Empathy step by step

1. Practical
activities for the
classroom
Emphaty step by step
CSR2VET project
Empathy is an emotional state crucial
for the development of a positive
school environment and is an
important attitude for life. Empathy
involves actively sharing in the
emotional experience of the other
person. What can happen when we
imagine the other to be our Earth
planet? In this section, we issue a
challenge we hope you will take up.
Overall, the key is to stimulate
students’ emphaty, improve
their knowledge of the topic,
encourage their imagination, and
communication skills, making them
“actors” of the learning process.

2. Objectives
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This activity aims to develop empathy and understanding of the
benefits and importance of CSR and related practices. During the
activity, participants will experience what it is like to live without
the benefits of CSR in a world where CSR practices are not given
due importance.
Also, they will try to produce solution to these situations.
It is important to be able to understand a situation one has not
been in in order to develop a perspective on issues one has not
experienced.
Resources 1. Big and empty room
2. Small Paper pieces or postit
Tipology
and duration
Learning
outcome
Typology
The activity can be developed as follow:
1. Preparation phase and understanding the situation
assigned to each group
2. Having brainstorming within the group
3. Creation of the scenarios
4. Performing the drama
Duration: 2 hours
1. Raising awareness on benefits of CSR applications
2. Fostering the skills of drama and role playing by using non
formal education tools
Image by UN Climate change

3. 3
Methodology / Implementation
1. The facilitator opens the event by talking about the benefits of CSR in different areas. These
include;
• increased access to capital and markets,
• reducing negative environmental impacts,
• increased employee motivation,
• increased sales and profits,
• operational cost savings,
• improved productivity and quality,
• efficient human resources,
• improved brand image and prestige,
• enhanced customer portfolio and customer loyalty
• faster and more accurate decision making
• benefits such as improved risk management processes.
On the other hand, CSR is a discipline that also encompasses work on climate change prevention
and has profound benefits in this area.
The facilitator informs the participants that the activity will focus on the environmental effects
of CSR applications. Then, he/she divides the participants into groups of 5. Then he/she gives
each group a piece of paper with the worst possible scenarios that could happen in a world
where CSR is not practiced or CSR is not given enough importance.
Each group is asked to dramatize the scenario assuming that the bad scenario written on the
given paper is realized. The groups are given 20 minutes to prepare their dramas.
The groups perform their dramas to show to the rest of the class. After each play, the group is
asked questions about the event that took place.
A discussion is started on what can be done today to prevent or avoid this bad scenario from
happening.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Image by UN Climate change

4. Example of Bad scenarios
1. Between 2030 and 2050, climate change is expected to cause an additional 250,000 deaths
per year from things like malnutrition, insect-borne diseases, and heat stress.
2. Climate change worsens air quality. It increases exposure to hazardous wildfire smoke and
ozone smog triggered by warmer conditions, both of which harm our health, particularly for
those with pre-existing illnesses like asthma or heart disease.
3. It’s about far more than just the polar bears: Half of all animal species in the world’s most
biodiverse places, like the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands, are at risk of
extinction from climate change.
4. Healthy soil has good moisture and mineral content and is teeming with bugs, bacteria, fungi,
and microbes that in turn contribute to healthy crops. But climate change, particularly extreme
heat and changes in precipitation, can degrade soil quality.
5. In a warming world, farming crops is more unpredictable—and livestock, which are sensitive
to extreme weather, become harder to raise. Climate change shifts precipitation patterns,
causing unpredictable floods and longer-lasting droughts.
6. From the poles to the tropics, climate change is disrupting ecosystems. Even a seemingly
slight shift in temperature can cause dramatic changes that ripple through food webs and the
environment.
7. Hotter temperatures increase the rate at which water evaporates from the air, leading to more
severe and pervasive droughts.
These bad situation examples can be changed according to needs.
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Image by UN Climate change

5. The document is created to be used digitally. We encourage you to avoid
printing unless you feel it is absolutely necessary. In case you decide to
print we suggest choosing FSC 100% paper.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are
however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those
of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive
Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held
responsible for them.