Opportunities for the development of green social work in Ukraine: abroad experience

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Opportunities for the development of green social work in Ukraine: abroad experience

Popovych V., Popovych Ya.

Abstract

The transformation of the theory and modern technologies of social work is a decisive factor in social growth, which involves the formation of a new social work model. The problems and challenges of the modern development of society require social workers to take into account not only the social aspects of their activities, but also economic and environmental prospects that meet the concept of sustainable development. The goal of the development of mankind in general and during the crisis for the population, in particular, should be guidelines for the social cohesion of society to ensure the integration of efforts for economic growth, social support and environmental, rational nature management. Not only the repertoire of those techniques and interventions used by social workers is updated, but also the theory of social work as a set of ideas and concepts that reflect the trends in the development of the profession, substantiate models of intervention.

The article identifies potential opportunities for the development of green social work in Ukraine. The conceptual provisions of green social work as a modern model of social work in a number of European countries are defined. The possibility of integrating European models of green social work in the territorial community is analyzed - orientation towards ensuring environmental justice, focus on activation, implementation of social capital and the formation of society's resilience, psychosocial support in emergency situations. The factors of development of green social work based on the experience offoreign countries are identified: institutionalization of green social work through scientific research, academy and internalization by professional culture; development of intersectoral social partnership and strengthening of the information and communication component of the development of green social work in Ukraine; strengthening the role of social work in the political sphere and in the sphere of state environmental management. The mechanisms for the formation and development of a model of social work in a territorial community from an environmental perspective are identified: mechanisms for scientific and methodological support, social and organizational mechanisms, information and communication mechanisms, institutional and political mechanisms.

Key words: sustainable development, social work, green social work, territorial community, social work in the community, model of green social work in the community.

Анотація

Попович В. М., Попович Я. М. Можливості розвитку зеленої соціальної роботи в Україні: закордонний досвід

Трансформація теорії та сучасних технологій соціальної роботи - вирішальний чинник соціального зростання, який припускає формування нової моделі соціальної роботи. Проблеми та виклики сучасного розвитку суспільства вимагають від соціальних працівників всебічного врахування не тільки соціальних аспектів їх діяльності, але й економічних та екологічних перспектив, що відповідають концепції сталого розвитку. Метою розвитку людства загалом та під час кризи для населення, зокрема, мають бути орієнтири соціальної згуртованості суспільства щодо забезпечення інтеграції зусиль економічного зростання, соціальної підтримки та екологічного, раціонального природокористування. Оновлюється не лише репертуар тих технік та інтервенцій, які використовують соціальні працівники, а й теорія соціальної роботи як сукупність уявлень та концепцій, що відбивають тенденції розвитку професії, обгрунтовують моделі втручання.

У статті визначено потенційні можливості розвитку зеленої соціальної роботи в Україні. Визначено концептуальні положення зеленої соціальної роботи як сучасної моделі соціальної роботи в низці європейських країн. Проаналізовано можливість інтеграції європейської моделі зеленої соціальної роботи в територіальній громаді - орієнтацію на забезпечення екологічної справедливості, спрямованість на активізацію, реалізацію соціального капіталу і формування резилієнсу громади, психосоціальну підтримку в надзвичайних ситуаціях. Виокремлено чинники розвитку зеленої соціальної роботи на досвіді закордонних країн: інституціоналізація зеленої соціальної роботи через наукові дослідження, академізація та інтерналізація професійною культурою; розвиток міжсекторного соціального партнерства і посилення інформаційно-комунікаційної складової частини в розвитку зеленої соціальної роботи в Україні; посилення ролі соціальної роботи в політичній сфері і сфері державного екологічного управління. Виділено механізми формування і можливості розвитку моделі соціальної роботи в територіальній громаді в екологічній перспективі: механізми науково-методичного забезпечення, соціально-організаційні механізми, інформаційно-комунікаційні механізми, інсти- туційно-політичні механізми.

Ключові слова: сталий розвиток, соціальна робота, зелена соціальна робота, територіальна громада, соціальна робота в громаді, модель зеленої соціальної роботи в громаді.

Social work, since the beginning of its professionalization at the end of the 19th century, has been constantly evolving. Not only the repertoire of those techniques and interventions (organizational procedures) used by social workers is updated, but also the theory of social work as a set of ideas and concepts that reflect the trends in the development of the profession, substantiate models of intervention. The current global definition of social work, adopted in 2014, emphasizes that it uses its own theories [4, p. 6]; while the tentative definition asserted the reliance of social work on theories of human behavior and the theory of social systems [6].

