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"We are all needed to reduce the ecological debt of our planet," says Marja Uusitalo, a special researcher at Luke.
"Social work needs to be involved in designing and implementing sustainable and equitable nature-based solutions, but it also requires changes in policy making."

Bringing nature into social work

Young people at risk of social exclusion are one of the most important client groups in social work. In addition to personal life crises, many can also be burdened by climate anxiety. Integrating nature interventions, such as hikes in the forest, into youth work increases the contact with nature in young people's everyday lives, as well as the health and well-being benefits that nature brings.
"Ecosocial social work can help guide young people towards sustainable lifestyles and career choices by drawing on nature expertise," says Katja Kangas, Special Researcher.
Unfortunately, knowledge is often fragmented between professions, and social workers are hesitant to step outside their role as experts. However, ecosocial social work will become more mainstream within the profession when social workers start to boldly discuss the role of social work in addressing environmental challenges with other professional groups.
"In social work, goals should be set from helping the individual to promoting planetary health more broadly. By increasing the resilience of communities in crisis, we can also increase the well-being of the disadvantaged," Uusitalo opens.

Informal participation in decision-making

Social work is increasingly becoming dependent on the resources provided by philanthropy. An example is alleviating food poverty through food donations or food waste. Such activities do not address the root causes of food poverty or the fact that healthy food is a basic right for all. Climate refugees should be involved in the design of sustainable food systems as empirical experts, as they have suffered the consequences of unsustainable farming practices.

When decision-making is outsourced to organisations, transparency is easily lost, and the voices of social workers and local people are not heard.

- The introduction and use of transdisciplinary tools such as participatory spatial surveys in social work contributes to social justice," says James Obeng, doctoral researcher.
- Participatory inquiry also allows the voices of vulnerable groups to be heard when, for example, decisions are made about the use of natural environments and land that affect their daily lives.

The recommendations were produced by the MCSA-ETN-ASTRA (Applying Sustainability Transition Research in Social Work tackling Major Societal Challenge of Social Inclusion) research and training project, coordinated by the 蘑菇直播. The project explores the potential for social inclusion, with a particular focus on young people outside the labour market, people with a migrant background and vulnerable local communities. ASTRA project has received funding from the European Union鈥檚 Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sk艂odowska-Curie grant agreement No 955518. This text reflects only the authors鈥� views and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.

See the full Policy Briefing of the ASTRA Research Group WP2 on ecological sustainability transition coordinated by LUKE:

More information:

• Marja Uusitalo, Specialist Researcher, Natural Resources Institute Finland, tel, 040 5516916, marja.uusitalo@luke.fi听
• Katja Kangas, Specialist Researcher, Natural Resources Institute Finland, tel, 040 8015056, katja.kangas@luke.fi
• 听Professor Anne Tolvanen, Natural Resources Institute Finland, tel. 029 532 3782, anne.tolvanen@luke.fi
• 听Professor Aila-Leena Matthies, 蘑菇直播, tel. 0407422199, aila-leena.matthies@jyu.fi
  (translated by DeepL.com)

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