NASW Social Work Talks - EP 108: EcoSocial Work

Episode Date: November 13, 2023

Rachel Forbes, MSW, Associate Professor of the Practice of Social Work and Western Colorado MSW Program Director at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work, and Kelly Smith, DSW, founder and the director of the Institute of Social Work and Ecological Justice, and a social work instructor at Columbia University and the Adelphi University, discuss what social workers can help communities deal with environmental issues. They are editors of the newly released NASW Press Book, EcoSocialWork, Environmental Practice and Advocacy.

From the National Association of Social Workers, this is Social Work Talks, and I'm your host, Elizabeth Lamott, and I am delighted to welcome to our conversation, Rachel Forbes and Kelly Smith, the editors of this excellent new book, Ego Social Work, Environmental Practice and Advocacy. Rachel Forbes MSW is an Associate Professor and the Western Colorado MSW Program Director at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work. Her current research and teaching focuses on the impact of climate change on mental health and also on ecological justice social work practice. Kelly Smith, DSW, is the founder and the director of the Institute for

Social Work and Ecological Justice. She teaches at Columbia School of Social Work and Adelphi University School of Social Work, and her research explores the inclusion of environmental and ecological justice content in social work curricula in relation to the impact of climate change and environmental degradation on communities with concentrated systemic disadvantages. Rachel Forbes and Kelly Smith, welcome to Social Work Talks. Thank you so much for joining us today. Could we start out just for those of our listeners who may not be familiar with some of the terms, could we start out defining eco-social work to begin with and also ecological justice and climate justice? Sure. So I would just like to start by saying that social workers have

always intervened where environmental issues are present. So even going back to the earliest days of social work practice, social workers have always intervened where we see environmental issues. And so I would define eco-social work practice as kind of an emerging term within social work that talks about all of the different ways in which social workers can engage and intervene where there are environmental injustices or issues where the populations who they work with are being impacted by environmental concerns or degradation. Yes, it's really interesting as you mentioned that. I would like to read a brief quotation from the introduction that you wrote to the book. The two of you write that some of the first

recognized social workers, namely Jane Addams and Mary Richman, acknowledged the importance of the built and natural environments to the health and well-being of their clients and client systems. Mary Richman also realized that the role the environment plays in the social functioning of human beings. As such, one of the earliest eco-social work practice interventions were the settlement houses that address the lack of sanitation for low-income and immigrant communities. It goes on to say that from this history, social work organizations continue to make strides toward climate stability and ecological justice. And that's quoting NASW, the hosts of today's conversation. Sorry, I was just going to say that if we dive into the NASW

values and ethics, I think we can find the responsibility to the environment really embedded within there, especially when we're thinking about the ethical responsibilities to the broader society and advocating for living conditions that are conducive to the fulfillment of basic human rights and responding to public emergencies, which certainly the climate crisis falls under. Yes, this is a social work issue that is in our ethics code, that we as social workers must attend to these issues. In some ways, part of how I experienced your book is is a coming back to our roots and to the basic core of the profession where we learn right in the beginning about the settlement house movement. We also learn about the person in environment

and your book is amplifying the environment part of the person in the environment. Do you view it that way or how would you edit what I'm saying? Yeah, I think that while today's social workers are, you know, keen to work alongside climate scientists or advocating for things like clean energy equity or, you know, looking at what are the impacts of climate change on things like migration, right? like we can it's evolved you know and social work has historically demonstrated malleability by evolving over time to meet the current needs of the day and so it you know that's not to say that you know we don't still do things like advocate for you know sustainable sanitation systems and secure housing like our you know some of the founders of the profession were doing in the earliest days of social work. It's just that the issues are different now and social

workers are stepping into spaces and arenas, working on interdisciplinary teams to address some of the growing impacts of the climate crisis and global environmental degradation. So it just looks a little different now, I would argue. And as it looks a little different, what would you say that social workers most need to know about eco-social work practice in order to be an effective advocate? Kelly? Sure. I might argue that they should continue doing whatever work they're already doing and invite eco-social practice into their current space. And if you use sort of the model of the grand challenges of social work, which is, again, a relatively new iteration of social work practice, I think started around the mid-2010s, 2015 or so,

