Eco-Social Work in Australia

Eco-Social Work in Australia - brief update and call for more guests

Transcript of verbal update 'A warm welcome to the Eco-Social Work in Australia podcast series for both new and returning listeners. I am Andrew Nicholson producer of the series, and I want to give a quick update on its progress at this its first anniversary date. Since launch in early June 2021 the series has achieved 1350 downloads across its 17 episodes. This result exceeded my initial expectations of audience response and encouraged me to extend the life of the series into 2023. Given that its initial focus has been on Australia based eco social work practice it has been unsurprising that the bulk of the initial audience for the series has come from this country - but there has also been a small and  growing audience in the USA, UK, Germany and other parts of Europe. This international audience interest was one reason why I decided to start to interview eco social work practitioner guests based outside of Australia, and I intend to continue this approach into next year. But wherever listeners are based - in Australia or internationally - if you have enjoyed listening to podcast episodes - can you please consider giving the series a positive review on your podcast app? And if you or any of your colleagues have a story to tell about eco-social work practice - and you think you might like to be interviewed for the series - please consider contacting me directly to discuss the opportunities for a possible future interview. My contact details are in the notes accompanying this announcement. I'm now taking a break from podcast work for a few months and plan to be back interviewing and producing new episodes for the ESWA series from late September 2022. In the interim, please consider promoting the series through your networks and consider adding to its content by being interviewed about your own experience of and ideas about eco social work practice. In this year of marvellous international sharing and collaboration in eco-social work approaches, as exemplified by the Peoples Summit event in June and July; and through the help of our podcast audience, we look forward to reaching the goal of at least 2000 episode downloads of ESWA by the end of 2022 - and the continued podcast diffusion of eco social work ideas, values and practice examples to as wide an audience as possible as we go into 2023. My name is Andrew Nicholson and I offer my very best wishes for progress in all of your  eco-social oriented endeavours. Thank you for listening.' Series producer - contact details Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com (preferred for initial contact) T: +61 (0) 413979414

The human-nature relationship within an eco-social worldview

Guest: Dr Sandra Engstrom (she/her) | Social Work Lecturer | UNITY Convenor | Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity Committee |  Extremes in Society Research Group Co-Lead | Faculty of Social Sciences  |  University of Stirling INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE  The eco-social worldview or values and principles ‘lens’ which underpins eco-social work practice is made up of a number of discernible facets which have been discussed by various guests across this podcast series. One such facet illuminates the primacy of holistic incorporation of physical environment concerns wherever possible across micro, meso, and macro scales of intervention. Another facet reflects the importance of social, environmental and ecological justice concerns to help frame social work approaches. All facets of the eco-social lens, also reflect on a bigger picture concern for the damaged state of the overall human-nature relationship, and the roles which the social work profession could and should play in helping heal that relationship for the long term benefit of its diverse client constituencies around the world. My guest in this episode, Dr. Sandra Engstrom, has a strong interest in that bigger picture, human-nature perspective as providing a path toward understanding the overall rationale of eco-social work practice. She has worked in a number of international settings including her current role as a social work lecturer and researcher based at the University of Stirling, in Scotland. Her academic publication record touches upon many themes relevant to eco-social work practice including the value of reconnecting with Earth, or nature connectedness, both as a client therapeutic and professional self-care resource, the role that eco-grief plays in responding to environmental degradation, and the theory and practice of building community resilience to extreme events. Dr Engstrom talks with me about how such themes interconnect and how they inform a holistic understanding of eco-social practice and its particular value in approaching some of closely intertwined social and physical environmental challenges increasingly faced by our client groups today. INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – approximate time elapsed in minutes. General introduction - 0.49 Guest self-introduction - 3.42 For you, what is ESW practice in 2022? - 8.50 How can ESW help tackle client related sustainability challenges in practical terms? – 17.04 Why should the SW mainstream be involved with such concerns in 2022? – 26.30 What could the short to mid-term future hold for ESW interventions? - 31.20  Guest short take home message on ESW practice – 41.10 Thanks to guest and closing comments - 45.34  End of recording 48.12 SOME RESOURCES MENTIONED OR RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION  Dr.Sandra Engstrom –University of Sterling – contacts and publication record (Relevant to this podcast - see her research listings on embracing an ecosocial worldview (2021) radical self-care for social workers (2020) and recognising eco-grief in environmental degradation (2019) The Value of Time Spent in and with Nature  The aesthetic valuation of nature in the 19th century including by John Muir (2010- 2015)  The value of time spent in nature by different age groups in developing pro-environmental values and behaviours  – some recent contrasting research (2018 – 2021)  The public mental health value of time spent in nature (2021)  Balancing nature visitation and stewardship  Scotland’s Right to Roam tradition (2022) The problems of public pressure on natural areas – e.g., through so-called overtourism (2019) Eco-anxiety and grief  See guest’s paper on eco-grief as noted in her publication record (2019)  A public health perspective on ecological grief and anxiety with some practice recommendations (2020) The Influence of Modernity on Social Work What might be needed to move toward a postmodern form of social work (2019) The implications of human exceptionalism and nature connectedness worldviews on stewardship of natural systems (2021)  Joanna Macy – Eco-philosopher and Deep Ecology advocate (2022) Presentation (YouTube) on Climate Change as Spiritual Practice (2022)  GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Dr Sandra Engstrom - see publication record details Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au Web: Facebook  Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 15th June 2022. Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel     Incidental Music: James Nicholson

