28
NOV 2025
at 10.00-00.00
World Day of Compassion 2025
For the World Day of Compassion 2025, the EU GREEN universities invite you to a joint online seminar exploring compassion from historical, educational, technological, and societal perspectives.
The event brings together universities and schools across Europe, with a focus on young students’ reflections from study trips to Auschwitz, alongside contemporary insights into empathy, responsibility, and counteracting hatred. The seminar is open to teachers, pupils, teacher-education students, and academic colleagues who wish to deepen their understanding of the role of compassion in education and society.
As part of the EU GREEN alliance, Université d’Angers, Otto von Guericke Universität Magdeburg, Atlantic Technological University, and the University of Gävle jointly invite you to a seminar in recognition of the World Day of Compassion. The day highlights compassion from historical, educational, technological, and societal perspectives.
Date: Friday, 28 November
Time: 10.00–15.00 CET (Ireland 9.00–14.00)
Place: Online seminar (Zoom link will be sent after registration)
Programme Overview
University of Gävle (10.00–12.00)
Theme: Voices of pupils visiting Auschwitz
- Introduction by Jari Ristiniemi and Mikael Ståhllien
- Screening of pupil-produced films about compassion before, during, and after a visit to Auschwitz
- Separate discussions for teachers and pupils
- Joint session with reflections and sharing of insights
At the University of Gävle we have an ongoing project together with a secondary school in a neighbouring community and a dedicated teacher who through the years has made 20 journeys with pupils to Auschwitz/Birkenau in Krakow, Poland, to make them aware of the heinous history that took place there. In this year’s World Day of Compassion, we want to share voices of pupils who recently made this journey, how they experienced visiting the place.
At the seminar we will share films that 15-year-old pupils from the secondary school made themselves, reflecting their own understanding of compassion before, during and after a visit at Auschwitz. To ensure the anonymity of the pupils, the films have been edited so that the pupils' faces are not visible, and their own voices have been translated and replaced by an AI-voice.
Colleagues at our partner universities are of course welcome to join. We also think that students in teacher training programmes may be interested in joining. In addition, we would like to invite teachers in our partner universities’ communities to join with groups of pupils. Of anonymity reasons, we recommend, however, that the pupils do not appear on screen, but only the teachers.
Teachers and their class/es of pupils (who are around 15 years of age) are invited to participate in watching the films and afterwards discussing their content together. Obviously, teachers need to introduce the subject in the class/es beforehand so that the pupils are prepared and can get the most out of the session. A follow-up conversation should probably also be done at each school afterwards.
Schedule for the program item:
- 10.00 Introduction by Jari Ristiniemi (professor, University of Gävle) and Mikael Ståhllien (teacher, Norrsätra school) and the showing of films made by the pupils.
- 10.45 Intermezzo: teachers and pupils connected to the event discuss separately.
- 11.15 Everybody gathers back in the joint video-room. Teachers share reflections from the talks made in the classes, and all others are invited to share thoughts.
Atlantic Technological University (13.00–13.30)
ATU Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care team – “Compassion for others, Compassion for self”
- Campus initiatives promoting compassion
- Understanding self-compassion and approaches to self-care
Otto von Guericke Universität Magdeburg (13.30–14.00)
Professor Ingo Siegert – “Compassion by Design: Empathy in Responsible AI”
- AI can recognise emotions but cannot feel
- Compassion as a design principle for responsible AI
- Examples from speech technology and psychotherapy tools
Université D’Angers (14.00–15.00)
- “A serious game against all forms of hatred” – Doctor Rémy Guyonneau
- The HATES challenge addressing racism, antisemitism, discrimination and harassment
- OSINT tools to support critical thinking and media literacy
- “The internment of nomads in western France during WWII” – Doctor Samuel Delepine
- History of internment camps targeting so-called “nomads”
- Preservation efforts and the upcoming memorial at Montreuil-Bellay
Practical Information
- All seminars are held in English
- A Zoom link will be shared with all registered participants
- If school classes participate, only teachers should appear on screen
- Teachers are encouraged to prepare students beforehand and provide follow-up discussions.
Registration
For registration, fill in the registration form or use the QR code.
Organiser and hosts
Jari Ristiniemi and Olov Dahlin, EU GREEN WP5, University of Gävle
Daniel Caldwell, EU GREEN WP5, Atlantic Technological University
Laurent Bordet and Albertine Lucas, EU GREEN WP5, Université D’Angers
Antonio Roselli, EU GREEN WP5, Otto von Guericke Universität Magdeburg
We are very much looking forward to celebrating World Day of Compassion with colleagues and students, as well as community members!
Time and place
Sidan uppdaterades 2025-11-24