Empathy Compass — Navigating Conflict with Emotional Literacy
Reflections from the Empathy Compass Training
We are living in a fast paced world, where violent conflicts, polarisations, and overall divisions are rising daily. This has created an urgent need in creating safe spaces to nurture empathy, emotional literacy, and creating meaningful conversations. Such space was created in the week of 12th to 19th of May in Evian-Les-Bains, France, where 29 youth workers, educators, and peacebuilders from across Europe, came together to explore what it means to truly listen, understand, and act with empathy.
Organized by YPAN France, and financed by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme, the “Empathy Compass — training on using emotional literacy for conflict transformation” was more than a training. It was a six-day immersive journey into the heart of peace education.
Through creative practices, deep self-reflection, and practical tools, participants from France, Spain, Serbia, Germany, Italy, Cyprus, and Portugal mapped their emotional literacy landscapes and discovered how empathy can be both a compass and a catalyst for transformative change in their communities.
This article captures some of the key moments, lessons, and voices from the training — not just as a report, but as an invitation: to feel, to connect, and to lead with empathy!
Day One: Building Trust and Opening Space
We opened our week in Evian with curiosity and intention. Day one was all about exploring the program, getting to know each other, and diving into the empathy journey ahead. Starting with deep questions for each other, we started to unfold the layers of who we are, and with building and flying paper planes, we discovered who we are in a team.
We shifted into an exploration of concepts that would be used throughout the week: peace, nonviolence, violence, and conflict. Through group discussions, we unpacked what these words mean to us, not just in theory, but in our everyday realities.
We closed the day by shaping our safe learning environment together, by creating practices that would be used during the week. The emphasis on consent, care, and collective responsibility reminded us that empathy isn’t just a topic, but a way of being together.
Day Two: Everyday Empathy and Well-Being
If day one was about connection, day two was about deepening awareness of ourselves, our emotions, and the things that tie us to one another.
We began this day by diving into the heart of Empathy Compass: emotional literacy. Through group activities, we explored how our worldviews influence the way we connect, react, and make decisions, and how having this awareness is essential to living with empathy.
We looked at empathy and peace, not just as a soft skill, but as a way to create space for connection, even in conflict.
We ended the day by creating four well-being practices: spiritual, physical, mental, and emotional. Something small, but grounding, and meaningful, to be shared with everyone throughout the week.
Day Three: From Local Realities to Listening Deeply
Day three brought us face-to-face with the realities of our communities. We started by mapping our local realities, where we explored the emotional literacy gaps in our families, neighbourhoods, schools, communities, countries. Many shared honestly what was missing, and how we could make it better. It was a reminder that we are not alone in what we are trying to change and improve.
From there, we jumped into a more challenging part of our journey, to empathize with the “other side”, by trying to understand those we often disagree with. Empathy doesn’t always come easily, especially when there’s pain or injustice involved. However, it is only through attempting to empathize that we will be able to truly understand these injustices and find ways to prevent and heal them.
We then moved into the skill that gives us meaningful connections: active listening. Participants practiced listening not to respond, but to understand, with open hearts, no interruptions, and full presence.
Day Four: Singing Souls and Sharing RAK-Random Acts of Kindness
Day four, the group became more than just participants. We became a community held by song, shared purpose and lots of laughter.
We began the day with a spiritual well-being practice, a song! The melody was simple, and so were the lyrics.
“My soul reborn
with every tree
the spirit flows
and I am free.”
Or so we thought.
As it tunes out, most of us misheard the first line, and sang it as “My sorry bones” instead of “My soul reborn.” And just like that, this very poetic moment became a running joke, which made this song even more special.
The Bazaar or Competences was the heart of the day. An open space where participants stepped in the role of facilitators and story-tellers, sharing their knowledge, tools and passions with one another.
And the late afternoon was all about exploring local context through the lens of empathy, looking for random acts of kindness, and opportunities to connect.
Day Five: Communicating with NVC
Day 5 dawned with the exploration of the different conflict modes, where we discussed our own approaches to conflicts, depending on how much we valued the relationships and the topics involved, as well as on how much our needs were being fulfilled.
We spent a long time learning about Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and its four components: observation, feelings, needs, and requests. For this learning, the participants explored giraffe and jackal language, where these animals personify NVC vs violent communication. They got to practice it through performing conflicts of famous movies. We found out we were surrounded by incredible improv actors, and all groups managed to deliver stellar performances filled with NVC and humour, where one of the funniest quotes of the week was shouted by Jonathan, playing Harry Potter: “Voldemort, would you please fulfill my need to kill you?”
The afternoon was dedicated to finally putting everything we had been learning in practice. In just an hour, we managed to come up with eight Emotional Literacy Tool ideas and their initial drafts, thus proving that “a small group of committed people can truly change the world” (Margaret Mead) / peace nerds together can create so many wonderful things.
Day Six: Seeds for the Future
The last day was dedicated to working on our Emotional Literacy Tools. The participants spent the morning working hard in developing their drafts, and then shared them with the rest. We also defined clear goals and divided responsibilities, as well as established deadlines for having the tools finalized and ready to share with our communities and the YPAN network!
The participants are currently developing a children’s book on NVC through animals, where our giraffe and jackal make a feature, a journal of emotions, two wellbeing tools — one guide and one challenge, two boardgames to deal with conflicts and learn about them, a podcast, and a compilation of scripts of role playing famous movie conflicts through NVC.
We ended the day by evaluating the whole week and giving our feedback. In a circle, all the participants shared how the week had impacted them, and what they were taking home with them. It was a heartfelt moment, where we could see we had truly become a small community of care and understanding, and that this training was going to have a lasting impact long after its ending. There might even have been some tears involved! The training was finalized with a circle of appreciation and gratitude for each other, and the participants took turns telling what they loved and appreciated about the person to their left.
Conclusion: The Compass Points Inward and Outward
Throughout this beautiful week, the circle was more than just a shape, it was a practice. We began and ended our days in a circle. We listened, reflected, laughed and cried in them, too. They became a space of safety, connection and equality, where every voice mattered.
It reminded us that empathy is not about fixing others or always agreeing, but about meeting in a shared space with presence and openness.
As we left Evian, we carried with us not just tools and new knowledge, but a deeper understanding that emotional literacy and empathy are not destinations, but they are daily practices. They are invitations to stay curious, pause before we react, and listen a little longer and more actively. But most importantly, come back to the circle, in our families, communities, and within ourselves.
The Empathy Compass didn’t give us all the answers, but it pointed us towards connection, care, and courage. And that is a direction worth following!
Empathy Compass is a project financed by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme.
Youth Peace Ambassadors Network
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Youth Peace Ambassadors Network France
The activities of the organization focus on 3 main areas: human rights in general, peacebuilding and conflict transformation. YPAN France works with international experts, youth workers, and human rights activists in order to provide a new way to transform society, from local to global.
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