PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CALL FOR GOOD PRACTICES AND EXAMPLES F
PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
CALL FOR GOOD PRACTICES AND EXAMPLES FROM EUROPEAN SOCIAL WORK
The deadline for sending in contributions is 1st of December 2017
ENSACT, the European Network for Social Action, hosts the European Observatory of the Global Agenda on Social Work and Social Development which aims at monitoring, reporting and disseminating the contributions of social work and social development in building a ‘society for all’ in which every individual has an active role to play within a fair and just world.
We call on social work practitioners, educators, policy makers and researchers in Europe to send us their experiences and practices on this year’s theme “Promoting sustainable communities and sustainable development”.
How to identify the social work contribution to sustainable communities and development
Submissions can be about activities in the traditional core areas of social work, other social professions and social actions. However, they can also be contributions from cross-sectoral areas and actions outside of institutional frames. In relation to environmental issues and social work, relevant examples can be about sustainable housing of groups in vulnerable situations, interventions in local ecological development, as well as about challenges and solutions for food poverty and food waste. On the other hand, examples about using nature as a resource in social work interventions for human wellbeing can also be relevant.
Further, social work’s contribution to sustainable economic development can include for instance being involved in the up-cycling projects and circular economy, green economy, sharing economy and other new forms of local economy. As said in the Global Agenda of Social Work and Social development, if social work wishes to fight poverty it has to get involved in creating new sources of income and subsistence outside of the traditional labour market also in Europe. This can also include examples of a new understanding of wellbeing beyond consumerism and material values.
Finally, the examples to be submitted can have as their main focus core areas of social sustainability or new ideas for working with groups in vulnerable situations, empowering local communities or developing multi-agency settings to promote sustainability. All kinds of examples in making human rights work and achieving more equal access to resources and participation are welcome.
However, most interesting will be examples that manage to develop an authentic pathway to combining environmental, economic and social pillars of sustainability in social work practice.
We asked three important European researchers to give their views on the relationship between social work and promoting sustainable communities and sustainable development. You will find two articles below, one by Aila-Leena Matthies and Kati Närhi, and one by Jef Peeters. We advise you to read the articles to have a clear view about the case.