The art of listening

In our fast-paced society, very few people take the time to listen to others. The unfulfilled essential need to be heard has far-reaching consequences, such as loneliness and the associated mental and physical illnesses. The innovative idea of the project is to create a non-judgemental, architecturally optimised listening space for relationships at eye level, through which connection to oneself, to the neighbourhood and to the associate can grow.

A "momo hört zu" listening room has been located in Munich city centre since spring 2023. Here, people can meet trained listeners spontaneously and by chance in a protected environment and talk about their lives, their crises and their moments of happiness. The listening room is deliberately designed to be low-threshold. For example, we combine "just having a coffee" with listening. The feedback from people who have visited the listening room in the city centre, which has not yet been systematically recorded, is outstanding. People often stay for up to one or two hours, feel more connected and more energised. Many want to become listeners and be trained as listeners.

The aim of the project is to transfer the previously experimental listening room to a new, innovative setting and to test its effectiveness. A mixed-methods approach is used for this purpose, in which social support, connectedness, happiness and life satisfaction as well as affect are surveyed at various points during the intervention. In-depth interviews provide insights into the mechanisms of listening for individual and social change and health. Only in this way can we know what effects non-judgemental listening really has on individuals and society.