With increasing social, ecological and economic challenges, the need to expand social work to include issues of sustainability is urgent. This two-part webinar will dive into the connection between social work, sustainability and the natural environment through the ecosocial approach.

In part one, we will explore the theories and terminology of environmental, eco, green and sustainable social work. We will present the developments in social work practice, education and research of how social workers centre social justice in issues of sustainability; environmental, economic and social. To book part one go to https://www.iasw.ie/events/607-introduction-to-social-work-the-environment-concepts-into-practice-part-one

Part two will be an interactive workshop where participants will discuss possible challenges and envision solutions to bring their learning to practice. We aim to connect like-minded social workers to build communities of practice to advance ecosocial work in Ireland. We encourage you to attend both webinars as they are heavily interconnected.

Learning outcomes

• Gain knowledge on the importance of expanding social work to include the natural environment from a sustainability lens.
• Understand the connection between social, environmental and climate justice and their relevance to social work.
• Incorporate innovative ecosocial actions into your current social work role.

Social workers practitioners and researchers Rebecca Conway and Eileen Lauster will lead the webinars and discussions. Both have recently completed the three-year, EU-funded ASTRA Project (https://www.jyu.fi/en/research/astra). As PhD social work students, they carried out research with young people. Rebecca’s research focuses on nature based interventions in Ireland and Eileen’s on increasing bike use and decreasing carbon emissions in northeast England.

Speaker Biographies

Rebecca Conway is a bit of an academic tourist with a Bachelor of Social Science from UCD, Ireland, a Master of Applied Social Work from Massey University, Aotearoa New Zealand, and is currently completing a Social Work PhD in Bielefeld University, Germany. Her practice experience includes working in care and protection, youth work, community mental health and community work. Her main interests include mental health, community development, climate change and sustainability, social, environmental and climate justice, and ecosocial work.

Eileen Lauster, MSW, is a PhD student in social work at Durham University, England and an External Tutor for the MA in Social Work Programme at the University of Galway. Her past practice areas include child protection and welfare, community development and social enterprise. Her research interests are Non Violence Resistance intervention model and training, sustainability, community development and ecosocial work.