World Social Work Day: promoting community and environmental sustainability

Tomorrow is World Social Work Day (WSWD), and this year the focus is on community sustainability. The theme is inspired by the third pillar of the Global Agenda for Social Work, which was created in 2010 to integrate the aims and aspirations of social workers across the world. It stresses the important role of social workers in prompting sustainable communities and environmentally sensitive development.

This includes:

  • working closely with other partner agencies – including those beyond social work – to create communities of practice, particularly in relation to environmental sustainability;
  • promoting community capacity building, through environmentally friendly and sustainable projects, where possible; and
  • responding to environmental challenges, including helping communities to be resilient to and recover from environmental and natural disasters, as well as in relation to “human disasters” which includes refugee families fleeing persecution or war.

But how does this play out in everyday practice?

Supporting integration

Across the world, social workers are being asked to address ‘human disasters’ as they seek to support and integrate refugee families fleeing persecution and war in conflict zones. Some of the biggest challenges for social workers today relate to refugee and displaced communities. As well as dealing with the effects of trauma, they also help integrate refugees successfully into existing communities and build bridges with others to promote cohesion, reduce tensions and help them make positive contributions to society. Social workers also have a responsibility to encourage all members of the community to help with this support and integration process.

However, in a UK context, supporting people to make positive contributions to their community is not limited to refugee families. It also relates to intergenerational work, valuing the experience of older people, developing the skills of vulnerable adults, or encouraging children to feel connected to a place and community so that they might better take care of it as they grow up.

Supporting sustainability

The role of social workers in supporting the sustainability agenda may not be so obvious. The ability of social workers to adapt and respond to the needs of communities which are experiencing environmental sustainability issues is of growing importance in developing countries. However, social workers in the UK can still contribute to this element of the global social work agenda.

This includes behaving in a way that recognises the need to protect and enhance the natural environment. In practice, this may mean social work departments having policies on going paperless where possible, recycling in offices, and reducing the use of cars, or car sharing (for frontline social workers, however, this is often impractical).

Social work practice can also consider how it supports sustainable social development outcomes within a community, and maintaining personal CPD, education and training levels to reflect this. There should also, as always, be an attempt to share best practice and learn from others.

Final thoughts

This World Social Work Day, let’s take a moment to reflect on the positive contributions that social work professionals are making to their communities as well as to the lives of individuals. It’s also a chance to consider what the future might hold for the profession and how it can continue to promote and support the growth and development of sustainable communities.


If you would like to follow the events going on to mark World Social Work Day or, share any of your own stories you can do so on twitter using the hashtag #WSWD17.

We regularly write on social work topics. Check out some of our previous articles:

And follow us on Twitter to see what developments in public and social policy are interesting our research team.

How is health and social care integration being achieved in England?

By Steven McGinty

Since coming to power in 2010, the coalition government has introduced a series of major reforms to health and social care. They argue that these reforms are necessary for meeting the future needs of patients, as well as providing a more efficient public health service.  Central to these changes is the idea of integration, where services are delivered in a way that limits duplication, delivers more preventative care and targets resources more effectively. However, what has the government done to facilitate integration between health and social care?

In 2012, the Health and Social Care Bill was given royal assent and became an Act. The Act introduced a number of key changes to the way that healthcare is delivered, including:

  • the merging of a numbers of quangos, such as the Health Protection Agency and the National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse, into one national body, Public Health England (PHE);
  • the abolition of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), and the introduction of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), which are GP led bodies responsible for the commissioning of local health services, as well as a greater responsibility for local authorities;
  • the extension of the remit of bodies, such as Health and Wellbeing Boards, giving them extra responsibilities, including the development of strategies across health and social care to meet local public health issues;
  • the introduction of a new organisation, Healthwatch England, an independent body set up to promote the interests of patients in health and social care services.

In 2013, the government introduced a new funding mechanism known as the ‘Better Care Fund (BCF)’. This was a £3.8 billion pool of money to support health and social care bodies through the process of integration. Health and Wellbeing Boards (HWBs) are expected to provide plans to access the funding. These plans are assessed using criteria that includes:

  • how well data is shared between health and social care bodies;
  • how well plans protects social care services;
  • how it protects seven day a week services;
  • how well it reduces admissions to hospitals at weekends.

According to the County Councils Network, plans will have to show how services will be delivered in an innovative way that meets the local needs of people over the long term, in order to ensure funding.

In 2014, the government introduced the Care Act, a piece of legislation based on the 2011 Dilnot report into the funding of adult social care. The Act has been described as the biggest transformation in the care system since 1948, and introduces a number of significant changes, including:

  • that those who receive care from a regulated care provider or local council will be covered by the Human Rights Act, although those paying for care are not covered;
  • introducing a new cap of £72,000 on the cost of care for those eligible under the Act;
  • introducing duties for local authorities to offer prevention services, including the right to receive accessible information and advice, to try and reduce the numbers of people needing to go into hospitals.

The current Minister of State for Care and Support, Norman Lamb MP, has stated that the government is committed to integrating health and social care by 2018. However, it will be very interesting to see if the health care system can be fully integrated by that deadline and whether it can deliver the sort of outcomes expected.


Idox are involved in an innovative partnership with Calderdale Council. The council has developed an innovative case management tool to support their day-to-day work, in areas such as child protection, looked after children, and fostering and adopting.

Calderdale have teamed up with Idox, a specialist in providing technology, content and funding solutions to government, and are now offering their system to other local authorities. The partnership has already proven to be successful, with Calderdale and Idox providing their solution to councils in the Isles of Scilly and Leeds.

We blogged recently about the benefits of the system for integrated working. We have also looked at the barriers to the uptake of digital technologies in health and social care.

Further reading: