Empathy Training Toolkit
Purpose of this toolkit
This toolkit was created in 2022 to address one of the Network’s Strategic Learning Questions; how are we sustainably promoting empathy for animals and people within and across our organizations. It was curated by the Advancing Conservation through Empathy (ACE) for Wildlife Network’s Empathy Network Specialist and the Strategic Learning Committee.
The capacity for developing empathy training greatly differs across our Institutional Partners. What does not differ across our Partners is the desire to be able to train staff on effective empathy practices and incorporate empathy into the departments at their organizations. We hope that this toolkit helps staff at our Institutional Partners develop and implement effective empathy trainings and instill a culture of empathy at their zoos/aquariums.
~ACE for Wildlife Strategic Learning Committee
How was this toolkit created?
It was important to the Strategic Learning Committee that the resources in this toolkit represented the diversity across our Network’s region. During ACE for Wildlife site visits in 2022, the Empathy Network Specialist accumulated resources that Institutional Partners were willing to share to be a part of this toolkit. In addition to compiling existing resources, staff at our Institutional Partners were asked what resources they would like to see in this toolkit. Insights from these site visits can be found HERE.
Sites that were not visited in 2022 were contacted to provide any resources they were willing to share, and resources that they wished existed, over email. Once resources were compiled from our Institutional Partners, the Empathy Network Specialist, Advancing Empathy backbone support staff, members of the Strategic Learning Committee, and other Network Members collaborated to create resources that filled in the gaps between what existed and what was needed to complete the first iteration of this toolkit.
This toolkit is designed to be a living document and will change year to year as the Network learns what resources work and more tools are created.
~ACE for Wildlife Strategic Learning Committee
Are you looking for the PDF version of the toolkit?
What is empathy?
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Empathy and ACE for Wildlife
Video length: 6min 19sec
After engaging with this content, people will understand
- the definition of empathy
- how zoos and aquariums can use empathy as a conservation tool
- who we are
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Empathy and ACE for Wildlife
Click HERE for the video
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The empathy bridge
Video length: 8 min 58 sec
After engaging with this content, people will understand
- what the empathy bridge is
- how the effective empathy practices fit within the empathy bridge
- how to utilize the empathy bridge
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The empathy bridge
Click HERE for the video
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Types of empathy
Video length: 10min 14sec
After engaging with this content, people will understand
- the difference between empathy and sympathy
- the three types of empathy and how they can show up in a zoo or aquarium setting
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Types of empathy
Click HERE for the video
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Anthropomorphism
Video length: 13min 14sec
After engaging with this content, people will understand
- the role of educational anthropomorphism in empathy practices
- the characteristics that influence anthropomorphism for animals
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Anthropomorphism
Click HERE for the video
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Effective empathy practices
Video length: 8min 34sec
After engaging with this content, people will understand
- the various effective empathy practices
- how to utilize the effective empathy practices
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Effective empathy practices
Click HERE for the video
General empathy training from Institutional Partners
Northwest Trek Wildlife Park
- Naturalist Training Workshop PowerPoint
- Expressions of Empathy PDF
- 6 Degrees of Separation
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Zoo Boise
Empathy Training Video Series
- Empathy Video Training Series & Creation Process
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Zoo Boise
Empathy Training Video Series
- Scripts for each video
Empathy interpretation training from Institutional Partners
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
ZooMontana
- Promoting Wildlife Conservation Through the use of Empathy: Volunteer Training PowerPoint
Evaluation for Empathy Trainings
Templates provided can be edited to suit your needs.
Empathy games for children from Institutional Partners
Empathy and social media
Empathy infused animal fact sheets
Empathy and Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion
How can I add to the toolkit?
If you have a resource that you think would be a beneficial addition to the empathy training toolkit, please reach out to us at empathy@zoo.org. A new edition of the toolkit will be released at the end of each calendar year.