Social Work Education

Harambee, for Sustainable Shared Futures: New Directions for Social Work, Education, and Social Development

Social Work Education: The International Journal invites delegates of the 2026 Joint World Conference of Social Work, Education, and Development in Nairobi, Kenya to submit their conference papers to a Special Issue highlighting the conference’s scholarly contributions.

This Special Issue will feature some of the best contributions presented and discussed at SWSD 2026. The Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education, and Social Development is a biannual global event that brought together members of the international social work community to share experiences in current trends and best practices in the social workspace across the globe. This conference was hosted by Kenya National Association of Social Workers and featured the participation of social work and social development practitioners, educators, researchers, students, social work agencies, government officials, and the public from different countries and contexts. Harambee is a Kiswahili word that means solidarity, community-building and collective responsibility; this Special Issue will showcase conference papers that point to how social work education can meet our most pressing global challenges.

A global conference is a unique opportunity to share best practices and present research findings from a wide range of contexts. Diversity, preventing bias, and addressing multiple forms of discrimination allow us to bring what was hidden into the open: the challenges and coping strategies needed to tackle social exclusion and, together, build a sustainable model of well-being for all. Against a backdrop of crises in international relations, deglobalization, and rapid technological transformation driven by AI as a disruptive technology, developing strategies to jointly build a better world grounded in human rights has become a collective imperative.

Potential Topics:

1. Reclaiming and Reimagining Social Work Practice: Addressing post-colonial challenges and colonial continuities in social work and social development; Global inequities, diversity, equity, and inclusion in practice; Decolonizing and indigenizing social work, Indigenous and alternative philosophies (Ubuntu, Buen Vivir, Harambee, Ujamaa, Sankofa, etc.), culture, religion and spirituality in social work; Empowerment and community resilience; Social service workforce strengthening.
2. Social Work Education, Pedagogy, and Research: Innovating and reconfiguring the social work curriculum to meet emerging local, regional and global challenges; Co-creation in social work education; Field practice education; Inter-Professional collaboration; Mentorship and supervision; Lifelong learning and continuous professional development; Bridging the North – South divide in scientific writing and publishing; Democratising knowledge and promoting epistemic freedom in social work.
3. Social Work and Families Across the Lifespan: Strengthening families and communities; Safeguarding and protecting children and other vulnerable populations; Aging and intergenerational solidarity; Social work across the lifespan; Social protection policies, legislation, international conventions, and developing frameworks for inclusive and sustainable social protection for all; Social care and support frameworks and strategies; Addressing emerging social challenges; Intersectionality in social work; Ethics, ethical dilemmas, and human rights in social work.
4. Social Work and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Sustainable development and transformative change; Social work approaches to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals; Consensus and contradictions on sustainability and social development; Building sustainable and inclusive urban and rural communities; Climate change: Social work in the green economy and clean energy transition; Food security and sustainable food systems; Promoting sustainable livelihoods in the face of economic shifts; Gender equality and women’s empowerment; Social work in schools and education settings: Creating safe and inclusive learning environments; Social work in the criminal justice system: innovative approaches and practice methods; International aid and development, how much are we losing/gaining? Social work in a post foreign aid practice environment; Social work and rural social innovation for social development; Employment for social workers- responding to the emerging policy arena as a profession.
5. Clinical Social Work, Health, and Wellbeing: Mental health and psychosocial well-being in crisis contexts; Disability, rehabilitation and inclusive health technologies; Addressing substance abuse, addiction, and recovery pathways; Medical social work: Holistic health care and patient advocacy; Social work ethics and practice in ‘medical tourism’; Service involvement in medical social work education; Self-care in clinical social work.
6. Social Work Practice in the Face of Complex Global Challenges: Addressing systemic inequalities caused by globalization, climate crises, political conflicts, and economic transitions; Social work in a post-COVID world; Migration, refugee crisis, global mobility; Labour migration, human trafficking and the role of social work; Addressing domestic violence, gender based violence and violence against children; Combating child labour and exploitation; Social work intervention in conflict and post conflict situations, environmental disasters and social emergencies.
7. Social Movements, Political Social Work, and Building Democratic Societies: Governance, politics, peacebuilding, and conflict resolution; Emancipating voices; Youth movements, and social justice; Cross-cultural movements—the global impact of coalitions in influencing social policies; Social work, political activism and citizen empowerment to promote social change; Models of social welfare in a democratic society; Social work’s response to the role of media, technology, and communication in shaping social narratives.
8. Digital Social Work: Social work and technology; Digital social work and artificial intelligence; Navigating and addressing the digital divide; Ethics in digital social work education and practice.