Using a love ethic model within eco-social work practice

Guest: Dr Dyann Ross, Senior Lecturer, Social Work, Program Coordinator for Master of Social Work (Qualifying) and Higher Degrees by Research, University of the Sunshine Coast (USC), Australia Introduction to this episode  The experience of  the use of love and a love ethic within eco-social work practice has already been introduced by a previous guest in this series (Dr.Naomi Godden) and because these topics have been garnering considerable interest within the eco-social turn over the last few years I wanted to seek out further perspectives on the use of love by other leading eco-social work thinkers. My guest on this episode of the series, Dr. Dyann Ross, is a social work academic, researcher and author who has continued to focus on and help elaborate the place of love in social work practice over the last twenty years or so. In fact, she goes so far as to say that exploring the ethic of love has been her life journey and work. As with wider eco-social work (ESW) approaches, the use of love in social work practice has been slow to appear on the mainstream social work radar but is now finding a greater audience of practitioners willing to explore and adopt its precepts. And Dr Ross’s work has made an important contribution towards that adoption. In our discussion Dr Ross talks about her abiding interests in the importance of love and a love ethic for social work practice, and how a growing ethos of lovelessness for other people, non-human animals and Nature is a strong underlying causation of injustices and lack of ecological sustainability for the planet as a whole. The social work profession has an important contribution to make in helping right some of these wrongs, and we discuss the particular benefits the elements of a love ethic (ethics of love, non-violence and ecological justice) can bring to this important work. INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS:  with approximate time elapsed location in minutes. General introduction – 0.50 Guest self-introduction – 2.45 How does a love ethic fit within contemporary eco-social practice? - 8.45 How can a love ethic help tackle ecological sustainability concerns? - 15.30 Why should the social work mainstream  be involved with a love ethic within ESW practice? - 21.13 What could/should the future hold for the use of a love ethic in SW practice? - 25.15   The contribution of a multi and interdisciplinarity stance within ESW – 31.35 Guest take home message -35.23    Closing remarks  -  38.16   End -  40.36 RESOURCES RELEVANT TO OR MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION: DR DYANN ROSS – some selected publications Her doctorate research On the place of  an ethic of love in social work education (awarded 2002) Books: Brueckner, M. & Ross, D. (2010). Under corporate skies: A struggle between people, place and profit. Fremantle: Fremantle Press.  –inter alia,  analysis of the social, health and environmental concerns surrounding aluminium refining impacts on the small town of Yarloop in Western Australia Ross, D. (2020). The revolutionary social worker: The love ethic model. Brisbane: Revolutionaries. Ross, D., Brueckner, M., Palmer. M. & Eaglehawk, W. (Eds.). (2020). Eco-activism and social work: New directions in leadership and group work. London: Routledge. Other Work Ross, D. (2020). ‘Ethic of love’, International encyclopedia of sustainable management. S. Idowu, R. Schmidpeter, N. Capaldi, L. Zu, M. Del Baldo, & R. Abreu (Eds.). Switzerland: Springer Reference. Book