A short video presents the project and the successful pilot phase:
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More than 150 individual empathy sessions took place - online and offline - sometimes under shelling, during blackouts, or between air raid alarms. Our empathy providers remained connected even when there was no electricity or physical safety, because the need for emotional support doesn’t wait for peace. Over 70 group empathy sessions were held, and more than 1,500 people took part in online festivals such as Empathy August and Empathy December, which focused on shared pain, strength, and healing. These were not just webinars - they were lifelines.
30 new local leaders of self-support groups were trained - in cities, villages, and even abroad - to offer structured support and peer-based coping for individuals with shared experiences: from grieving partners of soldiers, teachers, displaced families, caregivers of children with special needs, to many others.
The network now includes 27 empathy providers, many of whom were themselves displaced or have worked in active war zones. Through weekly peer-support circles and professional supervision with international experts, they supported one another - even when their own towns and cities were under threat.
Then came the turning point: The Lviv City Council welcomed the Empathy Project into its structures. For the first time, a Ukrainian municipal institution invited our team to train over 100 civil servants in emotional regulation, conflict de-escalation, and trauma-informed communication - frontline staff working with people in crisis. Through their work with us, they didn’t just learn empathy, they practiced it in real time, bringing a renewed sense of humanity into daily administration. The effect was immediate: “Even in the most stressful moments, we found ways to really be present and respond with care,” said one city employee.
The final evaluation conference confirmed this progress: empathy belongs in public service as well. This was more than a pilot project - it marked a strategic advancement from community-based trauma support toward shifting institutional cultures.
What’s next? We plan to scale this work further, cascading it into more cities. Our aim is to integrate empathy into veteran reintegration, disaster preparedness, and municipal crisis response systems.