Civil Engagement in Social Work: Developing Global Models
Funder
MC-IRSES - International research staff exchange scheme (IRSES)
Collaborators
- ISCTE-INSTITUTO UNIVERSITARIO DE LISBOA (ISCTE-IUL), Portgual
- UNIVERSITA DELLA CALABRIA, Italy
- STELLENBOSCH UNIVERSITY, South Africa
- ST PETERSBURG STATE, Russia
- ESPIRITO SANTO FEDERAL UNIVERSITY, UFES/Brazil
- THE UNIVERSITY OF ALICANTE (UA), Spain
- KOCAELI UNIVERSITY, Turkey
- SUN YAT-SEN UNIVERSITY, China
- IRSES Co-ordinators and Participants Information
- Gary Spolander
- Linda Martin
Project objectives
The overall aim of this joint exchange programme is to examine the role of social work (SW) and its engagement with civil society in supporting vulnerable members of the community. It will examine this relationship within the context of social welfare reform in response to neoliberal reform and new public management initiatives. This exchange programme builds on the previously successful IRSES bid to explore the impact of neoliberal policy on social work practice and intervention. The primary purpose of this project is to develop and co-ordinate transcontinental researchers in the areas of social work education, social policy and social welfare delivery. It will enhance understanding and the knowledge base and achieve policy synergies in order to develop models for global sustainable social welfare service delivery. The objectives of the project include:
- Establish an active international research community and effective communication mechanisms for global research exchanges on the role of social work in social welfare, service delivery and engaging with civil society in relation to universal service delivery
- Integrate the complementary expertise of EU and non EU teams to develop critical policy perspectives, review the changing role of the profession, review its engagement with civil society and the corresponding provision and structure of social welfare services
- To utilise the geographic expertise of the research teams for critical social welfare policy evaluation, social work model development for engagement in civil society and alternative models of social work education to meet the challenges of social inequality, social cohesion and social capital development.
Social work is a key social welfare service offered in all countries participating in this project. The profession provides an important role in civil society of protecting, supporting and advocating for its vulnerable members. EU countries in this project include South Mediterranean countries Italy, Spain and Portugal, the UK and Turkey, China and Brazil, all of which have been undergoing significant economic and social change in recent years. The bid also further builds on and extends an earlier successful IRSES project which was focussed on SW practice and policy in three EU (Finland, Italy and England) and three non EU (India, Russia and South Africa) countries; Finland, however, is not a participant in this particular research project. The project will be delivered through seven core work packages.
Research impact
Published Work:
- CITRONI G, SICORA A (2014). Ten, a hundred, and a thousand worlds of welfare: notes for a map of social services. In: Atti Convegno ESPANET - Italia 2014. Università di Torino, 18 - 20 September 2014 [on-line]
- Accepted abstract: SICORA A., CITRONI G. (2014). What do social workers say about social policy and reforms in Europe and the BRICS? For the Section “section: Research on social work and social policy, social justice, diversity, inequalities, resistance and socialn change” of the European Conference on Social Work Research “Re-visioning social work with individuals, collectives and communities: social work research” at University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, 22 – 14 April 2015.
Publications
Report Summaries:
● Project Proposal