chapter contribution by Ross, D., Bennett, B. & Menyweather, N. (2020). Towards a critical posthumanist social work: Trans-species ethics of ecological justice, nonviolence and love. In B. Pease & V. Bozalek (Eds.). Post-anthropocentric social work: Critical posthumanism and new materialist perspectives (pp. 175-186). London: Routledge. Mental Health Gates, T. G., Ross, D., Bennett, B., & Jonathan, K. (2022) Teaching Mental Health and Well-Being Online in a Crisis: Fostering Love and Self-compassion in Clinical Social Work Education (2021) OTHER LOVE ETHIC RESEARCHER/PRACTITIONERS: Dr Naomi Godden – Edith Cowan University Australia – publication record (and listen to her episode in this podcast series) CODES OF ETHICS REVISION  The AASW Code of Ethics (2020)  Thomas Ryan (2011) - suggestions for expanding ethical codes and a morally inclusive social work.  ANIMAL RIGHTS AND ETHICS ADVOCACY Book review for Algers, K. (2020). Five essays for freedom: A political primer for animal advocates. Brisbane: Revolutionaries.  The Animal Industrial Complex - concept ANTHROPOCENTRISM AND ECOCENTRISM worldviews as they influence human-nature relationships  bell hooks - Teaching to Transgress (2014)  ECO-SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE – HISTORY OF PRINCIPLES AND IDEAS Besthorn (2011) deep ecological social work Peeters (2011) The place of social work in sustainable development Norton (2011 Social work and the environment: an ecosocial approach Dominelli (2018) The Routledge Book of Green Social Work Gray, Coates and Hetherington (2013) Environmental social work Molyneux (2010); The Practical Realities of Ecosocial Work: A Review of the Literature Tischler (2011) Master level thesis: Climate change and social work : steps to an eco-social work practice Boetto (2019) Advancing transformative eco-social change: Shifting from modernist to holistic foundations  Michael Kim Zapf (2009) modifying the social work, ‘person in environment’ foundational metaphor to ‘people as place.’ Mitchell Thomashow (2021) – the ecological imagination and other work FIRST NATION LEADERS INSIGHTS FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE.  Book chapter: Woodley, M. & Ross, D. (2021). First Nation leaders’ lessons on sustainability and the environment for social work. In B. Bennett (Ed.). Aboriginal fields of practice (pp. 216-228). London, UK: Red Globe Press. PSYCHOANALYSIS AND PSYCHOLOGY INSIGHTS  INTO A CULTURE OF LOVELESSNESS AND THE CAUSATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION: Book: Weintrobe, S. (2021). Psychological roots of the climate crisis: Neoliberal exceptionalism and the culture of uncare. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. Book: What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming (2015) some insights into psychological defence mechanisms around climate change and how to counter them - from Norwegian psychologist and economist Per Espen Stoknes. Psychology for a Safe Climate group (Australia) some great resources on the psychological/ cognitive biases acting to constrain effective action on environmental protection and repair, and how they can be overcome. ‘Wicked problems’ – significance    GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Dyann Ross  -see her contacts in USC publication record  Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB  FACEBOOK  Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 7th June 2022.  Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel           Incidental Music: James Nicholson     