The transformation of the theory and modern technologies of social work is a decisive factor in social growth, which involves the formation of a new model of social work. The problems and challenges of the modern development of society require social workers to take into account not only the social aspects of their activities, but also economic and environmental prospects that meet the concept of sustainable development.

In Ukraine, which has experienced two waves of mass internal migration (in 1986 and 2014-2015) and is experiencing a third due to a full-scale war with the Russian Federation, has communities with an extremely unfavorable environmental situation, not to mention structural inequalities in communities and between communities, sustainable trend of urbanization, more attention should be paid to eco-social approaches and the formation of viability (resilience) of vulnerable groups in communities, the training of social workers both for community development and for actions in extreme situations and martial law. Therefore, the question arises about the formation and development of a model of social work in society based on an ecological approach, the conceptualization of which is green social work.

One of the modern theories (concepts) of social work is considered to be “green social work”. This theory is widely represented in foreign literature, practice and academic disciplines (M. Gray, L. Dominelli, M. D. Zahoor, D. Coats, F. Crawford, A. Krings, E. Lucas-Darby, J. Peters, L. Staples, M. Taylor, M. Ungar and others). However, in Ukrainian scientific discourse (S. Bogdanov, A. Boiko, N. Gusak, A. Maximenko, T. Semygina, G. Slozanskaya, V. Chernobrovkina) green social work is not widely discussed by scientists properly. Although the ideas on which the new theoretical development is based seem to be quite relevant for Ukraine.

Formulation of the article objectives. The purpose of the study is to determine the potential opportunities for green social work in the territorial community.

The development of theoretical concepts of green social work is associated with the name of L. Dominelli, who is a supporter of structuralist approaches to solving social problems and activating oppressed groups of the population. The British researcher considers the goal of green social work to be “work on reforming the socio-political life and economic forces that negatively affect the quality of life of the poor and marginalized, promoting safe political changes and social transformations necessary to enhance the well-being of people and the planet today and in the future” [9, p. 25].

J. Peters (Belgium) made an essential heritage in strengthening the theoretical justification of the ecological orientation of modern professional social work. In his works [10; 11] he advocates the need to develop an eco-social approach. In his opinion, eco-social work has three components: activation (supply, empowerment), and it is mainly not about the individual, but about the collective dimension, i.e. on supplying communities; social capital, again as a resource of society; viability (resilience) as the ability of groups and communities to withstand challenges.

T. Semygina, summarizing the scientific works of foreign authors, notes that “the concept of green social work is based on a structural approach to solving the problems of social inequality and poverty, notes the need for such activities of social workers that would be focused on ensuring decent environmental conditions and environmental justice, proper and equal access to natural resources, speaks of changing the social context and preserving the environment, substantiates the specific practice of interventions of social workers in the context of environmental and man-made disasters” [5, p. 21].

Analyzing the practice of green social work, M. Ungar [14] identified the principle of an ecological perspective in social work in society, noting that the totality of society's resources is more important for its resistance to challenges than the personal qualities of each individual separately. On the basis of this thesis, the author singled out the following “ecological and social work interventions in the community: 1) facilitated navigation (community assistance in making its resources available to each of its representatives); 2) facilitated negotiations (the help of the community is that its representatives effectively negotiate for resources); 3) differential influence (the more vulnerable a person is, the more positively the resource will influence her or his psychosocial development); 4) complexity (to ensure the synergy of community resources, it is necessary to involve simultaneously many interrelated processes)” [5, p. 19].

So, the practice of green social work is a multi-level systemic approach, which is based on community development and building a network that will be sustainable, but capable of change, and psychosocial work with vulnerable categories of community residents (including psychosocial support for those affected by the consequences of environmental disasters, emergencies, active hostilities). Thus, we can say that green social work can serve as a modern model of social work in a territorial community.

G. Slozanskaya notes that in foreign scientific literature there are different points of view on the interpretation of social work in society: “Social work in society” is characterized as: the environment, the society in which social workers work; the main goal for the achievement of which changes are initiated and implemented; the mechanism of change itself; locally oriented practice and profession, which provides for the implementation of actions aimed at activating society and its members; well-planned sociocultural intervention strategy aimed at researching, defining and solving social problems” [7, p. 53].

