Our vision

Humans are part of, and dependent on, the web of life on Earth. Accordingly, the necessary human responsibility is to safeguard, an not to harm, the continuity and delicate balance of species lineages, ecosystems, and other complex interconnected systems that life on Earth depends on.

Currently, however, we are witnessing and ourselves embedded in massive planetary scale socio-environmental problems that are caused by human activity, such as the climate crisis, acidification of oceans, biodiversity loss and species extinction. While the scale of the ongoing ecological changes is so vast and fast-moving that it is difficult to fully conceive, there is no doubt that the changes have already both deepened and caused new forms of social, environmental, and ecological injustice and inequality.

Caused largely by extractivist overconsumption of natural resources and conjoined with the lifestyles and production and consumption patterns boosting them, the current ecological crises severely endanger the continuity of human and other forms of life on Earth. While this alone challenges the meaningfulness and ethical justification of extractive and consumerist relationship to ‘nature’, it also cuts the ground from under social work’s mission to support and protect those vulnerable and marginalised. Besides traditional service user groups, vulnerability now also concerns future generations and other than human beings. At the same time, the highly nationalistic character of existing service structures notwithstanding, in an interdependent world social work’s above stated mission leaves no ethical grounds to dismiss the distress of those lacking citizenship statuses, or those bearing the brunt of global environmental problems far away from one’s own location.

Recognising that ecological sustainability is the precondition for economic and social sustainability, even though difficult to achieve without them, ecosocial work strives to contribute towards a profound and fair sustainability (/ecosocial/ green) transition, as well as widespread adoption of an ecosocial paradigm in social work and societies at large. However, as modern social work stems largely from the same anthropocentric and modernist world view as the current environmental problems, this requires in-depth rethinking and renewal of social work as a multifarious field in itself. In other words, social work must become a transformed discipline, profession, and movement. Steps towards this direction are taken, among other things, by critically examining, questioning, and updating social work’s knowledge and value bases, institutional structures, and modes of work, including what kind of notions of good life and wellbeing social work promotes and beliefs in, for whom, and how.

At this historical moment, social work in general and ecosocial and related forms of work particularly, is in the process of reconfiguring its relationship to other than human beings and the planetary limits of existence. While there is clearly a need for a comprehensive systemic renewal, the ecosocial work has proceeded mostly from within the system, developing niches of fairer and more sustainable everyday practices, income earning possibilities, relationships, and wellbeing. On one hand, ecosocial practices recognize and utilize the healing power of the natural environment and animal companions, such as in various forms of nature and/ or animal assisted care. On the other hand, various activities are organised around re- and upcycling practices so that they both provide sustainable income earning opportunities and promote and enable resource sparing ways of life. Likewise, sustainable local food production provides multiple opportunities to work on both social and environmental issues, for example, through community gardening or community assisted forms of agriculture.

At any rate, the ecosocial starting point is that even global change is made locally and that also social work clients and people with lesser resources must have the right and opportunities to sustainable choices and lifestyles. Furthermore, noting the massive social and cultural challenge to adapt human needs and wants (of especially the over-consuming section of humanity) to the planetary boundaries, social work, being specialised in promoting change in the lives of individuals and communities, has in principle useful know-how to apply. Among other things, this may include supporting the emotional and other processes that people need to go through when changing their lifestyles, organising meaningful sustainable living, care, support, and recreational systems locally, and work for equality, diversity, just transition and societal peace. At the same time, it is important to learn and embed more respectful and collaborative ways to relate with and be part of the web of life across the micro, meso and macro levels of societal life.

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Our Team

please contact us: team@ecosocialwork.eu

Komalsingh Rambaree, University of Gävle, Sweden

Komalsingh Rambaree (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of Gävle, Sweden. He started his career in the year 1990, as a social worker working with youth and adolescents in Mauritius. He has also worked on various sustainable development projects for international organizations such as the European Union, World Bank, and the United Nations. He graduated with a PhD in Social Work and Social Policy from the University of Manchester, England, in the year 2006. He is currently engaged in teaching, learning, and researching at the University of Gävle, Sweden, ecosocial/green social work issues, international social work, adolescent and youth development, and computer-assisted qualitative data analysis with ATLAS-ti. Details on Komalsingh’s publications can be found at

https://www.hig.se/forskning/forskarpresentationer/aha/socialt-arbete/komalsingh-rambaree .

Helena Belchior Rocha, ISCTE-University of Lisboa, Portugal

Helena Belchior-Rocha PhD in Social Work, is an Assistant Professor at ISCTE- University Institute of Lisbon in the Department of Political Science and Public Policies; deputy director of the Transversal Skills Laboratory; and integrated researcher at CIES, Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology, linked to national and international research projects, namely, three Marie Curie Actions. She is the author of papers and communications at national and international congresses in the areas of social work theory and methodology, environment, sustainability, commu

nity intervention, ethics, human rights, social policies and well-being, education, and soft skills. She is a member of the editorial boards of several national/interna

tional journals. Helena is also a member of the Inclusive Policy Lab of UNESCO and a member and Scientific Science Communication Coordinator of the EU Cost Action “Digital Human Rights.”

Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö, University of Jyväskylä, Finland

Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö PhD Title of Docent, is a university lecturer in the faculty of Social Sciences and Philosophy, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her teaching and research focus on the interfaces and confluences of social work and environmental issues, including her postdoctoral research (2014–2017) on the consequences of the mining industry for disadvantaged groups in Northern Finland and Eastern India, and the Climate Handbook for Social Work (in Finnish) together the Talentia Union of Professional Social Workers. Her interests also include the diversity of social work as both locally embedded, and transnationally and globally manifest profession, discipline, and social movement, and interfaces of social work with arts (especially theatre) and arts-based practice. Satu has also published on ethical and postcolonial issues in social work. Overall, she has a macrolevel ecosocial and community-based orientation to social work.

Catherine Forde, University College Cork, Ireland

Pieter Lievens, KdG University of Applied Sciences and Arts and Thomas More University of Applied Sciences, Belgium

Pieter Lievens is a lecturer in the Bachelor of Social Work of KdG University of Applied Sciences and Arts, Belgium, and he is connected to the Thomas More University of Applied Sciences in Flanders since 2003. He was educated as a soci

ologist and specialized in European Social Policy Analysis. He has done research in the fields of women in vulnerable labor positions, participation of lower classes in local organizations, satisfaction among users of labor counselling services, and older people’s care. He was a consultant for municipalities on local social policy planning. He has expertise in the design of e-learning environments. He has coordinated Intensive Programmes in Social Work and is involved in many international projects. He has been teaching international perspectives in social work and ecosocial work since 2005. Global challenges are his main expertise. Between 2010 and 2013 Pieter was chairman of the learning network “Orientation of Social Work towards sustainable development.” Pieter has been teaching sustainability, ecology, ecosocial work, and international perspectives and global change for more than 15 years. He is currently engaged in futures thinking, deep history of planet earth, collective governance of commons and other activities related to ecosocial work.

www.pieterlievens.be

pieter@ecosocialwork.eu