The increase in reported levels of stress and burnout in teachers across Europe highlights the importance of teachers' social and emotional competencies and diversity awareness (SEDA).

Since teaching is an extremely social and emotional process where diversity, if recognised, is embraced at every step, we believe that supporting teachers to develop SEDA competencies is the key to shaping not only the positive relationships of living and learning together in classrooms, but also, in living and learning together in society. Once SEDA competencies are supported, a positive shift can occur at the level of individual teacher, classroom, school and society level.

The book is our way of experimentally demonstrating how teachers' SEDA can be supported across Europe (Volume 1) and how policy can support these processes (Volume 2). Volume I focuses on the innovative conceptual overlap of social and emotional competencies and diversity awareness and experimentally tests it across European countries - with an emphasis on conceptualisation, implementation and evaluation processes.