Eco-Social Work in Australia
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Episodes
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Critical and transformative perspectives in eco-social work practice
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
Tuesday Dec 07, 2021
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
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Eco-social work and the contest of rural and regional water values
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Monday Nov 22, 2021
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
Wednesday Aug 04, 2021
A mainstream perspective on eco-social work practice
Wednesday Aug 04, 2021
Wednesday Aug 04, 2021
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
Friday Jun 04, 2021
OVERVIEW OF THE ECO SOCIAL WORK IN AUSTRALIA PODCAST SERIES
Friday Jun 04, 2021
Friday Jun 04, 2021
Welcome to a new podcast series on eco-social work practice: ‘Eco-Social Work in Australia.’
PURPOSE: A key objective of this podcast project is to help grow a conversation and interest about eco-social work amongst listeners. The researcher and producer of the series, Andrew Nicholson, is a retired social worker and environmental educator. He and his guests want the series to expand over time to provide an audio record of evolutionary trends in eco-social work practice (ESW) adoption in Australia and elsewhere. They hope that this process will add to the knowledge base of ESW and make a contribution to increasing the speed of uptake of such practice amongst mainstream social work colleagues, in their workplaces, in professional groups, and in networking with other allied professionals. Andrew invites feedback from interested listeners.
BACKGROUND: Recent climate disruption and pandemic disease impacts on public health and wellbeing in Australia and internationally have provided a stark illustration of the serious and often disproportionate vulnerabilities experienced by communities, including social work clients, produced through physical environmental impacts. On current greenhouse gas emission trends, we know that climate disruption impacts, for instance in the form of intensified weather events, are set to get worse; and that the COVID-19 pandemic is caused by just one of many other novel viruses which could pose considerable risks to human health in the future. Both the growing climate emergency and increased vulnerability to pandemic disease are the results of human caused physical environmental damage and disturbance.
In the light of such threats, A recurrent theme in this series is the need for a greatly increased social work focus on the inextricable link between helping achieve client wellbeing and social justice outcomes, and the associated need to protect the wellbeing of the natural world, and to achieve environmental and ecological justice outcomes in that process.
Professional association advocacy for a safer climate, and factoring climate disruption impacts into hospital-based, client health assessments, are just two examples of the physical environmental focus within an eco-social work approach. Another is working to help human communities develop more mutually supportive relationships with the other than human communities of the natural world, which underpin and are so crucial to human and other species wellbeing
Over the last fifteen to twenty years, starting from a low base, there is now an accelerating interest in eco-social work ideas and practice in Australia. Notwithstanding this progress, in 2021, eco-social work remains a marginal concern within mainstream professional practice in this country. At a time when all sectors of society need to make a full, fair and proportionate contribution to tackling interconnected physical environment, ecological and social justice challenges, it is important that we find ways to boost, rapidly, the level of mainstream social work adoption of eco-social work practice in this country and elsewhere, to ensure our profession makes that contribution - and this podcast series is one small attempt to help that process.
FORMAT: Each podcast interview is loosely structured around four key questions put to guests:
For you, what does eco-social work practice mean?
How can eco-social work help tackle climate disruption and other ecological sustainability concerns in practical terms?
Why should the social work mainstream here be involved with such concerns?
What could or should the short to mid-term future (2-10 years) hold for eco-social work interventions as a body of practice within the Australian social work mainstream?
DISTRIBUTION: The producer hopes that the series will be promoted across relevant networks as widely as possible. He aims for a minimum of twenty individual episodes and 1000 downloads achieved by mid-2022. The first twelve episodes of Eco-social work in Australia are available now on: PODBEAN SPOTIFY GOOGLE STITCHER PLAYERFM and APPLE PODCASTS
For inquiries or feedback about the series, please contact the producer, Andrew Nicholson, at E: counsel1983@gmail.com or on M: +61 (0)413979414 . These details are repeated in the podcast episode text notes. Some individual guest speakers also supply contact details.
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
The grief response in climate change denial and resistance.
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
GUEST: Dr Susan Bailey - senior lecturer in Social Work at Edith Cowan University, Western Australia.
