Making Social Work More Socially Sustainable Through Participation: Rhetoric or Innovation?

From Firenze University Press Journal: SocietàMutamentoPolitica

Luca Pavani, University of Perugia

Sustainability has become a prominent topic in academic debate and political discourse, providing an opportunity to connect social justice con-cerns with environmental issues (Becker et al. 1999). Traditionally, sustain-ability is depicted as the point of convergence among the three pillars of the economy, environment, and society, which are commonly represented as intersecting circles (Khan 1995, Kunz 2006, Pope et al. 2004, Schoolman et al. 2012, Vogt and Weber 2019). The representation of sustainability as tri-partite and intersecting highlights the interdependence of the economic, environmental, and social aspects. While the economic dimension pertains to a production process geared towards capital maintenance (Khan 1995) and the environmental dimen-sion involves managing waste emissions in the environment without causing harm (Goodland 1996), the social dimension lacks a universally agreed-upon definition in the literature (Vallance et al. 2010, Cuthill 2010, Eizenberg and Jabareen 2017, Purvis et al. 2019).Nevertheless, the importance of the social pillar in sustainability discussions has risen, driven by the recognition that economic and environmental crises disproportionately impact vulnerable individuals and communities (Moldan et al. 2012). Indeed, central to the concept of social sustainability is the emphasis on fostering inclusive and equitable societal structures that empower individuals and communities (Bramley and Power 2009, Dempsey et al. 2011, Murphy 2012, Åhman 2013, Eizenberg and Jabareenè 2017). In this context, participation is defined as a method-ology (Cuthill 2010) to achieve social sustainability, as it enables the active involvement of individuals and com-munities in decision-making processes that affect their lives, ensuring that diverse voices are heard and taken into account. This dimension of social sustainability rec-ognises the intrinsic link between social well-being and the involvement of all stakeholders in the development and implementation of policies, projects and initiatives.In the realm of welfare services and social work, the literature on user participation has a long tradi-tion (inter alia: Beresford 2001, Carr 2007, Loeffler and Bovaird 2021), while the sustainability debate, especially in the social work literature, focuses mainly on the envi-ronmental and economic dimensions. Although par-ticipation is encouraged in theory and by law, pieces of empirical evidence show that it is often limited to single projects (Bifulco 2018, Fazzi 2021). This highlights a dis-crepancy in which institutions struggle to involve citi-zens in continuous and lasting participatory processes. It shows that participation has not yet been systematically incorporated into the widespread approach to the imple-mentation of welfare policies.Therefore, this paper specifically focuses on the social dimension of sustainability and aims to address the following questions through theoretical reflection: a) How can user participation enhance the social sustain-ability of social work? b)What should be the dynamic of participation between institutions and users to ensure the social sustainability of social work?In an effort to address these inquiries, we will ini-tially conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current state of social sustainability literature to underscore the significance of user participation in social work. Subse-quently, our focus will shift towards examining various forms and dynamics associated with user participation at the meso level of social work practice within the domain of welfare services in Italy. Our aim is to advocate for the adoption of co-creation processes, characterised by a bottom-linked dynamic, as an innovative approach with the potential to enhance the social sus-tainability of social work.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.36253/smp-15506

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