International perspectives on eco-social work practice

Guest: Dr Meredith Powers(she/her) - Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA Introduction to this episode: The Eco-Social Work in Australia podcast series has been expanded to include guest interviews with social work professionals who either practice outside of Australia or with individuals who work in closely allied fields, such as public health or psychology. This has been a conscious decision made in light of the recognition that social work is a global as well as national profession, and one which benefits from the sharing of interdisciplinary knowledge and expertise, particularly in connection to dealing with the practice implications of increasing physical environmental challenges such as global heating and climate disruption. My guest in this episode is a good representative of this more cosmopolitan direction for the series. Dr. Meredith Powers(she/her) is an American based and internationally focussed practitioner across a range of roles. Dr. Powers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at UNC Greensboro, USA. She teaches and conducts community engaged scholarship on topics of climate justice, climate migration, eco-social worldviews, and eco-therapeutic practices for well-being. She is the Founder and Director of the Climate Justice Program of the International Federation of Social Workers. And she also established and co-administers the global Green/Eco Social Work Collaborative Network. SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS  - and approximate time elapsed in minutes General introduction – 0.50 Guest self-introduction – 3.38 What is the significance of eco-social work practice (ESW) in 2022? – 10.00 How can ESW help tackle key physical environment challenges? - 15.28 The 2022 IFSW People’s Summit – 23.30 The need for mainstream SW involvement with physical environment problems – 27.43 What could/should the short to mid-term future hold for ESW practice? – 33.28 Guest take home message – 46.56 Close of interview and thanks to guest – 49.46 Total run time – 51.03 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION A listing of any books, publications or digital media information sources relevant to eco-social work and mentioned during discussion. Dr Meredith C.F. Powers academic profile and publications list Anthropocentric and ecocentric worldviews and an example of their influence. Children’s book that influenced Meredith: The Wump World by Bill Peet Some Indigenous Scholars who informed Meredith’s understanding: Miriama Scott, Dr. Felicia Mitchell, Dr. Shanondora Billiot, Dr. Angela Fernandez, Dr. Karina Walters, Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, Dr. Ramona Beltran, Dr. Michael Spencer.   International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) Climate Justice Program Book on fungi: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (M.Sheldrake, 2020). Book: Braiding Sweetgrass- Indigenous wisdom Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants(Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2020) Paper by Kim Zapf (2010) on the SW concept of people as place/learning to live well in place Quote by author B. White on saving and savouring the world. Eco-therapy – the use of Green and Blue Spaces and nature connectedness approaches and research. Paper on radical self-care – see Meredith Powers’ academic profile and publications IPCC (2022) - latest report on climate change explainer (Australian perspective, March 2022) The concept of ecokin and kincentric ecology. Possible inter- generational effects of trauma acting through epigenetic influence. Human induced climate change influence on natural disaster events IFSW linked event discussed: Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind’ People’s Summit 29 June- 2 July 2022, Virtual Event Book on leadership Meredith mentioned: Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Dr. Meredith Powers  E mcfpowers@uncg.edu   WEBSITE   Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB Facebook   Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson T: +61 0413 979 414 E: counsel1983@gmail.com  This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 29th April 2022 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel      Incidental Music: James Nicholson

The differential gendered impacts of disaster events

Guest: Professor Margaret Alston, AM, OAM, School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Science, University of Newcastle, New South Wales and Emerita Professor, Monash University. Introduction to this episode: Professor Margaret Alston has developed a longstanding research and teaching interest around the social work role in relation to natural disasters, and particularly regarding the differential gendered experience of disaster impacts amongst women, men and children. She has taught and conducted research within a number of premier Australian universities over the years on topics such as the links between rural life and gender, and has grounded that work in action research based upon first hand observation of some of the most vulnerable communities in the world. Professor Alston has applied her research insights to the benefit of a wide spectrum of institutions and individuals: from acting as gender expert consultant to international agencies, such as the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation, and the Commission for the Status of Women, to providing doctoral research supervision to a new generation of social workers, helping equip them with the tools to focus on gender inequities within social research. In this episode, we talk about Professor Alston’s abiding interest in the gendered experience of environmental impacts, how such physical environment influences and eco-social work approaches (ESW) are directly relevant to mainstream social work practice, and how her research and social work training insights apply with particular relevance to our own, Asia-Pacific region of the world. General introduction     -  0.50 Guest self-introduction  - 3.35 What is the relevance of an ESW approach in 2022?  - 12.05 How might increased gendered sensitivity within ESW approaches help tackle some key sustainability challenges? -19.46 Why should the social work profession concern itself with differential gendered factors within ESW approaches? - 27.45 What could/should the short to mid-term future hold for greater levels of differential gendered experience sensitivity as a practice frame?  - 31.13 Guest take home message/summary - 37.43 Closing acknowledgement - 41.13 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION A listing of any books, publications or digital media information sources relevant to eco-social work and mentioned during discussion. Professor Alston selected research work and profile with some publications from 2015: Alston, Women and Climate Change in Bangladesh (2015) Routledge McKinnon and Alston (eds) (2016) Ecological Social Work, Pan Macmillan Alston, Hazeleger and Hargreaves (2019) Social Work and Disasters, Routledge Alston, et.al. (2021) Australian and NZ social workers adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic. Eco-anxiety and solastalgia. The Psychology for a Safe Climate group based in Melbourne also have a number of resources relevant to this topic on their portal site. Australia 2019-2020 bushfires and east coast flood events 2022 – some background. Vulnerability registers and mapping. Disaster risk reduction example involving children and youth. IPCC Climate Change Mitigation Report (April 2022) summary of key action points. IFSW online conference: Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind - The People's Global Summit (29th June to 2nd July 2022). GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Professor Margaret Alston: E: margaret.alston@newcastle.edu.au WEB  T: (02) 4921 6702  Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB  FACEBOOK  Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 6th April 2022.  Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel              Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

