Page 135 [135]
OCR
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.
