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Eco-sociaL Work New CHALLENGES ON THE HORIZON OF SOCIAL WORK 133
Through recording the narratives of local people, specialists could explore the deep
layers of the problem. A considerable number of Namibians were already poor
before the drought, and the drought made agricultural activity completely
impossible. Most were forced to sell their property. The pressing need for change
rallied diverse specialists together and formed extensive partnerships. That was
followed by the local community developing process in which the population was
the protagonist. During communal planning, they collected all adaptable
alternatives, such as water collecting methods and the creation of wells, before all
this was put into practice. Finally, the knowledge thus acquired was integrated
into the local social worker training curriculum (University of Namibia).
In summary, it is the duty of social work to look into the depths of social and
environmental structures and use relevant multidisciplinary interventions.
Consequently, the transformation of the educational system is indispensable:
ecological knowledge must be adapted and specialists’ environmental competence
improved. For individuals, their relationships to both the environment and the
community are decisive, as they can greatly contribute to enhancing the subjective
feeling of wellbeing. In other words, the healing power of nature and the
community holds hope for a new type of self-care. This working model is still
fairly far from mainstream Hungarian practice. The assumption of responsibility
by the public may provide a good example for the profession. The global
environmental crisis will certainly place great demands on human beings for a
long time, but it also puts on them the constraint of collaboration. If society is
capable of understanding that this partnership will have an essential role in a more
liveable life and future, the transformation — the guarantee for a long-term survival
of life on Earth — may come about.
Recommended readings
Dominelli, Lena (ed.) 2018. The Routledge Handbook of Green Social Work. London — New
York, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group.
Professor Lena Dominelli developed the paradigm of green social work. At present she
teaches and researches at the university of Stirling, Scotland. She has published on
diverse disaster situations; her manual on eco-social work is outstanding. It puts the
broad spectrum of local environmental problems in a global context. It is a 500-page
synthesis of theory and practice. Set in a holistic framework, it is particularly useful
for specialists, teachers, students, environmental activists, and even politicians. The
lucid articulation of the work allows anyone to improve their knowledge through the
sections they find useful and inspiring.
Goodall, Jane — Abrams, Douglas — Gail, Hudson 2021. The Book of Hope: A Survival
Guide for Trying Times. New York, Celadon Books.
Ethologist and anthropologist Jane Goodall became famous for her research on
chimpanzees. In this book written with Douglas Abrams, she voices her hopeful
optimism and calls for action against climate change and for a conscious way of life
and for making pressing decisions. Her experience gathered over more than half a
century and her conversations with her co-author shed new light on what is probably
the largest challenge of our age, climate change.
Schumacher, Ernst Friedrich 1973. Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People
Mattered. London, Blond & Briggs.