Houses of Empathy is an European project that aims to contribute to the reduction of violence amongst peers in residential care settings, by building a programme on bullying prevention.

Like the building of a house, the project proposes to develop and reinforce personal and social skills, the foundations of healthy relationships, in order to gradually promote empathy skills among children, young people and staff.

What makes Houses of Empathy an innovative project is its ecological approach. It intervenes on different levels, involving not only young people, but also the staff in residential care settings and other stakeholders in the child protection community.

Through awareness raising activities and dissemination of several resources, Houses of Empathy intends to activate all the community to prevent bullying in residential care settings; inviting all the actors to play a key role in the promoting  positive environments in those contexts. To achieve this, in addition to an anti-bullying programme for young people, the project will promote training for professionals, seminars, conferences and also provides an online platform for support.

Houses of Empathy’s activities will take place simultaneously in three different countries: Portugal, Spain and Northern Ireland.