An emerging global consciousness and rising attention given to international social work development has seen the recognition of comparative research within the profession. Understanding the functioning and organisation of social work within various country contexts is critical in order to formulate knowledge around its overall impact, successes and challenges, allowing social workers to learn from one another and build professional consolidation. The profession is mapped out in 10 countries, reflecting on its structure, identity and development. Although the profession is developing globally, it is also experiencing significant challenges. Key insights, conclusions and recommendations for future research are presented.

The protection of human rights and promotion of social justice is a shared spirit manifested within all social work. Islands of local concern are directly affected by global stresses and inequalities and the Global Agenda for Social Work and Social Development has created a space for repositioning social work globally in addressing these challenges. This article opens up definitions and examples of international social work, arguing the need for integrating an international outlook within social work education and policy in order that the emerging workforce, wherever they may be, are equipped with the knowledge, skills and values for international action.

As human beings, we are currently living in way that is completely unsustainable within the world we inhabit. In recent years, growing concerns for environmental and climate change, together with issues of poverty, increasing disparity between societies and the tensions brought by social inequalities have placed sustainable development under the spotlight. The survival of many societies and of the biological support systems of the planet are at risk (United Nations [UN], 2015). Considering environment protection and preservation a collective responsibility, we attempt to analyse the need and role of the social work profession to respond to this call for environmental protection through conceptual and practice engagements in alignment with the UN Global Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development. Global environmental concerns The Earth's average land temperature has warmed by nearly 1°C in the past 50 years as a result of human activity. Global greenhouse gas emissions have risen by nearly 80 percent since 1970, and atmospheric concentrations of the major greenhouse gases are at their highest level in 800,000 years. We are already seeing and feeling the impacts of climate change, with weather events such as droughts and storms and other natural calamities increasing in frequency and intensity. This trend not only threatens the world's ecosystems and biodiversity, but also poses a serious risk for peace, security and sustainable development (UN Environment, 2016). Pollution affects our health through the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. Low-and middle-income countries bear much of the brunt of pollution-related illnesses, where the situation is coupled with poor health care and food insecurity. Capital intensive industrialisation, including mining and other natural resources-based industries, has not only created ecological imbalances, but also displaced people from their environments and pushed them into marginal spaces and livelihoods. High levels of consumption and production, fuelled by such industries, require larger inputs of energy and generate larger quantities of waste by-products (Orecchia and Zoppoli, 2007). With 990 pollution-related deaths per 100,000, 1 China has an astonishing number of air pollution fatalities (The Guardian, 2016). Pollution has a particularly disproportionate and negative effect on those who are poor, disadvantaged and marginalised. Although much fewer than China, Pakistan attributed 110,000 deaths in 2015 to pollution (58 per 100,000; 2 The Guardian, 2016), and a recent report by Greenpeace India cited pollution as a killer of 1.2 million Indians every year, costing the local economy an estimated 3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) (Greenpeace, 2017). While increasing environmental pollution is one of the major contributors to the catastrophic environmental change being witnessed today, global population expansion is putting enormous strain on natural resources. Coupled with over-exploitation of natural resources and a growth in consumerism, the environme...

No abstract

No abstract