Valencia 2026: Deepening Empathy, Art and Lifelong Learning in Happiness in Practice

What Happens When a Group of Educators Reads the Same Story — and Sees Something Completely Different?

That's the question at the heart of the upcoming Valencia workshop of Happiness in Practice – Positive Psychology & Community Resilience, taking place from 23 to 25 March 2026, hosted by European Social Art – ESA.

Starting from a story

When we read a novel or a short story, we never really read the same text. One person lingers on a detail, another is moved by a character's silence, someone else recognises a feeling they couldn't name before. This diversity of interpretation is not a problem to solve — it's a resource to explore.

In Valencia, the workshop will begin precisely here: with a shared reading experience. A work of fiction will serve as a starting point for collective reflection — a safe, symbolic space where participants can explore emotions, memories, and meanings without the pressure of self-exposure. Through guided dialogue and artistic exploration, the group will examine how storytelling can open the door to empathy, self-awareness, and deeper human connection in adult learning settings.

From Modena to Valencia: deepening the work

The Valencia meeting builds on the foundations laid during the first international workshop in Modena, where partners came together to create trust, develop a shared language around well-being, and experiment with the project's core methodologies. If Modena was about planting the seeds, Valencia is about letting them grow.

Over three days, participants will dive deeper into the relationship between empathy and artistic practice — exploring self-empathy through aesthetic experience, art as a tool for health and well-being, and the Circle of Empathy as a structured methodology for deep listening and mutual recognition.

The Empathy Circle, first introduced and practised in Modena, will be further developed here, consolidating it as a transferable method for adult educators and facilitators working across Italy, Spain, and Belgium.

Learning with the whole self

As in Modena, the Valencia programme embraces a non-formal, experiential approach. This means working not only with the mind but also with the body, with creative expression, and with the quality of attention we bring to one another. The focus is on what happens between people — in the relational and aesthetic dimensions of learning — and on how creative processes can strengthen emotional literacy and community resilience.

Behind the scenes: transnational alignment

Alongside the workshop sessions, a Transnational Project Meeting will bring together the three partner organisations — SOLIS SRLS (Italy), European Social Art – ESA (Spain), and Projects for Europe – PFE (Belgium) — to ensure methodological coherence, align roles, and plan the project's next steps.

Looking ahead

The Valencia workshop is more than a second stop on the project's journey. It represents a deepening of vision: the conviction that fiction, empathy, artistic practice, and lifelong learning can work together to create real change in how communities approach well-being.

As partners gather in Spain this March, Happiness in Practice continues to turn European priorities on mental health, inclusion, and adult education into something tangible — participatory methodologies rooted in listening, creativity, and the belief that learning, at its best, is a shared human experience.