BUILDING BRIDGES WITH EMPATHY
Seminar by Dobre Ręce funded by Erasmus+ Programme
Implemented from 6th to 14th of September 2021 at Willa Jagniątków, Jelenia Góra, Poland together with youth workers, youth leaders or volunteers working in non-governmental organisations or other institutions working with youth from: Poland, Italy, Bulgaria, Portugal, Turkey, Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia and Greece with main aim to equip participants with certain skills, competences, knowledge, attitudes, tools and methods on building the empathy.
WHY DID WE MEET IN POLAND?
The backgroud.
"Lack of empathy is related to aggression, delinquency, and lack of success in private and professional life."We agreed that it is crucial to increase empathy in young people before they become adults.All partners noticed challenges/problems young people face regarding agression, lack of tolerance, lack of understanding, bullying, online agression and bullying, social exclusion, lack of awareness on differences between people and their feelings, lack of humility, lack of emotion selfregulation that are caused because of lack of empathy or low level of empathy.When speaking with younsters, some showed higher level of empathy towards animals than towards other people -"it is hard to empathize with others" said one of the highschool students in Dobre Rece assosiation office.The idea came up to us after longterm discussion on - "why is it hard to empathize with others?"
ENERGIZERS
Everyday we played some games, such us: ice breakers, name games, getting-to-know games, team building games, safe building games in order to create common understanding and good collaboration but also just to have a little bit of fun. Try fruit salad!
WORKSHOPS
All the sessions were based on non-formal education methods and tools such as: preparing presenations, world cafe, brainstorming, preparing posters, mind maps, discussions, daily trios for reflection, NGO Fair trade, simulations, theater, round tables, intercultural presenations, methods from heart coherence and Compass Manual for Human Rights Education, fish bowl, mindfulness, debryfing, open space, reports on own education process, youthpass key competences reflection, working in teams, writting a letter, learning by doing, using art.
FRIENDSHIPS
The Seminar created for particpants space to meet in international environment, learn new tools and methods, exchange ideas and good practice, share experience in order to raise competences in safe and comfortable way. Fruitful with friendships and partnerships.
INTERCULTURAL EXPERIENCE
Participants prepared the intercultural events. The aim of it was to share national culture and traditions but also to cook together local dishes, share national snacks and present traditional sweets. We could explore Greek and Hungarian dance, Latvian song, Polish Tongue Twisters, Portuguese Quiz, Spanish music, Italian game, Lithuanian stories and Turkish delights.
USEFUL TOOLS
To work with the topic
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY
Empathy is the ability to recognize, understand, and share the thoughts and feelings of another person, animal, or fictional character. Developing empathy is crucial for establishing relationships and behaving compassionately.
TOOLS DEVELOPED BY SALTO
Tools developed by SALTO
Useful tools for European Youth Worker Training and Partner-finding
T-KITS
Council of Europe European Union
The training kits are thematic publications written by experienced youth trainers. They are easy-to-use handbooks for use in training and study sessions. T-Kits are produced in English. Some of them are also available in French or German.
ALL DIFFERENT, ALL EQUAL
Intergroup Resources
All Different, All Equal contains practical and theoretical materials designed to help people understand the causes of racism and intolerance and learn to value differences between people of different backgrounds. The activities in this education pack help participants develop a new or different view of society and encourage them to take action. It was written by a multicultural team as part of The European Youth Campaign.
COMPASITO
Council of Europe
Compasito was inspired by ‘Compass – a manual on human rights education with young people’, which was developed by the Council of Europe in 2002. More than expected, ‘Compass’ is used with younger people of secondary school age and in school environments in many European countries. The expectations of users of ‘Compass’ for a training manual directed specifically at children matched our own convictions that human rights education should start at the earliest possible age.
COMPASS MANUAL
Council of Europe
Compass was first published in 2002 within the framework of the Human Rights Education Youth Programme of the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe. The programme was created because human rights education (HRE) – meaning educational programmes and activities that focus on promoting equality in human dignity – was, and remains, of incalculable value in shaping a dimension of democratic citizenship for all young people and in promoting a culture of universal human rights.
