LANGUAGE OF EMPATHY

What we set out to do

Language of Empathy was a European Solidarity Corps solidarity project implemented by Association Creatosphere, bringing together five young people to build something that did not yet exist in Bulgaria: a unified, accessible community for Nonviolent Communication practice. At the time the project launched, there were no certified NVC trainers in Bulgaria – one of very few countries in Europe in this position – and the scattered practice groups that did exist had no shared resources, no common entry point for beginners, and no Bulgarian-language materials.

The project set out to change that across three layers simultaneously: a space for beginners learning NVC for the first time; workshop groups for practitioners; and an online digital platform with resources. Over 12 months, it ran practice sessions, monthly community gatherings, an empathy buddy system, an online digital learning platform, and produced Bulgaria’s first NVC card game and translated resource materials.

Toni Lyubenova served as project driver and NVC lead – the founding force behind the project’s concept, curriculum design, and community facilitation. She had studied NVC in the Netherlands and Czechia, had been facilitating NVC practice in Creatosphere’s community, and had met with representatives of existing Bulgarian practice groups to identify the shared need for a unified structure.

The project and its creator Toni Lyubenova won a National Award for Exceptional Contribution by The National Focus Center, Ministry of Youth, Ministry of Education and Ministry of Labour and Social Policy.

Read more about the project on Creatosphere’s website.

What Axolotl delivered

• Conceived and drove the project – identifying the gap in Bulgaria’s NVC landscape and designing the community model across beginner, advanced, and trainer levels
• Designed and facilitated weekly NVC practice sessions (beginner and advanced tracks) over 12 months together with the community of Nonviolent communication Bulgaria, each month focused on a different theme from self-connection through to group mediation and social change
• Designed and facilitated monthly community networking events for NVC practitioners across Bulgaria
• Designed and ran the empathy buddy system – pairing participants randomly for weekly one-to-one practice sessions
• Led the translation and adaptation of core NVC materials into Bulgarian – feelings and needs sheets, card templates, and learning booklets
• Created an online platform dedicated to learning NVC in Bulgarian
• Created Bulgaria’s first NVC card game – designed as an educational tool for learning and practising NVC, distributed to educational centres, universities, and libraries

Professional photography by Eve Enfer

Approach and methodology

The project used a community-of-practice model with three concentric layers: beginners learning the NVC framework (observation, feeling, need, request) for the first time; an advanced group deepening their practice through more complex themes; and a trainer track preparing future facilitators. Each month had a dedicated theme – self-connection, self-expression, empathy, meaningful relationships, NVC in social change, community building, conflict mediation, facilitating NVC sessions, continuing the learning path – giving the practice community a shared curriculum while remaining experiential and participant-led.

Impact and results

• Bulgaria’s first online NVC learning platform – with beginner and advanced materials. The platformed was developed by Dimitar Stoyanov.
• Workshops and sessions with NVC Bulgaria
• Empathy buddy system – connecting practitioners one-to-one across the community
• Core NVC materials translated into Bulgarian – feelings and needs sheets, card templates, learning booklets, articles
• Bulgaria’s first NVC card game designed
• Facilitator handbook for young NVC trainers created and published
• Monthly newsletter and Facebook community group established and maintained throughout the project

© 2026 Axolotl  ·  Sofia, Bulgaria  ·  Working across Europe