Sue has lived all her life on Whadjuk Noongar Country. Her curiosity, dangerous as a toddler but transformative as an adult, led her to a PhD in social work that consolidated her belief in the importance of social and ecological justice. For over 25 years Sue has worked in academia, government, non-government, and community sectors where she has developed her skills in working alongside people using participatory approaches. She has a reputation as a practitioner, educator and researcher who is deeply engaged, inclusive and authentic – she lives the values she espouses.
Sue is a collaborative leader in bringing eco-social work to the mainstream of social work understanding in Australia. Her eco-social work practice focuses on addressing the wicked problems of ecosystem degradation, climate change and mass extinctions using a loss and grief framework. Her practice (community work, education, and research) supports individuals, families, organisations, and communities across the world to engage a change process to both mitigate and adapt to a climate changed world. At the heart of this work is a commitment to supporting humans to reconnect with their eco-systems that they rely upon to live.
INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE:
My guest on this episode of the series, Dr Susan Bailey, undertook her original PhD research on social work responses to terrorism and the context of violence perpetrated on ‘the other’ and it was through that work that she first came to realise the importance of an ecological perspective in helping to understand global problems and associated social work approaches. Most recently Susan has extended such interest into teaching and researching on eco-social work approaches (ESW) using a grief and loss framing as a core part of her work.
Sue believes that we live on an Earth that is changing in ways that will make it challenging for some if not all humans to live well into the future. The recent fires, floods, COVID-19 pandemic, and the changing climate, are all consequences of a Western philosophical positioning that situates humans outside of their eco-systems.
A particular recent research interest of Dr Bailey has focussed on the way in which urgently needed, high level responses to global heating and climate change impacts are still too often being denied and resisted. Even as the climate emergency continues to unfold, there remains in some quarters what is known as a socially constructed silence on the subject. Susan and her colleagues believe that climate change denial and resistance can be theorised, in part, as a form of grief response to the damage and loss caused to the natural world by human impacts. In this episode she talks with me about how her work might be applied within future eco-social theorising and practice.
INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – with approximate time elapsed locations.
Guest self-introduction – 2.32
Guest’s development of interest in eco-social work – 5.50
For you, what is eco-social work in 2021? - 9.47
Grief and loss framings – some models – 16.01
Applications to social work climate change responses – 20.10
Strategies for social workers to use traditional skill sets – 32.40
Why should mainstream social work be involved with ecological issues? – 35.30
Guest preferred future for ESW practice – 45.15
Constraints acting to slow ESW adoption – 55.45
Guest’s take home message/closing remarks – 59.00
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION
May be separate or incorporated into talking points listing depending on extent of detail.
Dr.Nicholas Gerrish, Grief Therapy and Support
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological and bioecological theories
Biosphere thickness
Gribbin, J., & Gribbin, M. (2008). From Here to Infinity. Crawley: University of Western Australia Press.
Climate change and ecological grief – dual process approach
Stroebe, M., & Schut, H. (1999). The dual process model of coping with bereavement. Rationale and description. Death Studies, 23(3), 197-224.
Prefigurative politics and activism
Transition Towns movement – Transition Network
The Mushroom at the End 0f the World – book review
The Buy Nothing initiative
Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approaches – e.g., the Environmental Humanities
Deep ecology, bioethics and the intrinsic right of nature to exist
The Good Grief Network
Naomi Godden – role of love in social work practice
Godden, N. J. (2017). The Love Ethic: A Radical Theory for Social Work Practice. Australian Social Work, 70(4), 405-416. doi:10.1080/0312407X.2017.1301506
Louise Morely – social work and love of humanity
Morley, L., & Ife, J. (2002). Social work and a love of humanity. Australian Social Work, 55(1), 69-77. doi:https://doi.org/10.1046/j.0312-407X.2002.00008.x
Ellen Walker – soil microbes – ‘the world beneath our feet’ TEDx talk
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Dr. Susan Bailey, Senior Lecturer, Social Work Program, School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan University – South West Campus E: s.bailey@ecu.edu.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 in April 2021
Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel Incidental Music: James Nicholson
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Eco-social work from a professional training perspective
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
GUEST: Dr Peter Jones - Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Human Services at James Cook University in Townsville.
INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE:
Green, environmental, or eco-social work (ESW) – is an exciting, still-evolving body of ideas and practice emerging within the social work mainstream, internationally. Within Australia, over the last ten years or so, a lot of the development of eco-social work theory, and examples of practice has emerged from within the social work training institutions in Australia. For instance, social work training courses at Charles Sturt, James Cook and Edith Cowan, and some other training institutions, have incorporated eco-social work ideas, skills and methods into the education offered to their students. A number of the guests on this podcast series are academics, researchers and social work trainers who work in those institutions.
This episode of the eco-social work series focusses on the work and ideas of one of the pioneers of eco-social work theory development and application to student social work training in Australia, Dr. Peter Jones is a senior lecturer in social work and human services at James Cook University, based in Townsville, Queensland.
Peter has over 25 years’ experience in the fields of social work education, where he maintains a particular focus on the application of transformative learning theory. His interests also include eco-social work practice, sustainable community development, international social work, and international student exchange. He has published scholarly work in all of those areas.
INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - approximate location in minutes elapsed.
Guest self-introduction - 2.25
What is ESW practice all about in 2021? -7.40
SW student perceptions of the human-nature relationship
and examples of student involvement with ESW in training - 12.44
Guest experience as a social work advocate on
National climate change and health policy - 19.35
Why should mainstream social be concerned
with environmental issues? - 25.41
Looking to the future of ESW – mid-term over next `10 years - 34.70
Over the shorter-term - the next 2-3 years - 40.52
Guest summing up and take-home messages - 51.16.
Closing comments - 53.18
RESOURCES OR REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION
Social Workers for Climate Action , James Cook University
Ecological footprint calculator
School Strike 4 Climate initiative
Dr Heather Boetto paper - A Transformative Eco-Social Model: Challenging Modernist Assumptions in Social Work (2017)
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Dr Peter Jones E: peter.jones1@jcu.edu.au
Research 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 in April 2021.
Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel Incidental Music: James Nicholson
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Personal activism and holistic continuity in eco-social work.
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
GUEST: Trena - social worker, social work educator and serial activist, based in Boorloo (Perth) WA
INTRODUCTION TO THIS EPISODE:
A particularly important principle within eco-social work practice is the emphasis given to the concept of holism. Holism and holistic framing are important ideas also found in ecological, environmental and systems theory. Defined in one way, holism is concerned with understanding and appreciating the dynamic interconnection of the parts or elements which go to make up a system; and gaining knowledge of ways to support those systems, understood as the interactive sums of their parts.
Within eco-social work, an example of a holistic framing might be observed in the reflections of a practitioner who consciously aligns their professional values and interventions with those in their personal life, or vice versa; or who is aware of the holistic continuity of their personal value system with their professional practice principles; or who seeks alignments, wherever possible, on their interventions across micro, meso and macro levels of work; for instance in the role of individual, employee or professional/citizen activist.
My guest on this episode of the series, Trena, is a social worker of long experience who has achieved such a holistic integration of her personal values and professional practice orientation. She considers that all of her professional practice, her SW teaching, as well as her personal life history with its various roles, are unified by her longstanding concern for the marginalised in society; and the goal of improving their wellbeing through social justice advocacy. In our conversation, Trena reflects on some of these holistic personal and professional continuities in the context of recent social work concerns about uncontrolled climate change impacts and other sustainable development concerns (SDC), as well as the public uproar over recent evidence of continued, misogynistic disrespect for women and girls in Australian society in 2021.
INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - with approximate location in minutes elapsed.
