Eco-Social Work in Australia

Guests: Dr. Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö: senior lecturer at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Dr. Ingo Stamm: postdoctoral researcher at the University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Introduction to this episode: The social work training institutions around the world play a crucial role in helping shape the specific competencies and wider professional culture of new generations of social workers. Those emerging professionals are now taking up their diverse social work duties and roles against a backdrop of escalating physical environment and ecological justice challenges. Those challenges will inevitably influence the nature of social work practice in the future. It has been a key objective of this podcast series to hear what my interview guests think about such challenges, and their implications for future SW practice. Over the course of the series I have interviewed a significant number of university based social work educators and trainers - in Australia, the USA and the UK. Many of them have talked about their experiences in training new generations of social workers in eco-social work practice. I am delighted to be able to extend this particular focus of the series to welcome two interview guests based in Finland. They represent a mainland European perspective on eco-social work education and training issues. Dr. Ingo Stamm had a decade long career as a social work practitioner in the field of child and youth services before becoming a social work educator, incorporating a range of professional interests including ecosocial work and sustainability. Dr.Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö has almost twenty years' experience in teaching and research across a wide field of inquiry. Some of her most recent research work focusses on the connection between social and environmental disadvantage in the mining industry, and the possible future of social work practice in the context of global ethics and the climate crisis. In this interview, I ask Satu and Ingo about the opportunities and challenges for training students in eco-social work (ESW) practice. They share their views on what ESW practice can do to help tackle climate change and other, physical environment and ecological challenges. And they consider what the short to mid-term future might hold for ESW intervention, either within the Finnish, European or international social work mainstream. SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS – with approximate time elapsed in minutes General Introduction - 0.50 QUESTION 1: What are some key opportunities and challenges for training students in eco-social work practice in 2023 and beyond? - 2.50 QUESTION 2: As a trainer/teacher what is particularly rewarding for you in providing ESW training?  - 07.50 QUESTION 3: How can ESW practice help tackle climate disruption, other sustainability challenges and linked social justice concerns? -13.00          Relevance of ESW to mainstream SW practice -19.47 QUESTION 4: How could or should ESW practice develop over the next 2 - 10 years?  - 24.08 Guest take home messages – 31.22 Thanks to guests and closing comments -34.56 End – 36.26  RESOURCES RELVANT TO EPISODE DISCUSSION – please note that active URL links only appear on some podcast sites, notably the PODBEAN parent hosting site. Guest publication record Selected publications list of Dr. Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö on Researchgate and on ORCID Selected publications of  Dr Ingo Stamm on Researchgate and Educational approaches

Guest: Bayley Johnson - Australian social work student in training Introduction to this episode The social work (SW) student perspective on eco-social practice (ESW) offers interesting insights into the principles of that practice for a number of reasons. Almost by definition, many students will come to an eco-social framing of practice with little or no prior experience, theoretical preferences or practice assumptions. In addition to presenting an intellectual tabula rasa, and the freshness of view which often goes with it, students in training are encouraged, systematically, to reflect and think critically about their learning and practice placement experience. My guest on this episode of the podcast series, Bayley Johnson, brings such a fresh and critical pair of eyes to the eco-social work field. At time of interview, Bayley was heading into his final training year within a four-year, Batchelor of social work training course conducted by the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia - and was soon to become secretary of the University of Queensland Social Work Society He undertook his first, supervised, 500 hour practice placement with an eco-social work orientation in the first half of 2022. During that time, Bayley worked with the Darling Downs Environment Council, a peak regional environment group in S.E. Queensland, Australia, dedicated to the preservation and protection of the environment (natural, built, and managed) and the enhancement of values which promote sustainability. In our discussion, Bayley draws upon that first placement experience, and his subsequent critical reflections on eco-social practice, to answer some of the standard questions posed to all guests throughout this series. SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS  - with approximate time elapsed in minutes. General Introduction – 0.50 QUESTION 1: For you, what is ESW practice in 2022? – 2.50. Includes guest self-introduction, choice of SW as a career, developing awareness of ESW - and stories from first, ESW oriented practice placement. QUESTION 2: How can ESW help tackle climate change and other ecological sustainability  concerns in practical terms?  - 10.15 QUESTION 3: Why should the social work profession be involved with physical environment concerns? – 20.05 QUESTION 4: What could the future (2-10 years) hold for ESW interventions, as a body of practice within the Australian social work mainstream? 28.48 Guest summarising comments – 39.48 Closing acknowledgements – 41.27 RESOURCES AND REFERENCES RELATED TO THE DISCUSSION – URL links below are available on the Podbean podcast platform - but not all others. Darling Downs Environment Council (DDEC) based in Toowoomba S.E. Queensland. An example of a wildlife care organisation and its role in helping protect vulnerable Australian species such as the koala. A recent S.E. Queensland community campaign to save endangered remnant natural vegetation. The problems produced by broadscale native vegetation clearing in Queensland (e.g. ‘chain' clearing). The 2022 IFSW international conference on co-building a new eco-social world with people's charter, values and action statement. The Australian Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics (2020) with  reference to the importance of considering the physical environment in achieving a socially just, sustainable society (e.g., pages 12/13). Public mental health and therapeutic value of Blue and Green spaces WHO report (2021). The need for a socially just transition for fossil fuel workers in a new low carbon economy. Research on the potential, long term community destabilising effects of major flood events. Other research examples on possible links between climate disruption exacerbated natural disasters and anti-social and violent behaviour (2021). Report on community and social vulnerability assessment in the context of Australian bushfire risk (2022).  CONTACT DETAILS: Householders' Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T +61 7 4639 2135 Email  WEB  Facebook  Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. Contacts: T + 61 411082028 E counsel1983@gmail.com This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 1st December 2022 Artwork:  Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson     