Among the many foreign approaches to the classification of models of social work in society, the most scientifically based should be singled out: 1) the classification proposed by J. Rotman - a model of local development or development of a territorial society, a model of social planning, a model of social action [13]; 2) the classification proposed by K. Popl, supplementing the previous one - the model of social support and care in the community, the model of organization of society, the educational model, the model of feminist social work in the community, the model of “anti-racist policy” [12]; 3) B. Chekovei's classification - the model of “mobilization of the masses”, the model of social action, the model of citizen participation, the model of representing interests, the model of popularization of education, the model of social networks development [8].

Among domestic classifications, it should be noted the classification of G. Slozanskaya, which highlights the administrative model for the provision of social services in society, the model for the organizational development of society, the model for the provision of integrated social services [7].

The administrative model of social work in society is based on the idea of building a flexible management system in the field of planning, organizing and providing social services to the population through the creation of a network of social institutions, coherence and coordination of the joint work of all subjects of public relations at the level of society. Organizational development models are a complex model based on the idea of developing and implementing a strategic plan for the organizational development of a region/community in order to produce positive changes aimed at improving the level and quality of life, creating conditions and providing equal opportunities for all residents of the region/community. And the improvement of the situation in society depends very much on the social order, on the possibility of providing services, on the model of providing services [3, p. 13]. The model for the provision of integrated social services in a territorial community is based on the idea of the integrated provision of a wide range of social services, concentrated as much as possible in a place that has a geographically convenient location and takes into account the age, gender, physical and other characteristics of the population.

To study the potential opportunities for the development of green social work in the territorial community, an expert survey was conducted among managers and employees of social services and social service institutions in Zaporizhzhia (n=96, May-July 2022). integration economic social work

To determine the potential opportunities for the development of green social work in the territorial community, the experts were asked to answer several questions. Thus, the level of experts' awareness of green social work was determined - 36% of experts noted that they were familiar with the concept of green social work, another 39% showed interest and desire to learn more, another 25% know almost or nothing about the environmental direction of social work in the community. The prospects for the development of green social work in Ukraine were also identified: 57% of experts noted that this area of social work will become important in the context of the implementation of the sustainable (balanced) development goals, 24% believe that green social work will not be widely used in Ukraine, linking this with the priority tasks of restoring the social sphere and social infrastructure after the victory in the Russian-Ukrainian war - social work will be aimed primarily at psychosocial support for those affected by the war, socio-psychological rehabilitation of the population. 29% of experts did not define their position on the prospects for the development of green social work in the next five years.

To identify the content features of the level of experts' awareness of the green social work concept, the respondents were asked to answer an open question: “What, in your opinion, is the essence and content of green social work?”. A total of 64 responses were received. The results of content analysis (semantic grouping of statements) are shown in fig. one.

Fig. 1. Essence-content features of green social work (results of content analysis)

In general, the results of the content analysis correspond to the definition of the green social work directions in the publications of Western scientists [47]. The selected categories are presented as follows:

increasing the level of environmental consciousness of the population (26,5% of all answers) - “environmental education”, “support for an ecological lifestyle”; this direction involves social work mainly as educational and preventive, aimed at the formation of environmental consciousness, thinking and behavior;

promotion of environmental protection (20,4% of all answers) - “development and implementation of social and environmental projects”, “cooperation with public environmental organizations”, etc.; in this aspect, the role of social work in the implementation of state environmental policy through the mechanisms of social partnership and project management is emphasized;

socio-ecological development of communities (19,7%) - “support for members of territorial communities in protecting the environment”, “preservation of the natural resources of the society”, “support for environmental initiatives of the society members”, etc.; this direction is connected with the introduction of the society's organizational development model in social work;

psychosocial support in emergency situations (18,6%) - “overcoming the consequences of environmental disasters and emergencies”, “social work with the affected population during military conflicts”, “formation of stress resistance and adaptability of individuals and communities to negative impacts and threats”; this direction is associated with a reactive strategy of green social work and the application of the “resilience” approach to social work in emergency situations, environmental disasters and martial law;

implementation of sustainable development goals in the environmental sphere (14,8%).

To complement the identified essential and content features of green social work, the experts were asked to evaluate (on a 5-point scale) the potential of green social work in the territorial community in Ukraine based on the areas of training of social workers in foreign schools of social work identified by T. Semygina in an environmental perspective. [4, p. 21].

