Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development: Third Report Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability David N Jones (Editor) International Association of Schools of Social Work International Council on Social Welfare Interational Federation of Social Workers Citation: IASSW, ICSW, IFSW (2018) ‘Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development: Third Report. Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability’. (Ed. David N Jones), IFSW, Rheinfelden, Switzerland Edited by David N Jones Cover design by Pascal Rudin Layout by David N Jones and Pascal Rudin Published by IFSW Printed in Germany on 100% post-consumer recycled paper First Edition 2018 ISBN: 978-3-906820-18-7 (PDF) Copyright © 2018 by International Federation of Social Workers, Rheinfelden, Switzerland Foreword Foreword Annamaria Campanini, Eva Holmberg-Herrstrom and Ruth Stark The Global Agenda is a central part of the strategy and activity of our three global organisations (IASSW, ICSW and IFSW). We are grateful to all those who have contributed to this third global report on social work and social development. We recognise the significant contributions of many organisations and individuals around the world who have shaped The Agenda process and helped create this report, including many practitioners, experts by experience, local communities, educators and researchers. The work undertaken was based on the realities of practice and the enthusiasm and voluntary commitment of them all. Our three organisations are very grateful to you all. The Global Co-ordinating Group has steered this process, translating The Agenda vision, shaped in the 2010 Hong Kong conference and subsequent consultations, into a worldwide movement with unlimited potential to achieve a healthy balance between social, economic and environmental well-being underpinned by social justice and human rights. This was only possible thanks to all those involved in the Regional Observatories and others who facilitated the regional consultation processes and reports. The names of global and regional coordinators are listed in Appendix 1. We are grateful to them all. We are grateful to David N Jones, who agreed to co-ordinate this process on behalf of our three organisations. He has liaised with the regional coordinators, received and edited the regional reports and, with Rory Truell and Meredith Powers, worked on the global overview report. Pascal Rudin prepared the text for publication online and in printed form. The online PDF download is available at no charge. IASSW, ICSW and IFSW also acknowledge each other’s contributions. Since 2010 the governing bodies of each organisation have upheld the vision for The Agenda and had the faith to pioneer new ways of joint working, not only with each other but also with many organisations all around the world. The three organisations remain committed to the ten-year Global Agenda process and will work with the Regional Observatories to develop III Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development: Third Report and strengthen the process for compiling the next report on ‘strengthening recognition of the importance of human relationships’, a core element in understanding the role of social work and social development. The Global Agenda process is central to the strategies of our three organisations as we work together to promote the contribution of social work and social development locally, nationally and internationally. A key part of our workplan is taking The Global Agenda and helping our professions to promote the knowledge that we have about what works, not just on World Social Work Day or in our special days at the UN, but in our day-to-day work locally, nationally and internationally. In the challenging times facing the world today, our expertise is now as crucial to world peace and development as it has ever been. The Global Agenda process is therefore hugely significant, not only for our professions but also for the world community. It provides a platform from which to take that knowledge into the wider community, to civil society, policy makers and politicians. We can see in this third volume that the challenges involved in taking account of the environments in which we all live and work are extremely diverse and complex. The four pillars are interconnected and are building up to make the complete four volumes of this agenda for change. Over the next two years we bring the four elements of The Agenda together in the final phase, as we examine personal and professional skills of social work and social development in being catalysts for change through the relationships we build. We are grateful to all those who have sustained the vision, contributed to this report and helped to achieve recognition, not only for The Agenda process but also, more importantly, for the worldwide contribution of social work and social development. Annamaria Eva Ruth Campanini Holmberg-Herrstrom Stark www.iassw-aiets.org www.icsw.org www.ifsw.org IV Contents Contents Foreword III Chapter 1 Global Overview 1 Chapter 2 Africa 51 Chapter 3 Asia Pacific 80 Chapter 4 Europe 102 Chapter 5A América Latina y el Caribe 134 Chapter 5B Latin America and the Caribbean 182 Chapter 6 North America 225 Chapter 7 Looking Forward 242 Appendix I: History and Process 246 Appendix II: United Nations Conventions and other Instruments 247 relevant to this theme Appendix III: The Partner Organisations 252 Appendix IV: Ethical codes which refer to sustainability 256 Appendix V: Agenda Coordinators 257 V Global Overview: Promoting Community & Environmental Sustainability Chapter 1 Global Overview David N Jones, Meredith Powers and Rory Truell Contents Introduction .................................................................................................. 2 International conventions and professional values ...................................... 4 The history of The Global Agenda................................................................. 5 The Global Agenda process 2016 - 2018 ...................................................... 6 Global context – the main social problems .................................................. 8 Sustainable Development Goals ....................................................................... 9 The challenge to neo-liberal economic approaches ....................................... 12 Nationalism and populism .............................................................................. 14 Global Migration Crisis.................................................................................... 16 The rights of Indigenous peoples .................................................................... 18 Workforce factors ........................................................................................... 19 Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability – what does this mean for social work and social development? ......................................... 20 References .................................................................................................. 25 1 Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development: Third Report Introduction Promoting Community and Environmental Sustainability is the third pillar of The Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development (The Global Agenda)(International Association of Schools of Social Work, International Council on Social Welfare and International Federation of Social Workers 2010). This is the third in a series of four reports on The Global Agenda from IASSW, ICSW and IFSW which presents the findings of five Regional Observatories that have examined social work and social development practice related to this third pillar of The Global Agenda. It is not an exhaustive review of the literature or a comprehensive review of current practice. It does aim to reflect on global and regional trends affecting social work and social development and to stimulate further discussion and collective action towards sustainability. The observations in this Third Report are set in the context of the social, political, economic and environmental realities of 2016-18. The report draws on the outcomes from World Social Work Days in 2017 and 2018, is published simultaneously with a special issue of International Social Work journal (Jones 2018) and feeds into the 2018 world conference (SWSD 2018), all of which are devoted to the same theme. Social work has always been concerned with the health and wellbeing of people in the communities and the environments within which they live and move; the significance of community has long been at the centre of social work thinking and practice. The link between wellbeing and the physical environment was already evident in the work of many social work pioneers of the 19th century, such as Octavia Hill (Wohl 1971) and Jane Addams (1902; 1930); protecting and improving the physical environment was seen as intrinsic to improving the circumstances and wellbeing of the mass of people living in poverty. In more recent times, some social workers have drawn attention to the neglect of the physical environment and the need for social workers to develop more sustainable approaches (Weick 1981; Hoff and McNutt 1994; Besthorn 2002; Alston 2015; Nöjd 2016; Mason, Shires, Arwood et al. 2017; Ramsay and Boddy 2017). Despite the fact that community and environment have been part of the historical professional agenda, the explicit focus on the physical environment (both natural and built) alongside the social environment was, for some, the most surprising 2 Global