they really outlined the more current goals of the profession. And I think if you wanted to ensure the healthy development of all youth, close the health gap, eradicate homelessness, for example. All of these components require a safe and healthy environment in order to be really accomplished. And so maintaining sort of your space, you don't have to make eco-social work practice your central component, but I would call all social workers to consider how they might begin to incorporate some environmental justice or eco-social practice into their current work. I was going to also say that I think that while social workers need not be climate science experts, I do think that it's within our calling, especially when we think about

competent practice, to at least have foundational knowledge of climate science, right? And so it was intentional that the first chapter in the book is called The Climate Crisis and Social justice and overview for social workers and in that particular chapter it outlines very basically for social workers these are the key components of climate science as they might bear upon your career as a social worker as they might bear upon the populations whom you work with and so there are really key um components in that found in that introduction chapter um where we talk about, like, this is what climate change is. It's defined really nicely, and it kind of breaks down maybe some of the ideas that may seem a little overwhelming or too complex. You know,

I realize it can be a little bit overwhelming to try to understand all of the intricacies of climate science, but I think that there are some foundational things that social workers should know about when it comes to climate change. And what would you say is one that stands out to you as you reflect on this first chapter? Yeah, so I think first and foremost, we need to understand the justice implications of the climate crisis, right? So social justice, environmental justice, economic justice, you know, these are core values of our practice. And one thing that we need to keep in mind as social workers is that climate change and the climate crisis is a justice issue because we know that climate change impacts different populations

disproportionately and in different ways. So if you're already a historically oppressed community, if you are already identified as someone who might be marginalized or a vulnerable population, these are communities that we know feel the brunt of climate change directly in a more deeper way. and oftentimes these are also the populations who are the least likely contributors to climate change so you have folks feeling climate change negative impacts the most and yet they are the least likely contributors to the issue so you can see the justice implications there so i just i think that that's something to keep in mind as a social worker is to understand that climate change doesn't impact everyone equally and there are equity issues when we talk about

about climate change. And also a distinction is made between climate change, climate crisis, and climate instability. Kelly, could you build on that in terms of the importance of this first chapter and how it's educating the reader on this topic? Certainly. And because we know that the climate impacts vary in different locations. We have to be mindful of that. And something that's interesting about the language of the climate crisis, of eco-social work, of environmental justice, of green social work, it goes by so many names that I think sometimes we feel maybe isolated in this work that how are not more of us concerned and caring? And I would like to argue that we are, that there are so many people out there that are concerned and that now really you

can't open a newspaper or go online or engage in conversation without some issue of the climate coming up. And so maybe in different scenarios, right, the terminology comes into play differently. But overall, I think sometimes the idea of climate change can be a misnomer in some ways because it indicates that we're changing from A to B. And really, rather, what's happening is we're experiencing climate instability where the water cycles are no longer in patterns as they used to be. The seasons are not in the same patterns. The heat is becoming extreme in many parts of the world.

And that calls us in to to address maybe different components of what overall maybe could fall under the umbrella term of climate crisis. Just last week in New York City, as an example, how did the two of you connect to create this book and put together this compilation? um so one of the goals of putting this edited volume together is to build community in this practice area now as kelly was saying oftentimes it can feel really isolating if you're the only social worker who you know who cares about um eco-social work issues um you know i one of the nice things about being in community with other eco-social workers is that we keep in touch via different networks. We have a really strong listserv that we all, most of us, subscribe to. There's a Facebook group that has over a thousand social workers all around the world doing this

work. And one of Kelly and I's mutual colleagues, Dr. Meredith Powers, she's at UNC Greensboro. She had connected us as two persons who might be interested in convening some of our colleagues to put forth this volume. And Kelly and I were just talking yesterday about how wonderful it was to meet so many new folks doing this work all across the world and also to learn more deeply about some of our colleagues or people we've known for quite a while but to get to know their work in a little bit of a deeper way was really special i think total we had like 45 maybe authors contribute to the volume so there are many diverse voices intergenerational voices it's it was pretty fantastic to get such a wonderful group of people willing to put their work down and add it to the

volume. And Kelly, anything that you would add to how the two of you met and put this important compilation together? Sure. Well, I believe Rachel had a longstanding relationship with the NASW. And so again, as the issues of environmental justice were really being called in by various social work organizations, by many students who were looking for answers to their questions about how environmental justice and ecological justice and eco-social practice fit into their scholarship. I think the NASW responded and reached out to Rachel. And then I was lucky enough to be brought into the work. And I'm so glad that they did and that we have this book. And I want to shift now to chapter 12, which is titled The Impact of Climate Change and