The Value of a Love Ethic in Eco-Social Work Practice

Guest: Dr. Naomi Godden: Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Social Work, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Western Australia. Introduction to this episode: Dr Godden is a social worker, social justice and environmental activist, and feminist participatory action researcher from the rural community of Margaret River, Western Australia. She has 16 years of community development and social research experience in Australia and internationally in areas such as gender justice, Aboriginal family violence prevention, youth development, education advocacy, poverty alleviation, homelessness and affordable housing, sexual exploitation of women, environmental activism and the gendered impacts of climate change. She has worked in grassroots rural community organisations, local government, international development organisations such as Oxfam Australia and the International Women’s Development Agency, and universities, including Monash and Edith Cowan Universities in Australia. Her countries of work experience include Australia, Peru, United States, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Papua New Guinea, India and Thailand. She is also co-chair of the national Women’s Climate Justice Collective and chair of Just Home Margaret River Inc.  SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS  - with approximate time positions in minutes    General introduction                                                                                                     0.52  Guest self-introduction                                                                                                 3.10 What is the significance of a love ethic within eco-social work (ESW) practice?           9.11 How can a love ethic/ESW practice help tackle sustainability challenges?                   17.40          - using Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR)                                         18.25          - climate justice activism and techno-patriarchy concerns                                   24.40 Why should mainstream social work be involved with a love ethic and ESW?              35.17 What could the future hold for mainstream SW practice in terms of these ideas?       43.13 Guest closing summary of her comments                                                                     51.15 Thanks to guest and close of interview                                                                          52.56 END                                                                                                                                54.13  SOME RESOURCES RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION Dr Naomi Godden academic profile and research publications (2022) Shire of Augusta Margaret River WA, Community Strategic Plan 2036 Just Home housing justice project Augusta/Margaret River region (2022) Nyoongar people SW WA responses to past severe climate change (2020) Michael Kim Zapf’s SW concept of people as place (2010) Introduction to the work of bell hooks from the Commons Social Change Library (2022) Commentary from bell hooks and Thich Nhat Hanh (2017) Dr Godden’s paper on links between community work, love and Buen Vivir in Peru (2020) Distinctions environmental/ecological (2000) and multispecies (2020) justice perspectives. IFSW: People’s Global Summit theme: Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind’ online access 29th June to 2nd July 2022. Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) and climate justice Godden et al (2020) Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (2022) Longer term public health impacts of climate change exacerbated flood and bushfire events Mel Gray/John Coates - social work's responsibility to the non-human world (2012)  GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Dr Godden - see her research profile Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB  FACEBOOK Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 24th March 2022. Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel            Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

