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Strengthening Wellbeing by Building Connection

by Patty Freedman

Why is it important to feel part of a larger community? Experiencing a sense of belonging is a driver for our wellbeing. This is especially important for people who are alone or need extra support. Being a part of a healthy community helps us stay connected to others, gives us a shared identity, as well as feeling we’re part of something larger than ourselves, deepening our purpose.

POP-UP Festival is our annual celebration for World Children’s Day on Nov 20 to support emotional wellbeing, children’s rights and promote action for the SDGs. It’s the world’s largest Emotional Intelligence activation. In this month’s newsletter we explore what makes a movement and how POP-UP Festival connects people. Keep reading for emotional intelligence research and resources you can use for you, your faculty, and students.

What’s in this edition:

🔴 Thinking About: How to engage people in a movement

🟡 Research says: What we’ve learned about POP-UP 

🟢 Try it Yourself: Who will you host?

🔵 Mark your calendar: Events for educators – will you join us?

🔴 Thinking About: How to engage people in a movement?

Building a movement takes a lot of small actions from a large group of people. To reach our mission of 1 billion people practicing emotional intelligence, we need to reach people beyond certification. Programs like POP-UP Festival build a community of people who feel the value of practicing emotional intelligence. So, how do we reach out to engage people who have never heard about emotional intelligence? According to Harvard’s Democracy Knowledge Project, building a movement has 4 core principles. 

Movements show what’s possible

People need a sense of hope and belonging. When we show people the better future that they can help create, they want to join to make it happen. POP-UP Festival in partnership with UNICEF World Children’s Day connects us to a wider mission of helping children around the world. We advocate that emotional wellbeing is essential to children’s rights and we want to help children with our content and activities. Because our POP-UP activities are free and accessible we can share and amplify with lots of people from different backgrounds.

Movements emerge over time and space

People are social but need smaller circles of connection to take action. We want to build commitment and peer to peer sharing of content over time so the movement is sustainable. To cocreate those connections, we have a network of volunteer Super-Mentors coordinated by Ayaka Mawari and Antonella Malaga. Super-Mentors support POP-UP volunteer hosts in different regions to build and foster smaller sub-communities that drive deeper participation. Super-Mentors meet monthly to provide training and community for active participation. If you would like more information about becoming a POP-UP host or mentor let us know!

Movements meet the moment

One of the silver linings from the pandemic was the global awareness for mental health. Talking about emotions and wellbeing has become ‘normal,’ and urgent – so many people are looking for resources to support children. POP-UP Festival provides an easy way for teachers, parents, and youth leaders to bring a fun day to kids and increase their emotional intelligence skills. In our 2023 State of the Heart Report we discuss the decline in wellbeing scores across generations, with youth struggling the most. In this moment of challenge, POP-UP Festival can help young people be smarter with feelings. 

🟡 RESEARCH SAYS: What we’ve learned about POP-UP

We designed the POP-UP Festival to be an easy and fun experience that anyone can deliver with materials you can find at home. We wanted to make something that kids liked and could get emotional wellbeing benefits. Surveys from our participants indicate that POP-UP is successful in giving people tools to talk about emotions, activities to foster healthy relationships and providing children an adult they can talk with. These are important elements in children’s wellbeing.

Participants say POP-UP Festival increased their:

In addition, we asked the following two questions to gauge enthusiasm for the project:

Would you participate in POP-UP Festival next year? 91% participants responded YES

Would you invite a friend to join POP-UP Festival next year? 93% participants responded YES

Additional research is needed to explore the benefits of POP-UP Festival. Are you a researcher who would be interested in participating in this project? Let us know!

🟢 TRY IT YOURSELF: Who will you host?

If you would like to volunteer to host a POP-UP Festival sign up today. Join a free training and be part of the POP-UP community jump in and meet others who share your passion for bringing EQ to children. Hosting a POP-UP in your school or community is a great way to activate your students. 

🔵 MARK YOUR CALENDAR: Free Events for Educators – will you join us?

Oct 12 – Coaching Connections: An Invitation to Purpose

Oct 26 – Connect & Learn North America: Join the certified community

Nov 14 – Antioch University Continuing Education webinar: Free Resources to Introduce SEL from POP-UP Festival in Partnership with UNICEF

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