THE EMPATHY QUOTIENT
Psychology Tools
The Empathy Quotient (EQ) is a 60-item questionnaire (there is also a shorter, 40-item version) designed to measure empathy in adults. The test was developed by Simon Baron-Cohen at ARC (the Autism Research Centre) at the University of Cambridge. Clinically, the empathy measurements provided by the EQ are used by mental health professionals in assessing the level of social impairment in certain disorders like Autism. However, since levels of empathy vary significantly between individuals, even between those without any mental health disorders, it is also suitable for use as a casual measure of temperamental empathy by and for the general population.
QUICK COHERENCE® TECHNIQUE
heartmath
Create a coherent state in about a minute with the simple, but powerful steps of the Quick Coherence® Technique. Using the power of your heart to balance thoughts and emotions, you can achieve energy, mental clarity and feel better fast anywhere. Use Quick Coherence especially when you begin feeling a draining emotion such as frustration, irritation, anxiety or anger. Find a feeling of ease and inner harmony that’s reflected in more balanced heart rhythms, facilitating brain function and more access to higher intelligence.
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONAL AND COGNITIVE EMPATHY
Empathy is a broad concept that refers to the cognitive and emotional reactions of an individual to the observed experiences of another. Having empathy increases the likelihood of helping others and showing compassion. “Empathy is a building block of morality—for people to follow the Golden Rule, it helps if they can put themselves in someone else’s shoes,” according to the Greater Good Science Center, a research institute that studies the psychology, sociology, and neuroscience of well-being.
SKILLS IN EMPATHY
Management Library
How to Put Yourself “in Their Shoes” – Skills in Empathy and How to Value Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – Guidelines and Free Resources
RELAXING MUSIC
Meditation Relax Music Channel
Meditation Relax Music Channel presents Stress Relief Relaxing Music with Amazing Underwater nature video and Binaural Ocean Sounds. This is 8 hours version of Hypnotic Composition "ABYSS". Use this Soothing Healing Music as Deep Meditation Music, Yoga Music, Music for Massage dream music, Spa Music. Also could be used as a Study Music, Deep Sleep Music and Total Relaxation Music. Relax your mind and body with this Calm Music Video.
CARDIAC COHERENCE, SELF-REGULATION, AUTONOMIC STABILITY, AND PSYCHOSOCIAL WELL-BEING
The ability to alter one’s emotional responses is central to overall well-being and to effectively meeting the demands of life. One of the chief symptoms of events such as trauma, that overwhelm our capacities to successfully handle and adapt to them, is a shift in our internal baseline reference such that there ensues a repetitive activation of the traumatic event. This can result in high vigilance and over-sensitivity to environmental signals which are reflected in inappropriate emotional responses and autonomic nervous system dynamics. In this article we discuss the perspective that one’s ability to self-regulate the quality of feeling and emotion of one’s moment-to-moment experience is intimately tied to our physiology, and the reciprocal interactions among physiological, cognitive, and emotional systems.
HOW TO WIN FRIENDS
Adam Sicinski
For the purpose of our discussion today, I will merely and briefly outline the main concepts and elements discussed within How to Win Friends and Influence People. This by no means does justice to the text, and by no means should it replace the book. Instead, the article and accompanying mind map should be used as a reference guide that helps overview the masterpiece written by Dale Carnegie in 1936.
3 TYPES OF EMPATHY
There Are Actually 3 Types of Empathy. Here's How They Differ--and How You Can Develop Them All. Understanding the three types of empathy can help you build stronger, healthier relationships.
Understand someone's needs
To build the empathy in young people we firstly need to start from ourselves. Youthworkers must give an example.
ERASMUS+ PROGRAMME
Do you know its opportunities?
Erasmus+ is the EU's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. It has an estimated budget of €26.2 billion. This is nearly double the funding compared to its predecessor programme (2014-2020). The 2021-2027 programme places a strong focus on social inclusion, the green and digital transitions, and promoting young people’s participation in democratic life. It supports priorities and activities set out in the European Education Area, Digital Education Action Plan and the European Skills Agenda. The programme also
supports the European Pillar of Social Rights
implements the EU Youth Strategy 2019-2027
develops the European dimension in sport