Applied academic research and eco-social work diffusion

Guest: Dr.Sylvia Ramsay, School of Health Sciences and Social Work, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia. INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE The growing academic research base of eco-social work (ESW) practice in Australia has a been an important springboard in helping to diffuse ESW ideas and approaches into the mainstream here. Several guests in this podcast series, including Dr Heather Boetto, Dr. Peter Jones and Dr. Sue Bailey, have already contributed influential published research work linked to eco-social work practice and approaches in this country. My guest on this episode of the series, Dr. Sylvia Ramsay, is also very conversant with the world of applied social work research and has developed particular research interests in how eco-social work frameworks and perspectives can help shape and enhance mainstream social work intervention. In this episode we talk about some of the formative ideas and values that have helped create Sylvia’s perspective on the eco-social work turn in mainstream practice. INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – with approximate time elapsed location in minutes. General introduction – 0.50 Guest self-introduction – 1.59 What does ESW practice mean in 2021? – 6.07 How can ESW approaches be used in practical terms – 14.24 Why should the SW mainstream be involved with ESW concerns in 2021? – 21.18 What could the future hold for ESW interventions over the next 2- 10 years? – 23.05 Guest’s take home message – 26.00 End of interview and credits – 27.12 REFERENCES AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN OR RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION  Work of Sylvia Ramsay on understanding environmental social work (2016) Work of Fred H Besthorn – for example on deep ecological social work Work of Naomi Godden - for example on community work, love and the Indigenous worldview Work of Prof Lena Dominelli Book by Powers and Rinkel (2017) Social Work Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability accompanied by two other volumes. Val Plumwood philosopher and eco-feminist – example of her work Feminism and the Mastery of Nature (1993) Related concepts of the better valuing of nature through ecokinship and kincentric stewardship Achieving a sense of purpose through caring for nature and opportunities to work with clients in ‘blue’ and ‘green’ spaces. This could involve activities taken from Nature Mindfulness, Forest Bathing, Forest Therapy or Awe Walk All of these initiatives are aligned with a growing body of international psychological research, collectively designated under the umbrella term Nature Connectedness. Such research is pointing increasingly to the benefits of close psychological and emotional engagement with nature, both to enhance human wellbeing, but also to foster greater care for and greater stewardship of the natural world and living things. Related concepts of closer human-nature connection - developing nature connectedness and an ‘ecological self’ through forming an ecological identity as suggested by, for example, Thomashow (1995). Creating eco-friendly workplaces – a couple of examples of ways to help create lower environmental impact at home and in workplace environments. GUEST AND OTHER CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Dr. Sylvia Ramsay, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB  FACEBOOK Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 25th November 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel        Incidental Music: James Nicholson

Critical and transformative perspectives in eco-social work practice

Guest: Dr. Dorothee Holscher: Lecturer, School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work, The University of Queensland, Queensland, Australia. INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE: For many practitioners, eco-social work approaches are transformative in their intent and objectives around linked physical environment and social justice concerns. Some examples are the recent social work call in Australia for far more ambitious national greenhouse gas reduction efforts, and advocacy around greater social and environmental justice for marginalised communities impacted disproportionately by the effects of global heating and climate change. Such advocacy is predicated, in part, on a critique of neoliberal capitalist economic development models which are accelerating both environmental damage and socio-economic inequality around the world. The transformative turn within social work practice is a central interest of my next guest, Dr Dorothee Holscher, a social work researcher, academic and educator with a research interest in the social work response to the nexus of environmental and other social injustices – most recently as these have affected some Australian indigenous communities, as they responded to challenges posed by coal mining and river health impacts in their country. In today’s interview, we talk about this research and its implications for social work practice, as well as another of Dorothee’s interests concerning the ways in which a more critical focus can be brought into social work training. She cites the work of the influential philosopher, critical theorist and feminist thinker, Nancy Fraser, as an important influence on her own social work training practice. Dorothee does not strictly consider herself to be an eco-social work practitioner, but I have included her in this series because her work, touching as it does upon critical appraisals of the negative and oppressive effects operating across social, environmental and economic interdependencies is, for me, a good example of a holistic worldview in operation. The principle of holism, for example as it relates to the inclusion of physical environmental concerns operating across micro, meso and macro levels of intervention, is a core principle informing eco-social work practice. INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – with approximate time elapsed location in minutes. General introduction – 0.50 Guest self- introduction – 3.16 Overview of guest’s recent research explorations – 7.06 Some possible social work practice implications – 12.06 Introducing Nancy Fraser’s scholarship – 19.01 Fraser’s definition of social justice – 21.44 Fraser’s past approach to physical environment – 28.15 Her more recent crisis of capitalism perspective – 31.04 Why should the mainstream engage with environmental concerns? – 37.75 What could the short term future hold for such engagement? - 41.24 Guest’s take home message – 49.35 End of interview and credits - 50.50 RESOURCES MENTIONED OR RELEVANT TO THE DISCUSSION:  Dr. Dorothee Holscher some research articles mentioned: Return of the posthuman: Developing Indigenist perspectives for social work at a time of environmental crisis (Holscher & Woods, 2020) The relevance of Nancy Fraser for transformative social work education (Holscher et al., 2018) Paper Decolonization is not a metaphor by Tuck and Yang (2012) Professor Nancy Fraser - list of some of her research output and a recent (2021) video presentation of her ideas on capitalism and physical environmental destruction Professor Rosi Braidotti paper (2013) on posthumanism citing Leonardo da Vinci’s Vitruvian Man artwork GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Dr. Dorothee Holscher UQ:  and holscher.dorothee@gmail.com Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB  FACEBOOK Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 20th November 2021. Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel   Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

