Summary

Practicum, also known as field education, is the signature pedagogy in social work education. Practicum is the site where students learn to integrate and apply the values, knowledge, complex practices and skills of the social work profession. Despite its importance, field education is in crisis. Social work education programs are experiencing significant challenges with delivering practicum experiences for students. There is an urgent need for social work education programs to re-vision how the profession prepares the next generation of social workers. This presentation will discuss the TFEL partnership, and Green Social Work Advisory, that aims to integrate research and practice in the preparation of the next generation of social workers by developing partnered research training initiatives, both within academia and across the public and not-for-profit sectors, that enhance student and trainee research practice knowledge and applied skill development. The partnership is structured in three streams: (1) Digital Storytelling, (2) Development of Sustainable Field Education Models and (3) Applied Practice Research. A partnership approach is required to transform social work field education through multi-partner engagement, from a crisis model to sustainable models. This presentation will highlight the Green Social Work Advisory and how the partnership is facilitating climate action and environmental justice in social work. This partnership (2019-2025) is funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) partnership grant. Improved research training and mentorship related to field education and practice research will be discussed. 

Keywords (separate with commas)

Field education, climate action, environmental justice, training, mentorship, sustainability

Summary

Despite Nepal being a vulnerable nation to climate change, and its over a three decades of history of social work education and practice, this subject-matter is yet to be mainstreamed in Nepali social work pedagogy and praxes. Given this backdrop; and meantime, drawing on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s recent promotion of Indigenous knowledge and practice, and development in the field of social work and climate change, this presentation aims to explore about climate change and social work in Nepal from an Indigenous perspective. In doing so, firstly, this presentation discusses about the context of climate change and social work in Nepal. Then, it explores how the issue of climate change has been explored in global social work and what a nation like Nepal can learn from it. And finally, it proposes what should inform the idea of climate change and social work in Nepal from an Indigenous perspective. Knowledge thus produced in this presentation will not only help Nepali social work to design and prepare itself to better respond to the worsening effects of climate change in Nepal but also it will aid other similar nations elsewhere to integrate Indigenous views while responding to the effects of climate change.      

Keywords (separate with commas)

Climate change, social work, Indigenous perspective, Nepal

Summary

Introduction: Equitable resilience programming mitigates the impact of a disaster. Our approach is both emergent and leadership driven. Both are needed to drive and sustain community-level change to promote equitable resilience,  for marginalized communities.  Hurricane Ida resulted in several deaths & injuries, thousands of destroyed and/or uninhabitable properties, hampered economic development, and disrupted essential  services. As a result of great need amongst communities impacted by Hurricane Ida, The Consortium for Equitable Disaster Resilience (CEDR), was established. Methodology: Our emphasis on equitable disaster resilience, is achieved through evidence-based practice focused on the full spectrum of community stakeholders. This was achieved through a community-based participatory research approach. Our modalities used with the CEDR to achieve equitable resilience included strategic and operational planning, organizational management, targeted curriculum development, training, application of new and relevant information and communication technologies, monitoring and evaluation, and community-based participatory research. Findings:  The project produced several resilience enhancing findings, replicable across regions impacted by climate change. Results included: Through research conducted on barriers and breakages for disaster financing, the project produced a series of products that included, a grant writing program, research on the current state of associated barriers in accessing financial assistance for marginalized communities. We developed an equitable resilience framework for communities that is focused on addressing climate change, equity, and disaster events with an emphasis on addressing disaster financing barriers. Significance: Through our work  we captured best practices for equitable disaster resilience. A baseline equity checklist was created from our literature review, a community-based participatory research study, to inform policy and practice around disaster financing and recovery. The divide between local leaders and communities was addressed. Findings from this project should be used to improve overall decision making for providing disaster and essential services to the most vulnerable impacted by climate change, inequity, and disaster events.  

Keywords (separate with commas)

Climate Change, Equity, Resilience, Disaster

Summary

Child marriage is a (in)formal marriage or union in which one of the partners is 18 years old and/or under. Although boys can also be victims of child marriages, the rates of girls who are married before their 18 birthday in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia is much higher. Factors that contribute to child marriages vary to include socio-political, cultural, economical, and environmental factors. Climate change has a disproportionately severe impact on developing countries through changes in temperatures, rainfall, extreme weather events and sea levels — despite most emissions coming from the Global North. And yet, a range of voices is missing in the debates and discussions on climate change and sexual and reproductive wellbeing – including child marriages.thClimate change is a global environmental phenomenon, which will affect everyone and pose major threats to goals related to human-centred sustainable development. While there has been increased recognition on the link between child marriages and climate change, there are missing voices, and knowledge and practice gaps in understanding the complexities and connections. This paper is a review of secondary data that seeks to explore missing voices and climate vulnerabilities – as factors that facilitate child marriages. Preliminary data indicate that climate change increases vulnerabilities of child marriage. In addition, the indirect affects of climate change can have worse-off consequences because they often challenging to predict because of being a consequence of consequences. By integrating diverse voices, we expand debates, networks, and interdisciplinary research on the climate change-child marriage nexus.\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

child marriages, environmental crises, climate vulnerability, diverse voices