Tackling loneliness through friendliness: conceptualisation and development of practical resources

When we talk about loneliness, we are referring to a diverse reality that affects all kinds of people and is experienced differently depending on each person’s life context and life story. There is no single form of loneliness, but rather multiple ways of experiencing it. The Euskadi Lagunkoia Berria project (Basque Government Department of Wellbeing, Youth and Demographic Challenges) has been working to tackle loneliness at a local level since its inception, developing practical resources and tools that enable this phenomenon to be addressed from a community-based perspective, with a view to moving towards more inclusive environments capable of addressing diverse realities.

This text explores the phenomenon of loneliness from a multifaceted perspective, examining in depth how it has come to the fore amongst the Basque population, and outlines the approach taken by Euskadi Lagunkoia Berria in addressing this issue.