Eco-social work and the contest of rural and regional water values

Guest: Dr. Heather Downey, Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Social Policy and member of the Centre for Freshwater Ecosystems at Latrobe University, Albury Wodonga. INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE The crucial importance of water as a resource to support the economic, social, cultural, recreational, and environmental wellbeing of human society and the natural world cannot be overstated. This is particularly the case in Australia, the driest inhabited continent, whose water security challenges have further intensified in response to global heating and climate disruption trends. As a key, multifaceted resource, water has received far too little attention even though it is directly linked to those trends. Within Australia, the rural agricultural sector has become something of a test bed for growing concerns over water security and fair allocation of this precious resource to a range of users. So, what might be a potential role for eco-social work practice in this contested space of rural water access and the not always successful attempts to balance the  social, economic and environmental justice needs of water users? My guest in this podcast episode, Dr. Heather Downey, is well qualified to offer some answers to this question. Amongst her many roles, Heather is Chief Investigator of research within the Many Meanings of Water for Australian Rural River Communities project and participates in the collaborative, multidisciplinary Murray Darling Water and Environment Research Program. As a regional social work academic, Heather is well positioned to examine relationships between people and the natural environment, and more specifically, in the economic, social, cultural, recreational, and environmental meaning of water for all rural residents. Heather talks with me today about the potential of eco-social work (ESW) approaches to regional community water security, value and meaning.   INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – with approximate time elapsed location in minutes. General introduction - 0.50 Guest self-introduction - 3.27 What is ESW practice in 2021? - 7.25 What are some ESW approaches linked to water? - 16.48 Why should the SW mainstream be involved with ESW concerns in 2021? - 24.12 What  future for ESW interventions in the regions?  - 29.44 Some immediate steps to progress ESW practice  - 37.48 Guest short take home message on ESW practice - 39.57 End of interview and closing comments - 41.48 RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION  Heather Downey - profile and research outputs Murray Darling Basin Plan (MDBP) – some background and perspectives ABC TV documentaries on MDBP in 2017 and 2019 and surrounding controversy Paper on discourse analysis of Murray Darling Basin issues (2019) Review of Lena Dominelli’s book Green Social Work (2012) ESW education article by Ellis, L. M., Napan, K., & O’Donoghue, K. ‘Greening social work education in Aotearoa/New Zealand’ in The Routledge Handbook of Green Social Work 535-546 (2018) Paper by Rigney et. al., on ‘Indigenous nation building for environmental futures: Murrundi flows through Ngarrindjeri country.’ The Person in (social) Environment principle within traditional SW as critiqued by Zapf. The Torres Strait Islander climate change environmental law case brought against the Australian Federal Government in 2021 The 26th Asia-Pacific Regional Social Work Conference 2021 program Heather Boetto – listen to her episode and view notes in the ESWA podcast series. Opportunities to work with clients in ‘blue’ and ‘green’ spaces, could involve activities taken from Nature Mindfulness, Forest Bathing, Forest Therapy or Awe Walk . All of these initiatives are aligned with a growing body of international psychological research, collectively designated under the umbrella term Nature Connectedness. Such research is pointing increasingly to the benefits of close psychological and emotional engagement with nature, both to enhance human wellbeing, but also to foster greater care for and greater stewardship of the natural world and living things. GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Dr. Dr. Heather Downey E: H.Downey@latrobe.edu.au WEB: https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/hdowney https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Heather-Downey   Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB  FACEBOOK Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 16th November 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel       Incidental Music: James Nicholson      

