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As a matter of ethical urgency, the profession of social work must prepare for complex futures ahead. This means attending not only to “issues” but to “ecosystems.” A future-focused social work ecosystem must move beyond being merely a collection of ideas, programs and initiatives to become an intentionally interconnected and synergistic network of efforts designed to anticipate and respond to emerging societal challenges.
As communities face rapid technological change, demographic shifts, and global uncertainties, social work must evolve into a dynamic profession that fosters creative collaboration across sectors—linking (for example): equity work, climate, education, health care, housing, justice, and technology—to address the root causes of inequity and vulnerability. Such efforts boost the profession’s collective imagination along with partner communities of which we are a part. Such an ecosystem would not only react to present needs but also proactively cultivate resilience, innovation, and adaptability within individuals and communities. By integrating data-driven insights, inclusive community engagement, continuous discovery/learning – and most importantly – imagination, this ecosystem can ensure that social work remains a powerful, future-ready force for social justice and human well-being.
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While projects and initiatives are so important, inspiring and useful…what is “bigger” than a mere project? The future is a big and diverse enough topic that truly one “project” can’t attend to the numerous dimensions that might be involved in cultivating a new and purposeful sense of the future of the social work profession. During the last five years, we have witnessed a blossoming of attention on the future(s) of social work in the form of numerous national projects (a national lab, an international conference, a film), a recent book (by this blogger), an assortment of academic articles, and now, an array of additional national projects from the Social Work Grand Challenges Initiative as well as the Council of Social Work Education.
What is needed is a social work-specific ecological view of what it might mean and entail to help social work become a “futures-informed” profession.
An effort that did this well, would involve thoughtfully and purposefully oriented hubs, centers of excellence, political-intellectual-and-social intersecting components, and imaginative outputs that would both seek to evolve infrastructures and practices but also creative expressions to continually inspire new ways of thinking about the ever changing threat and opportunity landscape we find ourselves as a planet.
Social work needs a futures ecosystem. This means:
- The future of the ideas, work and practices of social work are assumed to be vitally important to our shared professional efforts. They build (or break) from history, they respect and attend to the challenges of the present, AND they resist the pressure towards “short-termism” by keeping a disciplined eye towards implications and an ethic of care towards the future and future generations. A foresight lens suggests that they can (and should) be happening simultaneously.
- Social work national organizations and associations would have thoughtfully intersecting visions, plans and expressions of futures readiness and the related work to get there.
- Communications efforts to express visions, progress and invitations for involvement would be intentionally organized and deployed.
- Foresight training, language and practices would be widely available and intersecting with social work knowledge and practices. (Both in academic and professional settings.)
If you’d like to get involved in a collective effort to bring this vision to life…stay tuned as our Social Work Futures Lab continues to evolve and prepare to create some opportunities to participate!! Please subscribe or check back for updates soon regarding how to join us!!
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Laura Nissen, Social Work Futures
Social Work Futures 