On January 23–24, the kick-off meeting of the European Erasmus+ project “Empathy Through Culture” took place in Ireland. As the project coordinator, Ireland hosted participants from Norway, Bulgaria, and Italy.
During the meeting, participants explored the concept of empathy in different cultural contexts and became acquainted with George Ritzer’s model of social reality, Aaron Antonovsky’s theory, the theory of antisocial behaviour, and the theory of the four stages of the psychological process. The guide through these theories was Norwegian psychologist Ekaterina Bagreeva.
Through exercises and art therapy, participants noted an increase in trust within the group and a shift in their perspective on certain aspects of communication.
The next meeting, a training on intercultural communication, will take place in May in Bulgaria.