Social work promoting community and environmental sustainability: A workbook for global social workers and educators (Volume 2) Edited by: Meredith Powers and Michaela Rinkel Powers, M., & Rinkel, M. (Eds.). (2018). Social work promoting community and environmental sustainability: A workbook for global social workers and educators (Volume 2). Switzerland: International Federation of Social Work (IFSW). Made available courtesy of the International Federation of Social Work (IFSW): https://www.ifsw.org/product/books/social-work-promoting-community-and- environmental-sustainability-volume-2/ ***© 2018 by International Federation of Social Workers, Rheinfelden, Switzerland. Reprinted with permission. *** Abstract: Incredible work is being done all over the world by social workers addressing issues at the nexus of community and environmental sustainability. We hope this book will inspire you, whether you have been involved with these issues for decades, or you are new to and curious about the topic. This volume of the workbook series focuses primarily on Indigenous voices and knowledge, ecotherapeutic practices, and the interdisciplinary nature of sustainability in social work. As allies with Indigenous peoples, we aim for this workbook resource to make space for those working to decolonize, especially within the social work profession in education, research, and practice. This book is formatted as a workbook, with short lessons accompanied by exercises that help you apply the lessons theoretically and in your own practice. It is intended as a tool for international social work practitioners, students, and educators to help advance the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development theme of working toward environmental sustainability. We hope that by making this workbook available, we are enabling climate justice issues to be acknowledged as urgent and repositioned as central to social work in particular, and to life in general. Keywords: ecosocial work | environmental sustainability | sustainable development | environmentalism | social workers | community development Article: ***Note: Full text below Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability: A Workbook for Global Social Workers and Educators Volume 2 Edited by Meredith Powers and Michaela Rinkel The International Federation of Social Workers Edited by Meredith Powers and Michaela Rinkel Cover design by Martha Rothblum Layout by Pascal Rudin Published by IFSW Printed in Germany on 100% post-consumer recycled paper 978-3-906820-14-9 First Edition 2018 (PDF) Copyright © 2018 by International Federation of Social Workers, Rheinfelden, Switzerland Acknowledgements We would like to honor those who helped develop the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development and so clearly tied together the environment, sustainability, human rights, and social and economic equality. The Global Agenda commitments guide our profession as a whole toward acknowledgement of our role and responsibility to be involved and help the world move in this direction. We are so incredibly proud to be part of a profession that has a global agenda that includes addressing climate change and creating sustainable communities (both ecologically and socially). We would like to thank IFSW for publishing this tool, and helping us see this vision come true. We knew from the beginning of this project that we wanted, most of all, to create a set of materials that were accessible: free, open access, digital, and, dynamic. You helped to make the seemingly impossible come true. Most of all we would like to thank our contributing authors. To work with this diverse range of social workers was nothing less than inspiring. At times sustainability work can be isolating and the improvements we see seem too miniscule when faced with the enormous tasks at hand. These contributors, from across the world, are not only doing their part to reshape society, but have built solidarity with all social workers through their efforts. For many authors, this was the first time writing and publishing their work, and we are thankful to them for taking this risk and sharing their stories. We are indebted to each author for their contribution to this collaboration and appreciate their time, and effort. We have learned so much from each of them and consider it an honor to edit their work. From Meredith: I especially want to thank my friend and colleague, Fred Besthorn, who is an incredible pioneer with his influential body of scholarship in the area of Deep Ecology, sustainability and social work. Over a decade ago he welcomed me into the social work academic scholars’ community and demonstrated how it is possible to lay a foundation of collaboration for our profession’s collective work on these topics. Through his encouragement and mentorship I have developed my own professional voice and overcome my “imposter syndrome”. I also admire how Fred models