As can be seen from the diagram, experts see the greatest potential of green social work in social work on the socio-economic and environmental development of communities, linking the very term “green social work” with activities in the environmental sphere - the formation of environmental consciousness and models of environmental behavior, environmental protection in society, cooperation with environmental non-governmental organizations.

Fig. 2. Assessing the potential of green social work areas in Ukraine

Experts provide significant potential for green social work in the direction of psychosocial support for victims of emergencies, environmental disasters, hostilities, etc., which, under martial law in Ukraine, has become relevant and significant. Experts see the smallest role of green social work in the political aspect of social work in general, which is possibly due, firstly, to the traditional removal of the sphere of activity of social workers from political participation and influence on power structures, and, secondly, not widespread in Ukrainian realities the role of a social worker as an intermediary and mediator between society and government, a lobbyist for the interests of community members, incl. political and environmental.

Factors for the development of green social work in the territorial community in Ukraine were identified (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3. Factors for the development of green social work in the territorial community in Ukraine (you could choose several options)

The factors of green social work development presented in the diagram can be divided into the following groups: 1) institutionalization of green social work through scientific research (development of scientific and methodological support of the concept in Ukrainian realities), academy (training of social workers), internalization of professional culture (cooperation and interaction with international organizations, universities and practitioners in the field of green social work); 2) development of intersectoral social partnership and strengthening of the information and communication component of the green social work development in Ukraine; 3) strengthening the role of social work in the political sphere and in the sphere of state environmental management at all levels: national, regional, local, at the level of UTC.

The results of the expert survey make it possible to identify the mechanisms for the formation and development of a social work model in a territorial community in an environmental perspective - a model of green social work in a territorial community: 1) the mechanisms of scientific and methodological support are aimed at developing and implementing the theoretical concept of green social work; systems of green social work methods; criteria and standards for the implementation of green social work objectives; academicization of green social work through the creation of an appropriate area of professional training of social workers; professionalization of the national system of social work through cooperation and interaction with international organizations, universities and practitioners in the field of green social work; 2) socio-organizational mechanisms (social partnership [2, p. 157], project management [1]) associated with the establishment of effective interaction between state authorities, local governments, civil society institutions, socially responsible business structures, members of a territorial society managing the sphere of social work in the context of sustainable (balanced) development; 3) information and communication mechanisms for the development of green social work in the territorial community, providing for coordinated information and communication interaction between state authorities and local self-government, effective interaction between local authorities and the media, social advertising and the use of PR technologies, the dissemination and development of e-governance; 4) institutional and political mechanisms aimed at strengthening the role of social work in the political sphere and in the sphere of state environmental management.

Conclusions and prospects for further research. The theoretical analysis of the conceptual provisions of green social work and the results of an expert survey of the potential opportunities for green social work in territorial communities in the conditions of Ukrainian society made it possible to summarize the following conclusions:

firstly, the conceptual provisions of green social work as a modem model of social work in a territorial community are defined: 1) focus on ensuring decent environmental conditions and environmental justice, proper and equal access to natural resources; 2) work to reform the socio-political life and economic forces that negatively affect the quality of life of the poor and marginalized sections of the population; 3) focus on the activation (supply, empowerment) of the community, the implementation of social capital as a community resource, the formation of viability (resilience) as the ability of groups and communities to withstand challenges; 4) the practice development of psychosocial interventions of social workers in the context of environmental and man-made disasters, active hostilities and martial law;

secondly, it was found that green social work has the greatest potential in the areas of social work on the socio-economic and environmental development of communities and psychosocial support for victims of emergencies, environmental disasters, hostilities, etc., which in the conditions of martial law in Ukraine has acquired relevance and significance;

thirdly, groups of factors for the development of green social work are identified: 1) institutionalization of green social work through scientific research, academicization and internalization of professional culture; 2) development of intersectoral social partnership and strengthening of the information and communication component of the green social work development in Ukraine; 3) strengthening the role of social work in the political sphere and in the sphere of state environmental management at all levels: national, regional, local, at the level of UTC;

fourthly, mechanisms for the formation and development of a model of social work in a territorial community in an environmental perspective are identified: mechanisms for scientific and methodological support, social and organizational mechanisms, information and communication mechanisms, institutional and political mechanisms.

A promising direction for further research is the development and justification of the conceptual model of green social work in the territorial community, taking into account the characteristics of the national system of social work.

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