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Ecosocial Work and Sustainability
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Ecosocial Work and Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Social Ecology and Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2024) | Viewed by 13816

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Komalsingh Rambaree

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Social Work and Criminology, University of Gävle, 801 Gävle, Sweden
Interests: ecosocial work; community development and practice; international social work; youth work; computer aided qualitative data analysis
Dr. Sandra Engstrom

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling, Scotland, UK
Interests: ecosocial work; community resilience; trauma; international social work
Dr. Jennifer Boddy

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Griffith University, Brisbane, QLD 4222, Australia
Interests: social work practice; environment and climate change
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ecosocial work is a holistic approach to practice that considers human beings as an integral part of the ecosystem. This perspective in social work education, practice, and research focuses on the person-in-environment interconnectedness to promote a fair and sustainable use of resources in enhancing the well-being of all in the planet. The concept seeks a transformative shift requiring more concreate actions/commitments towards sustainability. The Brundtland Report of 1987 on sustainable development, called for the wellbeing of all over an indefinite period. It emphasised the importance of ensuring that any contributions towards progress in society need to not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs. In recent years, there has been a noticeable increase in interest in sustainability within social work education, practice and research. However, most of the social work discourses have focused on social sustainability and not much on sustainable development. Sustainable development is a broad and holistic concept that requires social workers to engage in collaborative and interdisciplinary social work education, practice and research. It provides a holistic model for social work, which seeks to integrate social, economic and ecological aspects in addressing human challenges in promoting/enhancing the wellbeing of people and the planet. Specifically, there is lack of literature within social work discourses that focuses on certain sustainable development goals of the 2030 Agenda.

Within this context, this special issue on ‘Ecosocial work and Sustainability’ calls for contributions from academics, practitioners and students from social work and related disciplines, reflecting on multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary practice and research on ecosocial work related to SDGs of 2030 Agenda. The purpose of this special issue is to seek examples of good practices on ecosocial work practices related to SGDs of 2030 Agenda.  It particularly encourages papers that are focused on actions oriented towards specific SDGs that have largely been overlooked in social work literature including Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation; Goal 7: Affordable Clean Energy; Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure; Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production; Goal 14: Life below Water; Goal 15: Life on Earth. This call for papers also encourages articles from early career researchers that is those up to five years post-PhD.

Papers could focus on social work practice as it relates to the following themes:

  • Initiatives that seek to expand international cooperation and capacity-building of local communities to support access to safe and affordable drinking water for marginalised and impoverished communities, including water harvesting, desalination, water efficiency, wastewater treatment, recycling and reuse technologies
  • Work that seeks to protect and restore water-related ecosystems, including mountains, forests, wetlands, rivers, aquifers and lakes, as well as social work practice that seeks to improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials
  • Programs that supports women and girls in vulnerable situations to access adequate and equitable sanitation

Work that promotes indigenous initiatives and world views as related to water and sanitation, clean energy, responsible and sustainable production and consumption, industry and innovation, life below water and life on earth.

Dr. Komalsingh Rambaree
Dr. Sandra Engstrom
Dr. Jennifer Boddy
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • anthropogenic disturbances
  • clean energy
  • ecosystems
  • indigenous initiatives
  • sustainable development