self-care and the enjoyment of our wonderful environment that we strive to preserve and improve. I am unreservedly grateful to my friend and colleague, Rory Truell, who has championed and supported this workbook series and made publishing it possible through IFSW. I’m also incredibly appreciative that he is always open to my unconventional ideas as I endeavor to advance the Global Agenda theme of promoting community and environmental sustainability. I also want to thank my friend and colleague, Andreas Rechkemmer, who has inspired me with his incredible work in global sustainability. He has also been a calming presence in my life with his kind spirit as he encourages me to not become overwhelmed or paralyzed with all that needs to be done and said, rather to just do my part in moving the conversation forward. I hope with this workbook series, I am able to do just that. I will always and forever be grateful to my dear friend and mentor, Dorothy “Dee” Gamble, who not only introduced me to the idea of sustainability in social work in a course she taught during my MSW program, but who continues to be a true supporter of my work and a role model in sustainability, both as a social worker and in her personal life. I always struggle with balancing my desire to “save” the world, as I pour myself into the work of promoting sustainable communities and environments, with my desire to “savor” the community and environment in which I live; indeed, it makes it hard for me to plan the day. When I must answer my call of passion to this work, I am eternally grateful to my wonderful family (especially, Kevin and Kaia, and my parents) for encouraging me and sacrificing time that we could be savoring together. Finally, I want to thank Michaela for inviting me to co-edit yet another book with her. I am tremendously grateful to have found such an amazing editing and writing partner that cares about these issues as much as I do, and that I can trust implicitly, and with whom I can enjoy even the most tedious tasks of this work. I am thankful to have her with me on this journey to celebrate the little victories and to overcome the struggles we face in this, often delusional, endeavor. I could not, and I would not do it alone. I look forward to our continued work together in the years to come. From Michaela: I express my gratitude to my parents, grandparents and all of my ancestors for embedding within me a deep appreciation of our role as stewards to the land. From appreciation of every type of tree from my father, to love of birds from my mother, kinship with the planet was paramount in their souls and their parenting practices. I would like to express my gratitude to the many in Hawai'i who are committed to Malama 'Aina, caring and nurturing the land so it can give us all we need to sustain this and future generations. Through my life here, I have come to see a diversity of cultures as the keys to sustainability. I have been challenged to expand my view of my relationship with nature beyond the role of steward. I am in the perfect place to learn. I thank my mentor, Lorraine Marais, for helping me develop my vision and then bring my actions into concert with it. She assured me that once I acted on my vision, the path and the people would come; indeed! I want to offer my deepest appreciation to my co-editor, Meredith, someone that I found on this path. I reached out and she gave an immediate “yes.” I hope that I can learn to embrace those opportunities and people as she does. Her enthusiasm kept us buoyed through the challenges of the work. I would also like to thank my graduate research assistant, Stephanie Zalekian, for her assistance with the mundane details of formatting that allowed us more time to edit for content. Finally, I express thanks to and for Cindy, the embodiment of support and love of all. Contents Dedication 11 Foreword: Embracing Whenua, Manaakitanga, and Ūkaipō in 12 Social Work Practice By Miriama Scott Preface: To 'Save' or 'Savor' the World? It's Both 23 By Meredith Powers and Michaela Rinkel Chapter 1: Developing Critical Self-Awareness to Incorporate Sustainability into Worldviews 30 By Michaela Rinkel and Peter Mataira Chapter 2: Holistic Ecosocial Work: A Model for Transformative 46 Change through Being, Knowing and Doing By Heather Boetto, Karen Bell and Karen Kime Chapter 3: Challenges of a Sustainable Development Approach to 58 Social Work in a Danish Welfare State Context By Gordon Vincenti Chapter 4: Advocating for Social and Environmental Justice and 73 Human Rights: Listening to Indigenous Voices By Michelle Martin and Pedro Quiroga-Menéndez Chapter 5: Towards an Integration of Indigenous Knowledge and 93 Social Work Strategies in Coping with Climate Change: An Afro-sensed Approach By Mogomme Alpeheus Masoga and Alucia Lulu Shokane Chapter 6: Critical Indigenous Pedagogy of Place: Claiming Place at 105 Multiple Levels in Sustainability and Social Work Practice By Alma M.O.