The workshop supported by ReNEW Excellence Hub “Re-Imagining Norden in an Evolving World” was held March 27, 2019 at the Copenhagen Business School. Dr Larisa Kangaspuro was invited. She gave the presentation “Behind Finnish prison`s “success story””. Larisa’s presentation discussed the historical basis how the Finnish penal model was developed in the 19th Century when the Grand Duchy of Finland was a part of the Russian Empire. She focused particularly on the questions, how did the unique conditions of that period of Finnish history positive affect the creation of a modern prison system and did Russian official and public debates influence the development of Finnish criminal justice.