Guest self-introduction - 2.15
Climate Change interests in more detail - 7.48
Links between traditional and eco-social work principles - 11.30
What is eco-social work practice in 2021? - 15.15
Why should mainstream social work be concerned
with climate change & SDC? - 25.19
How can ESW practice adoption be progressed in the future? - 28.06
What are some constraints to greater adoption? - 33.50
Guest summary and take-home message - 38.31
Closing remarks - 39.58
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION
May be separate or incorporated into talking points listing depending on extent of detail
Role of Community Gardens in social work engagement
Women’s March 4 Justice protest
Critique of neoliberal capitalism
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The Buy Nothing project
Circular economy concepts such as ‘Doughnut Economics’
Noongar First Nations language and culture – online courses
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Trena
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 in March 2021
Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel Incidental Music: James Nicholson
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Eco-social work compatibilities with Doughnut Economics
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
Thursday Jun 03, 2021
GUEST: Louise Whitaker – coordinator of the Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Community Welfare courses at Southern Cross University, NSW.
Prior to joining academia, Louise managed programs promoting access to legal services and practiced in mental health. Her research is practice based, addressing critical reflection and social inclusion.
Introduction to this episode:
One definition of environmental or eco-social work (ESW) is that it is an approach which ‘seeks to create a society in which ecology and social justice are valued and humans live in harmony with ecosystems’ (Ramsay & Boddy, 2017). It is said that one way that social work practice can achieve these objectives is to support ecologically transformative social change. Amongst other things, such change would promote an ecologically centred understanding of the world and support greatly reduced environmental degradation. Eco-social work methods and frameworks would also seek to incorporate, wherever possible, a valuation of the natural environment, spirituality, and indigenous cultural knowledge into all aspects practice.
Equally, the longstanding ‘person in (social) environment’ metaphor at the heart of traditional social work practice has come under increasing scrutiny as one factor in the slow pace of adoption of eco-social work approaches. One increasingly prevalent view is that an outmoded practice focus on purely social environment influences connected to client challenges needs to be complimented by an understanding of physical environment influences and impacts, such as those linked to uncontrolled climate change. These influences are becoming increasingly relevant to client interventions.
My guest on this podcast episode, Louise Whittaker, is interested in exploring a novel economic frame within which an expanded person in environment perspective might be helpfully located. She has been following the work of renowned British economist Kate Raworth and her ecological economics model of ‘Doughnut Economics’. In our discussion, Louise talks about the compatibility of Doughnut Economic ideas with eco-social work practice and sustainable development (SD); and how this economic model could provide a useful, future research and professional dialogue framing to aid the further mainstream adoption of eco-social work approaches.
INTERVIEW TALKING – approximate time elapsed location in minutes.
Guest self-introduction - 2.13
Guest’s personal story on early SD interests – 4.31
The challenge of linking personal and professional approaches to SD -5.58
Traditional v Doughnut Economics concepts– seven principles of the latter model -11.15
Compatibility of Doughnut principles with eco-social work ideas -20.54
How might the SW profession start a conversation around these ideas? – 25.3
Future research links between ESW and sustainable economics ideas? – 29.03
Why should mainstream SW engage with such ideas? – 32.18
Guest vision for a preferred future for increased ESW adoption – 37.17
Guest summary of messages and themes from discussion – 43.05
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION
May be separate or incorporated into talking points listing depending on extent of detail.
Kate Raworth – exploring Doughnut Economics portal site with a range of resources.
The Doughnut Economics Action Lab – another portal site explaining model applications.
Ramsay and Boddy (2017) Paper - Environmental Social Work: A Concept Analysis
Social Work Action Network (SWAN) UK
Resilient Byron initiative
Nomadland film (2020)
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Louise Whittaker, Southern Cross University.
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 in March 2021
Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel Incidental Music: James Nicholson
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
A student training placement experience of eco-social work practice
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
GUEST: Catrina Lawrence, first year social work student.
At time of interview Catrina was studying at University of Southern Cross, NSW. She completed a 400-hour eco-social work oriented placement in late 2020.
Introduction to this episode:
Within Australia over the last few years, the momentum to develop eco-social work theory and practical interventions has begun to emerge in a number of fields, including the pre-qualification training of social work students; both via teaching within academic institutions and on placement. We have started to see eco-social work oriented student placements being implemented, for instance, in hospital and community, not-for-profit organisational settings.