A mainstream perspective on eco-social work practice

GUEST: Beni McKenzie, social worker in practice in the Gold Coast region of Queensland. Beni is Vice-President of the AASW (South) Qld Branch and a member of the Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) National Advisory Panel for Climate Action. Over a number of  years, Beni has been active in finding ways to embed eco-social work practice principles into his mainstream work and opportunities to spread the word on eco-social approaches to his colleagues and other social workers at local, regional, and national levels.  INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE An upsurge in green or eco-social work theorising can be traced back as far as the mid to late 1990s but its incorporation into mainstream practice in Australia has been a much more recent phenomenon. Academic research and social work training institution interest in eco-social work approaches started to pick up here around the mid-2000s and was given increased impetus by World Social Work Day events in 2017 themed on ‘Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability’ one of the sustainable development (SD) pillars of the international, Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development initiative, launched in 2012.  Stimulated by the increased interest in eco-social work ideas occurring at that time, a number of branches of the AASW, the peak social work organisation in Australia, started to meet, to share eco-social work ideas and practice and to network this information with colleagues. INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS –approximate time elapsed location in minutes. Guest self-introduction – 2.38 Guest perception of ESW practice in 2021 – 5.05 How can ESW help tackle climate change and other SD challenges? – 7.21 Why should the SW mainstream be involved with physical environmental challenges? – 11.47 Opportunities for ESW practice in the short to medium term future. – 15.20 Meso and macro level ESW advocacy focussed on climate change and public health – 18.56 Guest closing comments - including reflection on the lack of a systems approach to current environmental budgeting in Queensland – 23.25 Close of interview – 30.43 REFERENCES AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION Associate Professor Jennifer Boddy Griffith University – see various relevant research outputs Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE) “is an internationally recognised think tank that shows through independent research and innovative solutions how Australia can prosper in a zero-emissions economy.” For example, see BZE’s Million Jobs Plan which shows “how in just five years, renewables and low emissions projects can deliver 1.8 million new jobs in the regions and communities where these are needed most.” Professor Lena Dominelli – see various relevant research outputs The Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA) is “a coalition of health care stakeholders who work together to see the threat to human health from climate change and ecological degradation addressed through prompt policy action. The membership of CAHA includes organisations and individuals from across the health sector, with organisations representing health care professionals from medicine, nursing, public health, social work and psychology, as well as health care service providers, research and academic institutions, and health consumers.” A good example of CAHA’s diverse campaigns and projects is its advocacy with the federal government to develop a National Strategy on Climate, Health and Well-being for Australia. Micro, meso and macro practice opportunities within eco-social work. For some suggestions see: Boetto (2017)  AASW CPD training (2020) and Nicholson/CAHA (2020) Author Bruce Pascoe’s book Dark Emu (2014) which ‘puts forward an argument for a reconsideration of the hunter-gatherer tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians. The evidence insists that Aboriginal people right across the continent were using domesticated plants, sowing, harvesting, irrigating, and storing — behaviours inconsistent with the hunter-gatherer tag.’ The book has generated much public debate and some useful critique since its publication. Project Drawdown: ‘The World’s Leading Resource for Climate Solutions’ with a ‘mission to help the world reach “Drawdown”— the point in the future when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline, thereby stopping catastrophic climate change — as quickly, safely, and equitably as possible.’ The educational resources on the website are well presented, engaging and solution focussed. For example, see the Climate Solutions 101 video series. Queensland state budgetary support announcements for renewable energy and low carbon technologies in 2021. Quiet time spent in nature – there is a growing understanding in Australia and internationally of the health and wellbeing benefits of spending time in the natural world or green spaces. Self-care – especially maintaining adult mental wellbeing in the face of climate and eco-anxiety and eco-grief. The NFP Psychology for a Safe Climate group based in Melbourne have a wealth of relevant resources on their portal site. A growing number of groups and organisations are also exploring the best way to support the health and wellbeing of children in the face of similar stressors – including the Australian Psychological Society and the Emerging Minds group. Systems mapping. Discussion about future social work assessment approaches which incorporate physical environmental factors is also occurring about health sector and hospital based social work roles. For example, it has been suggested that existing patient/client protocols for psychosocial assessment, intervention, education, and discharge planning for vulnerable groups could be modified to include immediate physical environmental threats such as heat waves or mental health vulnerabilities associated with longer term physical environmental impacts. Such impacts are already  occurring in the aftermath of natural disaster events intensified by global heating. Social work skills could also contribute to community climate change adaptation planning strategies to better protect future human health and wellbeing as global heating impacts increase. Transformative opportunities within eco-social work approaches – for some recent discussions in the Australian context see Boetto (2018) and Bell (2019) GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Beni McKenzie – E: AASW Queensland Branch aaswqld@aasw.asn.au Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au WEB  FACEBOOK Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: counsel1983@gmail.com T: +61 413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 27thJuly 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel          Incidental Music: James Nicholson