Full title: Green Social Work: A 21st Century Challenge for Practitioners, Academics and Students Guest: Professor Lena Dominelli, PhD, AcSS, is a qualified social worker and holds a Chair in Social Work at the University of Stirling. Amongst her many contributions to the social work profession she helped create the concept of green social work as a new paradigm for theory and practice; and her 2012 book of the same name attracted much professional interest. She has developed a range of research interests of great relevance to green and eco-social work practice, including climate change and sustainability, extreme weather events in the context of disaster intervention, community vulnerability, sustainability and resilience. On the international stage she has represented the social work profession at United Nations discussions on climate change since 2010. Introduction to this episode: My guest in this podcast episode, Professor Lena Dominelli, is well qualified to talk about aspects of historical, social work practice trends toward greater physical environment incorporation. She invented the term green social work (GSW) and for over a decade now she has developed a range of research interests of great relevance to green social work applications. These include, climate change and sustainability, extreme weather events, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions - in the context of disaster interventions, community vulnerability, sustainability and resilience. On the international stage she has represented the social work profession at United Nations discussions on climate change since 2010, and  for a long time, she led Pillar 3 of the Global Agenda for Social Work, focussed on Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability. In 2012 she saw publication of her influential book, Green Social Work: From Environmental Crises to Environmental Justice - which has become a standard introductory text for the subject. In this episode, I talk to Professor Dominelli about the current state of play of green social work practice for various constituencies of social work service users internationally, and in the context of accelerating physical environmental challenges. MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS  - with approximate time elapsed location in minutes. General introduction – 0.50 Guest self-introduction - 3.47 Interviewer recap of themes - 19.04 What constitutes green social work (GSW) in 2022? – 20.26 Importance of energy self-sufficiency – 35.10 Why should mainstream social work more fully incorporate GSW practice? - 37.38 Recap of some interview themes – 49.56 Some thoughts on the future of GSW progression – 55.32 Guest summarising comments – 62.00 End of interview and thanks to guest – 64.30 RESOURCES MENTIONED OR RELATED TO THE THE DISCUSSION Professor Lena Dominelli – selective list and other examples of her social work scholarship Book Green Social Work: from environmental crises to environmental justice (2012) Book: Routledge Handbook of Green Social Work (2018) (Dominelli, L. ed.) University of Stirling (UK) Disaster Intervention, Humanitarian Aid and Green Social Work education offered at both CPD and MSc course level. Example of an earlier, 1970s transformative tradition in UK social work – as described in the book Radical Social Work by Bailey and Brake (1975) Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring (1962) and a fairly recent (2017) example of the continued intellectual interest in and legacy of the book relevant to a green worldview. Popular critiques of neoliberalism including Naomi Klein's book The Shock Doctrine (first edition published 2007) and as reviewed by The Guardian newspaper (2007) a neo-liberal critique by journalist George Monbiot (2016) and a book by Susan George (2010) Whose crisis, whose future?: towards a greener, fairer, richer world. UN Declaration on the Right to Development (1986) Prof Dominelli writing on climate change and the fuel poverty solutions project in Gilesgate, Durham UK (2011). Promising new energy efficiency technology research – on thermoradiative diode capabilities which may one day be able to utilise infrared radiation leaving the Earth during night time. Scottish island of Eigg's energy self-sufficiency solutions (2020) BASW (British Association of Social Workers)  CPD Guidance on Social Work Roles Undertaken During Disasters. New Zealand –  article on granting legal rights to rivers and forests (2022)  GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Prof Lena Dominelli E: lena.dominelli@stir.ac.uk    Householders' Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE) T +61 7 4639 2135 Email  WEB  Facebook Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. Tel + 61 411082028   E: counsel1983@gmail.com This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 30th August 2022  Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel  Incidental Music: James Nicholson

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

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

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, 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  E  WEBSITE  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or LinkedIn. 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.  Incidental Music: James Nicholson     