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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34 pages, 2220 KiB  
Article
The Memory of Hops: Rural Bioculture as a Collective Means of Reimagining the Future
by Estrella Alfaro-Saiz, Susana Cámara-Leret, Miguel González-González, Óscar Fernández-Álvarez, Sergio Rodríguez-Fernández, Darío López-López, Ana I. Paniagua-García, Carmen Acedo and Rebeca Díez-Antolínez
Sustainability 2024, 16(6), 2470; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su16062470 - 15 Mar 2024
Viewed by 937
Abstract
This article, set within an art–science collaborative framework, exposes a multidisciplinary research platform aimed at identifying new relationships with hops (Humulus lupulus), its harvest, and local memory. It presents an ecological and ethnobotanical study of the plant, from its natural habitat [...] Read more.
This article, set within an art–science collaborative framework, exposes a multidisciplinary research platform aimed at identifying new relationships with hops (Humulus lupulus), its harvest, and local memory. It presents an ecological and ethnobotanical study of the plant, from its natural habitat to its past/present cultivation, its traditional uses, and possible applications in pharmacy and cosmetics. It offers a qualitative study with an ethnographic approach to participant observation, using techniques such as in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and life stories. Finally, it brings forth a process of material experimentation from the arts, based on rethinking waste systems to create new biomaterials with manifold future applications. The results from this hybrid methodology show the multiple possibilities that the plant offers beyond its cultivation for the brewing industry. Likewise, it shows how spaces, relationships, and dialogues have been generated with wide repercussions on a local and planetary scale, related to the sustainability of the rural world and territorial cohesion, all of which are intrinsic to emergent agrarian practices. The conclusions show a complex scenario that demands a hybrid response to understand the paradoxes to which the plant is subjected and the uncertain future of agrarian culture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosocial Work and Sustainability)
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Review

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17 pages, 653 KiB  
Review
Climate Change, Social Work, and the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels: A Scoping Review
by Lisa Reyes Mason, Colleen Cummings Melton, Darian Gray and Andrea L. Swallow
Sustainability 2022, 14(12), 7086; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14127086 - 9 Jun 2022
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3529
Abstract
Climate change is a crisis in our midst. This scoping review examines practices to transition away from fossil fuels in the social work literature, to inform social work engagement in climate mitigation and in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7 [...] Read more.
Climate change is a crisis in our midst. This scoping review examines practices to transition away from fossil fuels in the social work literature, to inform social work engagement in climate mitigation and in support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 7 (Affordable and Clean Energy) and 13 (Climate Action). We searched peer-reviewed and grey literature, applying the inclusion criteria: (1) published on or since 1 January 2005; (2) social work literature; (3) examines at least one topic related to the transition away from fossil fuels; and (4) describes, examines, or evaluates a specific form of practice for the transition away from fossil fuels that occurred or is occurring. Fifty-eight items met the inclusion criteria, containing 79 practices. The most frequent practice types were “organizing or advocacy” and “energy at home”. Common targets of change were individuals/households and private industry. The most organizing against private industry was led by Indigenous or Tribal nations. More social work engagement in the transition away from fossil fuels is needed, including engagement that embraces an ecosocial approach. Local organizing, advocacy, and program development are an area of strength and an intervention scale at which social workers can influence multi-prong efforts to transition away from fossil fuels. New social work policy analysis and advocacy at global, national, and state levels is also recommended. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosocial Work and Sustainability)
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14 pages, 267 KiB  
Review
Co-Creating a “Sustainable New Normal” for Social Work and Beyond: Embracing an Ecosocial Worldview
by Meredith Powers, Michaela Rinkel and Praveen Kumar
Sustainability 2021, 13(19), 10941; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su131910941 - 1 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 5210
Abstract
We have an opportunity to help shape new systems and structures that redress injustices and course correct us for a trajectory that is infinitely better than the one on which we are now set. We can co-create a sustainable new normal, intentionally and [...] Read more.
We have an opportunity to help shape new systems and structures that redress injustices and course correct us for a trajectory that is infinitely better than the one on which we are now set. We can co-create a sustainable new normal, intentionally and mindfully, alongside those who are most impacted by factors of oppression, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Such a new trajectory would mitigate both the unintentional harm and blatant atrocities done to people and our ecosystem, as well as heal and promote holistic, mutual well-being. Since the dawn of the profession, many social workers have practiced using an expanded understanding of the person–environment framework (i.e., social, political, economic, and environmental) and have drawn upon Indigenous worldviews. However, our current mainstream professional models are entrenched in the growth ideology, which perpetuates the very injustices that we seek to eliminate. Therefore, we need to embrace an ecosocial worldview, shifting conversations and actions towards alternative approaches and establish new policies and practices. In order to equip the profession to meet these roles and responsibilities and address these interwoven injustices, we highlight examples of real, successful alternatives implemented across the globe and pose considerations for re-envisioning and co-creating a sustainable new normal, for the profession and beyond. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Ecosocial Work and Sustainability)
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