The IFSW Europe is glad to share the Successful seminar on eco-social work held in Rotterdam, Netherlands June 13 & 14 2024.
In June, a very vibrant seminar on eco-social work took place in Rotterdam (The Netherlands), organized by IFSW Europe and Inholland University of Applied Sciences.
The start was an afternoon with field visits to five eco-social practices, including a communal gardening project and a house for the future of the neighborhood. The projects visited showed that working for social justice and social wellbeing also means ecological justice. Social workers are a connecting factor, facilitating contact between people and place, between participants and other caregivers, and between the place and the wider neighborhood.
The keynote on day 2 was given by Prof. Patrick Huntjens about the necessity of a new social contract between state and population, focused on a transition to a sustainable, healthy and fair society. His book Towards a Natural Social Contract is open access, published by Springer.
The rest of the day was filled with most inspiring group sessions on themes like social justice, indigenous and local knowledge, education, from ego-to-eco and the idea of a paradigm shift in social work thinking.
The 75 attendants came from all over Europe – including social workers, educators and researchers – to get inspiration and to learn from each other. This seminar is one of the highlights of IFSW Europe’s ongoing Eco-social project. At the next IFSW Europe conference in Oslo in October 2025 it will certainly be central to the agenda and IFSW Europe will continue to develop these themes and work with member associations and allies over the coming year. For further information on IFSW Europe’s work on eco-social work, please email