Social work and the environment: An ecosocial approach

Abstract

Norton CL. Social work and the environment: An ecosocial approach This article draws on insights from social work, ecopsychology and ecofeminism to inform an ecosocial approach honouring humans' interconnectedness with nature. It re‐examines social work's ecosystems perspective and redefines its central ‘person‐in‐environment’ configuration to embrace a broadened emphasis on the natural world. It identifies insights from ecofeminism on the parallels between the oppression of women and domination of nature, and presents feminist ways of relating that may enhance connection with the planet as a whole. It introduces the concepts of empathy and empowerment from relational cultural theory as important ideas to integrate with social work's ecosystems perspective to promote deeper awareness of this connection. Finally, the ecosocial approach thus derived is examined as a means of promoting environmental sustainability at all levels of social work practice.

Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship and Business Sustainability

“…The qualities of the leader are combined with shared leadership in an interactive process whereby people push themselves to achieve organizational and personal goals [28]. Our findings confirm the prominent role of ethical principles and personal values in sustainable entrepreneurship [23] as well as the importance of competitive intelligence [40], job satisfaction [25], intrinsic motivation [15], self-efficacy [16], empathy toward sustainability [5], and prosocial motivation [42].…”

“…Environmental regulations, entrepreneurship policies, and sustainability on their own are not relevant factors when creating sustainable initiatives. These factors may be more prominent in entrepreneurial initiatives that follow an eco-social approach [23].…”

“…Finally, lifestyle refers to the manner in which an individual understands and lives his or her life. Lifestyle consists of altruism, which refers to concern for others (as opposed to selfishness) and the tendency to seek the best outcome for others [44]; compassion, which is both the feeling of sadness that arises when another suffers, driving people to alleviate this pain, and the emotional bond that ties an individual to a community [45]; empathy toward sustainability, which is the ability to establish an emotional bond with a group of people and the environment [5]; and ethics, which is the set of values, rules, and customs that govern the behavior of individuals within a community [23].…”

“…First, factors related to the environment were grouped into the following categories: environmental sustainability, social environmental awareness, policies, and environmental regulations. Environmental sustainability refers to resource efficiency and the capacity of the environment to endure human manipulation [23]. Social environmental awareness is derived from education, which takes place within society, to raise awareness of the effects of environmental damage and environmental education [24].…”

Changing Paradigms: A Sketch for Sustainable Wellbeing and Ecosocial Policy

“…This caring, and the human-nature relationship in general, could be actively fortified by using the methods of ecosocial social work [55], as well as by means of the increasingly popular green care services [56]. In addition, the existing social services could be decarbonized by developing green alternatives for service delivery [46].…”