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

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) – a fairly recent (2019) paper which discusses some pros and cons of MOOC use for social work education.

MOOC  ‘Introduction to planetary well-being’ – this course, produced by the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, is one of four they provide on the concept of planetary well-being, and may interest social work students and practitioners. This MOOC aligns with the growing interest in the concept of planetary health as a way of bringing together environmental, ecological and social justice concerns. The concept

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

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 n

Most recent update from mid-October 2022.

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 now at the early stage of its second year.

Since launch in early June 2021 the series has achieved over 1800 downloads across its 17 episodes. This result  has 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 Australian 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 2023.

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 might like to be interviewed for the series - please consider contacting me directly to discuss the opportunities for such participation. My contact details are set out below.

Having taken a break from podcast work for a few months I plan to be back interviewing and producing new episodes for the ESWA series from late October 2022 onwards. In the interim, please consider promoting the series through your networks, and consider adding to its content by being interviewed on your own ideas about and experience of eco social work practice.

This has been a marvellous year for international sharing and collaboration in green and eco-social work ideas and approaches, as exemplified by the major People's Global Summit event in June and July entitled Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind and the subsequent People's Charter document developed through the Summit.

And now through the help of our international 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: [email protected] 

T: +61 (0) 0411082028

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 na

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 Educatio

Guest: Dr Meredith Powers(she/her) - Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA

Introduction to this episode:

The Eco-Social Work in Australia podcast series has been expanded to include guest interviews with social work professionals who either practice outside of Australia or with individuals who work in closely allied fields, such as public health or psychology. This has been a conscious decision made in light of the recognition that social work is a global as well as national profession, and one which benefits from the sharing of interdisciplinary knowledge and expertise, particularly in connection to dealing with the practice implications of increasing physical environmental challenges such as global heating and climate disruption.

My guest in this episode is a good representative of this more cosmopolitan direction for the series. Dr. Meredith Powers(she/her) is an American based and internationally focussed practitioner across a range of roles. Dr. Powers is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at UNC Greensboro, USA. She teaches and conducts community engaged scholarship on topics of climate justice, climate migration, eco-social worldviews, and eco-therapeutic practices for well-being. She is the Founder and Director of the Climate Justice Program of the International Federation of Social Workers. And she also established and co-administers the global Green/Eco Social Work Collaborative Network.

SUMMARY OF MAIN INTERVIEW TALKING POINTS  - and approximate time elapsed in minutes

General introduction – 0.50

Guest self-introduction – 3.38

What is the significance of eco-social work practice (ESW) in 2022? – 10.00

How can ESW help tackle key physical environment challenges? - 15.28

The 2022 IFSW People’s Summit – 23.30

The need for mainstream SW involvement with physical environment problems – 27.43

What could/should the short to mid-term future hold for ESW practice? – 33.28

Guest take home message – 46.56

Close of interview and thanks to guest – 49.46

Total run time – 51.03

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THE DISCUSSION

A listing of any books, publications or digital media information sources relevant to eco-social work and mentioned during discussion.

Dr Meredith C.F. Powers academic profile and publications list

Anthropocentric and ecocentric worldviews and an example of their influence.

Children’s book that influenced Meredith: The Wump World by Bill Peet

Some Indigenous Scholars who informed Meredith’s understanding: Miriama Scott, Dr. Felicia Mitchell, Dr. Shanondora Billiot, Dr. Angela Fernandez, Dr. Karina Walters, Dr. Michael Yellow Bird, Dr. Ramona Beltran, Dr. Michael Spencer.  

International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) Climate Justice Program

Book on fungi: Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures (M.Sheldrake, 2020).

Book: Braiding Sweetgrass- Indigenous wisdom Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants(Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2020)

Paper by Kim Zapf (2010) on the SW concept of people as place/learning to live well in place

Quote by author B. White on saving and savouring the world.

Eco-therapy – the use of Green and Blue Spaces and nature connectedness approaches and research.

Paper on radical self-care – see Meredith Powers’ academic profile and publications

IPCC (2022) - latest report on climate change explainer (Australian perspective, March 2022)

The concept of ecokin and kincentric ecology.

Possible inter- generational effects of trauma acting through epigenetic influence.

Human induced climate change influence on natural disaster events

IFSW linked event discussed: Co-building a New Eco-Social World: Leaving No One Behind’ People’s Summit 29 June- 2 July 2022, Virtual Event

Book on leadership Meredith mentioned: Salsa, Soul, and Spirit: Leadership for a Multicultural Age

GUEST AND CONTACT DETAILS:

Guest: Dr. Meredith Powers  E [email protected]   WEBSITE 

 Householders’

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: [email protected]

WEB  T: (02) 4921 6702 

Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135 E [email protected] WEB  FACEBOOK

 Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: [email protected]

T: +61 413979414

This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 6th April 2022.  Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel              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):

Householders’ Options to Protect the Environment (HOPE):

T 07 4639 2135 E [email protected] WEB  FACEBOOK

Production:

Produced for HOPE by

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 [email protected] WEB  FACEBOOK

Production:

Produced for HOPE by Andrew Nicholson E: [email protected]

T: +61 413979414

This episode recorded in Toowoomba, S.E. Queensland, Australia on 25th November 2021

Artwork: Daniela Dal'Castel        Incidental Music: James Nicholson