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 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 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 W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/  Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E counsel1983@gmail.com  This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 29th April 2022  Incidental Music: James Nicholson

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  W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ & Facebook Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson: T: +61 (0) 413979414 E: anicholsona@gmail.com This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 6th April 2022. Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

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): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ Facebook   Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 24th March 2022. Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

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 W: http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F: https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/  Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: anicholsona@gmail.com M: 0413 979 414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 25/11/2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel        Incidental Music: James Nicholson

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  W: http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/     Facebook  Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E: anicholsona@gmail.com  M: 0413 979 414 . This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 20/11 /2021. Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel   Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

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 W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F: https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/  Production: produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E: anicholsona@gmail.com This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 16/11/2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel       Incidental Music: James Nicholson      

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 W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/  PRODUCTION: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E: anicholsona@gmail.com. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 27th/July/2021                                    Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel          Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

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: anicholsona@gmail.com or on M: 0413979414 . These details are repeated in the podcast episode text notes. Some individual guest speakers also supply contact details.

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 W: http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F: https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/ Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E: anicholsona@gmail.com T: 0413 979 414. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia in April 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson    

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  W: https://research.jcu.edu.au/portfolio/peter.jones1/ Householders' Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/ Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E: anicholsona@gmail.com      T: 0413979414. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia in April 2021. Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

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 W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/ Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E: anicholsona@gmail.com T: 0413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia in March 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel   Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

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 W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/  Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson. E: anicholsona@gmail.com T: 0413979414 This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia in March 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel   Incidental Music: James Nicholson    

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 W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/ Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: anicholsona@gmail.com M: 0413979414. This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia February 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

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 W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/ Production: Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: anicholsona@gmail.com  M: 0413979414.   This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia in March 2021 Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel    Incidental Music: James Nicholson  

GUEST: Dr. Heather Boetto, Senior Lecturer in Social Work and Human Services at Charles Sturt University. Introduction to this episode: Green or eco-social work is an exciting and still-evolving body of ideas and practice within the social work mainstream. Within Australia over the last ten years or so a lot of the development of Green or eco-social work theory, and on the ground practice, has emerged from within the social work training institutions. For instance, social work training courses at Charles Sturt, James Cook and Edith Cowan Universities, and some other training institutions, have incorporated eco-social work ideas, skills and methods in the educational content offered to their students. This episode of the Eco-Social Work in Australia series focusses on the work and ideas of one of the pioneers in that social work academic and training setting, Dr. Heather Boetto, from Charles Sturt University in New South Wales. Heather worked as a social work practitioner for over 10 years in various fields before embarking on a career in academia. She now teaches in social work, is passionate about supporting students through their studies, and is one of the leading thinkers on eco-social work practice in this country today. SOME DISCUSSION TALKING POINTS – with approximate time elapsed position in minutes. Heather's background and development of interest in eco-social work practice - 1.58 Defining Green or eco-social work (ESW) practice - 4.11  The relevance of ESW practice to social work for climate change action - 6.56 Why should the social work profession be involved with the climate change threat? - 9.26   How can social workers respond to climate change problems in practical terms? - 12.22 Some trends in ESW practice adoption - and some challenges -17.00 The influence that indigenous knowledges can have on ESW- 20.44. The influences that the COVID-19 pandemic may exert on ESW - 23.01 Heather's vision for possible eco-social work interventions on climate change and other sustainable development challenges – across the mid to short term future -25.27 Closing remarks and thanks to guest -30.49 RESOURCES AND REFERENCES RELATED TO THE DISCUSSION Some selected research work by Heather Boetto Boetto, H. (2017). A transformative eco-social model: Challenging modernist assumptions in social work. British Journal of Social Work, 47(1), 48-67. Bowles, W., Boetto, H., Jones, P., & McKinnon, J. (2018). Is social work really greening? Exploring the place of sustainability and environment in social work codes of ethics. International Social Work, 61(4), 503-517. Boetto, H. (2019). Advancing transformative eco-social change: Shifting from modernist to holistic foundations. Australian Social Work, 72(2), 139-151. Charles Sturt University social work course elective subjects which deal with climate change or sustainability related issues Bachelor of Social Work https://study.csu.edu.au/courses/humanities-social-sciences/bachelor-social-work Related subjects: Transforming human services. Master of Leadership in Human Services (Ecological and Social Change) https://study.csu.edu.au/courses/humanities-social-sciences/master-human-service Related subjects: Transforming Human Services, Building Sustainable Communities, and Disaster Recovery in Human Services GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS: Guest: Dr. Heather Boetto E: hboetto@csu.edu.au Householders' Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE Australia): T 07 4639 2135 E office@hopeaustralia.org.au W http://www.hopeaustralia.org.au/ F https://www.facebook.com/Householders.Options.to.Protect.the.Environment/  Production: Produced for HOPE Australia by Andrew Nicholson E: anicholsona@gmail.com This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia in February 2021. Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel  Incidental Music: James Nicholson