Earlier this month, empathy experts, youth representatives, youth-serving organizations and policy makers took part in a three-day summit titled, "Promoting Empathy in Adolescence: creating engaged global citizens and enabling more peaceful, inclusive societies." The summit was hosted by Wilton Park, an executive agency of the Government of the United Kingdom, which connects people from around the globe for "world-changing dialogue."
This summit built on past international events, such as the "Acting with Empathy" event held in Dublin, Ireland earlier this year, which included actor Cillian Murphy.
Key partners in the organization of the forum outside of Penn State included the Global Network of UNESCO Chairs, the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation, the University of Galway, York University, Warriors for Humanity and the Foróige Youth Citizenship Program.
Penn State's efforts were led by Penn State Global and the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, as well as supported by the College of Education, the Rock Ethics Institute, the College of Health and Human Development, the College of the Liberal Arts and the College of Agricultural Sciences.
The summit
The three-day forum invited a curated collection of 40 high-level representatives from philanthropy, the academic sector, international and youth-serving organizations, as well as young people themselves. Prince Edward, the Duke of Edinburgh, also attended and chaired an important discussion session.
Penn State representatives and faculty affiliates of the Prevention Research Center included:
- Mark Brennan, professor and UNESCO Chair for Global Citizenship Education
- Max Crowley, C. Eugene Endowed Chair, director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center; professor of HDFS and public policy
- Michael Donovan, director of international partnerships and assistant research professor, Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center
- Pete Allison, associate professor of recreation, park, and tourism management
- C. Daryl Cameron, associate professor and senior research associate at the Rock Ethics Institute
- Dana Mitra, professor of education policy studies
Donovan, Crowley and Brennan served on the planning committee.
Speakers at the event discussed how empathy research can be translated into both government policy and into classrooms worldwide, as well as in non-formal, experiential learning environments. Mitra and Cameron both presented their research about empathy education.
Attendees identified high-priority action areas for investing in youth empathy work - Penn State, led by Brennan, is very active in this space, one example being the Youth-as-Researchers program - and shared personal experiences about their work with both formal and non-formal empathy education.
"It was remarkable to engage in such fruitful planning with youth leaders, practitioners, policymakers, and researchers from across regions working as a genuinely global learning network, seeding empathy-focused initiatives with opportunities to span schools, community organizations, experiential learning opportunities, faith-based groups and emerging scientific study of the field, all across multiple continents with massive potential impact," said Max Crowley, director of the Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center.