My guest on this episode of the Eco-Social Work in Australia series, Catrina Lawrence, was a social work student who completed just such a novel, 400-hour placement with an environmental capacity building, not for profit community organisation in S.E. Queensland, in late 2020. We talk about Catrina’s experience of the placement work, how she came to make sense of the eco-social work role, and, as a student in training, what she thought was the particular value of undertaking such a placement.
MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS - with approximate time elapsed location in minutes.
Guest self-introduction – 2.50
What did the guest make of the eco-social orientation of her placement? – 6.02
Placement organisation details and natural space restoration – 7.00
Guest’s brief definition of eco-social work principles – 8.20
Ecological restoration and community gardens work on placement – 10.00
What was helpful/less helpful in the placement? – 14.48
A potential social work support role with local, pro-environmental advocacy groups -17.44
Guest’s perception of the benefits of her placement – 23.45
What more could be done to increase mainstream adoption of ESW – 26.10 .
Closing comments – 28.30
RESOURCES AND REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION
Australian Association of Social Workers CPD course on Social Workers for Climate Action (2020)
Darling Downs Environment Council
Oakey Coal Action Alliance
Exo-anxiety and psychoterratic effects on human health.
Redwood Park/ Friends of Escarpment Parks
Environmental protections and regulatory capture
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Catrina Lawrence
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 February 2021
Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel Incidental Music: James Nicholson
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
Eco-social work in the health sector and the ‘People as Place’ metaphor
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
Wednesday Jun 02, 2021
GUEST: Dr. Ros Darracott - senior social work practitioner, trainer and researcher
Ros has nearly 30 years’ experience of providing services in rural, remote, and regional areas. In recent years, she has been particularly interested in exploring how social workers in the health sector can address climate disruption and its impacts on public health.
Introduction to this episode:
Within Australia over the last few years, the momentum to develop eco-social work (ESW) theory and on the ground, practice has begun to emerge, prominently, within the pre-qualification training of social work students, both within the academic institutions and on placement. Eco-social work ideas have also begun to gain ground in some social work settings within the health care sector. There is a growing realisation within the sector of the risk of future, serious, public health impacts of uncontrolled climate change on patients and hospital social work clients, and an increasing interest in how hospital-based social work practice could respond to that threat.
My guest on this episode of the Eco-Social Work in Australia series, Dr Ros Darracott, talks about how her growing interest in eco-social work ideas and how they have influenced her work and thinking in both health interventions and student training. Ros also talks about the influence of the social work concept of ‘People as Place’ on her thinking about eco-social work practice; and its potential to transform the existing, outmoded ‘person in social environment’ metaphor within mainstream social work.
INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – approximate location in minutes elapsed within the audio file.
Guest self-introduction - 2.04
Definition of eco-social work practice in 2021 – 4.35
The work of Prof Kim Zapf on people as place – 14.13
The concept of living well in place – 19.28.
Implications for social work in the health sector – 23.26
Restraining influences slowing adoption of ESW – 28.14
Guest vision for future ESW practice – 31.05
Why should the social work mainstream adopt ESW – 34.45?
Guest summary of arguments and take-home message – 37.38
RESOURCES OR REFERENCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION
Work of Professor Kim Zapf
Work of Prof Lena Dominelli
Work of Prof Fred Besthorn
Work of Prof John Coates
Work of Prof Mel Gray
GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:
Guest: Dr. Ros Darracott
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 in March 2021
Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel Incidental Music: James Nicholson
Eco Social Work in Australia
This series is dedicated to showcasing the still emerging, ideas, practices and principles of an exciting turn occurring globally and in contemporary mainstream Australian social work practice. This body of work has been variously termed green, environmental or eco-social work (ESW) practice.
One of the defining characteristics of ESW is its strong concern with physical as opposed to wholly social environmental factors as they may influence aspects of client work, from assessment, through planning and on to intervention. Eco-social work practice seeks to understand the interconnected and interdependent physical, social and economic environment influences which shape social work intervention - in order to achieve the most effective client outcomes.