As a matter of fact, the project’s main objectives were to support adults with fewer opportunities, i.e. belonging to socially disadvantaged backgrounds, unemployed, facing economic and geographical obstacles, belonging to ethnic or national minorities, immigrants, refugees, adults with disabilities, to develop abilities in managing their emotions and becoming more resilient emotionally. In this regard, the project fully embraced the Commission’s European Pillar of Social Rights and, in particular, the following principles: 1. Education, training and life-long learning; 2. Equal opportunities as a means to unlock new possibilities for all, through the development of new skills and education.
It was getting more common to hear about the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EI) in several aspects of our everyday lives. Thus, “people with high EQ are 7.6 times more likely to have high outcome scores” when we consider effectiveness, relationships, wellbeing & quality of life (source: “Global Trends in Emotional Intelligence - Europe 2018”). EI was also looked upon as one of the most valuable employability skills that will be in higher demand (“The Future of Jobs Employment, Skills and Workforce Strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution”. WEF 2020). Owning a high emotional quotient, therefore, means being able to recognise and understand our own and others’ emotions, leading to better control of stress, attitude and behaviour. This was particularly important in nowadays society, especially during a crisis like the one caused by COVID-19 put everyone under pressure and amplified social exclusion. The needs we detected were those derived from the lack of emotional intelligence in less skilled adults, but also in those with fewer opportunities. And as we have seen, its absence or lack of development has a huge impact on people's personal and professional results.