Social work education, regulation and the climate emergency – responsibility and action

Ferguson, Gillian and Giddings, Lindsay (2024). Social work education, regulation and the climate emergency – responsibility and action. In: BASW Conference 2024: A Sustainable Future for Social Work, 18-19 Jun 2024, Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh.

Abstract

Social work is rooted in social justice with a focus on empowering people to thrive in their environments. The climate and ecological emergency, caused by humans and impacting upon populations disproportionality, should therefore be a key focus for all social workers.

Within the UK each nation has a different framework and regulatory system for social work education and continuing professional learning. This presentation reports on research that investigated how UK social work regulatory and professional bodies have responded to the climate crisis, and whether explicit responsibility to act is reflected in regulatory education and professional standards.  

The research used Document Analysis to explore thirty-four sets of educational and professional standards, frameworks and professional guidance. The presentation argues that implicit and explicit mention of responsibility to act on the climate emergency are rare in these standards and that there are multiple opportunities for embedding this for social work action.