OB1 was to create a training course that combined education on soft skills and emotional intelligence with elements of emotional literacy. By creating a pathway with a holistic approach to social issues, affectivity education and soft skills, the consortium wanted to provide a recognised, high quality and at the same time highly customisable tool with which to educate adults on EQ. OB2 was to train adult educators on a different model of masculinity and femininity, understood as a freer and fairer model, in order to strengthen their role as guides and motivators in the adult learning community. Understanding the role of emotions in gender stereotypes, in fact, can help educators steer their students’ choices and learning paths in the direction of greater self-knowledge and freedom of expression. OB3 was to prevent gender-based violence through affectivity and relationship education that breaks down patriarchal stereotypes of relations between men and women.‘ERM’ showed the connection between gender stereotypes and the failure to manage emotions, and how the correct identification and acceptance of emotions can lead to the development of important Emotional Intelligence skills.
The first need that ‘Emotional Respectful Men’ intended to address was that of adult educators who do not possess adequate tools to train their students on the relationship between emotions, toxic models of masculinity, and violence. The partnership recognised the urgent need to work on the prevention of gender-based violence, still dangerously high in all partner countries, particularly among men, since societal norms and expectations regarding masculinity and emotional expression have evolved. Adapting to these changes means promoting healthier and more respectful attitudes among men. In recent years, the conviction has become firmly established among psychologists that only a profound cultural change can consistently reduce gender-based violence, and that cultural change must come through emotional literacy: training in one's own emotions, emotional management and regulation, empathy and relationships. ‘ERM’ wanted to offer this kind of training to young adults in the partner countries, in order to overcome not only cultural deficiencies, but also educational deficiencies, since, with the exception of experimental projects, emotional education is not provided in high schools and universities in any of the countries involved.