Transforming social work for environmental justice: Theory, practice, and education

• Published in: Australian social work Vol. 72; no. 2; pp. 242 - 244
• Main Author: Bell, Karen
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Taylor & Francis 01.04.2019; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: EDUCATION; Environmental justice; GOVERNMENT POLICY; LITERATURE; Professional practice; Social aspects; Social justice; Social service; Social work; Social work education; SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT; AUSTRALIA
• ISSN: 0312-407X; 1447-0748
• DOI: 10.1080/0312407X.2019.1569080

The articles by Boetto (2019) and Papadopoulos (2019) in this Issue of Australian Social Work reinforce some pertinent points about transformative social work and the importance of foregrounding eco-social issues. Both authors emphasise the centrality of the natural environment to contemporary social work and address some of the gaps in the current body of literature. Boetto (2019) has focused on the conceptual framework of eco-social work, critical reflection, and some aspects of policy development. Papadopoulos (2019) has explored curriculum development and how scenario-based learning (SBL) can be used to integrate eco-social perspectives into social work education. Both authors, along with others, have recommend a holistic transformation of social work rather than the construction of eco-social work as a specialist subfield of conventional social work (Boetto, 2019; Dominelli, Ku and Nikku, 2018; Krings, Victor, Mathias, and Perron, 2018; Papadopoulos, 2019). This is a fundamental challenge to the academic discipline of social work and to contemporary professional practice.