what the Irish police were doing well, the police officers involved felt part of the wider process and were open and willing to engage in a multi-disciplinary group. It is important that the regional consultations connecting stakeholders, establishing a common vision and collecting measures in action plans are properly followed up to maintain the energy for change. These can be used to develop a proper Theory of Change (see above, § 2.1.3) and establish (in-)formal networks to accompany their implementation, evaluation and adaptation. The connections to national stakeholders established or strengthened during the project events remain active to different degrees facilitating important reforms in the future. For example, in Romania, the participants from the Ministry of Justice and General Prosecutor Office are open to amending the official letter of rights with a simplified, alternative one, provided there are plain language experts involved and that APADOR-CH acts as facilitators of the discussion. Representatives of the police are also willing to take up the issue of vulnerability of adult and minor suspects, willing to be trained and change “procedures” to better detect the needs of those vulnerable during the criminal proceedings. In Ireland, the participants from the Department of Justice have promised a meeting to be briefed on the fact sheets and final results of this project. ICCL is helping academics to push for their easyto-read notice of rights and are staying in touch with the police to help push for change inside that institution. A common challenge in establishing and coordinating networks is that most organisations, especially when primarily project-funded, do not have sufficient resources. A solution may be to use existing formats or processes for collaboration or exchange such as Advisory Boards to Ombuds Institutions (e.g. in Austria), other civil society networks, dialogue forums between ministries and CSOs, networks for the implementation of the universal periodic review of human rights treaties, etc. Moreover, CSOs may consider investing internal resources or actively seek funding to support the setting up of networks. In that regard it is important to consider that alliances may initially cost but ultimately save resources through effectively using synergies. Therefore, the EU and other funders are encouraged to provide targeted funding for coalition building. Finally, it is important to recognise that collaboration is a skill that can be strengthened. Therefore, in order to ensure effective engagement of key stakeholders it may be useful to develop people’s and organisation’s capacities to collaborate, think systematically, hold productive conversations, and take responsibility for the current reality (see below, § 3.4).63 63. Stroh, Systems Thinking for Social Change (2004) 75. 29