Environmental Degradation on Mental Health, which Rachel, this is a real focus of research and teaching for you. Can you talk about this chapter and how it connects to your research advocacy and teaching? Yeah, absolutely. I think the first thing that I would say is I think there's a lot of research out there that looks at the health equity implications of the climate crisis, right? So we know that, you know, in a warming world, you know, what are the health risks when it comes to climate change on different populations i think a more i think a new and emerging area of this work is going to be looking at what are the mental health implications and so for a long time social workers have engaged in um for example like disasters you know if we look at a natural

disaster or a man-made disaster you know social workers are the most likely folks to go respond to provide some of that psychological first aid you know we do a really great job responding to those acute weather events we also need to start thinking about the impacts of the climate crisis on our mental health even when there isn't an acute weather event that we can pinpoint to that says this person is feeling some kind of a trauma response because of this hurricane right we have folks that are really suffering every day with um just the grief of knowing that this is happening to our world the chronic anxiety knowing like when is the next natural disaster going to impact my home my family my community i think people are um really suffering with just the loss of some of the

um species that we're seeing that are going extinct some of the loss of the different ecosystems around the world um due to environmental degradation and the climate crisis and so So I would argue that more research and advocacy is needed from the social work profession to look at this. I think we need to understand how it's impacting populations. We need more evidence-based interventions to work with folks in, for example, a therapeutic setting where somebody may be coming to your private practice because they were just so anxious about what's happening, especially young adults, I would say, because young adults

being the ones that are going to be living with the crisis the longest. And so we need better interventions. And who did the least, the younger people did the least to cause it. Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so I think there's some really great work happening in this space, and I think social workers need to be a part of it. I just know that, you know, when it comes to mental health of our young people, especially if you ask them what are some of the things that are on their mind,

I know climate change is a popular answer with young adults and youth especially. So it's just something we should be paying attention to and something that I think we should be advancing in our work. Rachel, I so agree with you. I come to this conversation as the chair of the private practice committee specialty practice section of NASW. And in my work in private practice, it has changed. And this is a topic that is weighing on people. It is deeply impacting emotional health. And in some ways, part of what I read in this chapter in particular, and some of the others is a less pathologized view of mental pain, where that sometimes when people are depressed, this really is part of the roots of it that is less diagnostic and very based

in the instability around us in our environment. Yeah. And I think there's also a lot of really great work happening. And I know that this is cited in the book in different places when it comes to just the connection to our environments and that kind of place-based framework. Place is mentioned throughout a couple of the chapters. But when you have a place that you feel really deeply connected to and it's no longer there or it's going underwater or it's changing or a fire came through and it no longer exists, that connection to that place is so deeply entwined in folks' identities, in their histories, in how they know how to just be in relationship with the world around them.

And so I think it's really important that we, you know, take that place-centered or that place-based approach to our work and really understand how are people living in connection with the natural world around them. And when that natural world is changing or fails to exist, how is that impacting communities and how folks are in relationship with their, with their, with themselves and also with their, with their communities. And could you share a specific example of a case connected to your research and teaching on this topic, Rachel? Sure. So I live in Western Colorado. I live in a very small rural town called Glenwood Springs,

and it's nestled right at the confluence of the Colorado River and the Roaring Fork River. We live next to a very beautiful canyon. It's called Glenwood Canyon. And about a couple years ago um this iconic beautiful natural landscape um just you know steps outside of my door um it burned there was a massive wildfire it closed the canyon people were trapped we couldn't exit or enter out of the town um it was a really scary time we didn't know um what was going to happen um to our community also just because of this iconic beautiful place that really represents our town and who we are um people were terrified like what is it going to look like after the fires stop burning you know it's it's a major source of um tourism for our community right so people

were thinking about not only like the landscape but also their livelihoods um it's it's a very historic place and so um it was one of those things where just as a social worker and as a practitioner in this space you know i talked to many people who were just grieving the loss grieving that you know that that place that really um symbolizes who we are as a community in glenwood springs and so um i think that was just one example for me that really helped motivate me to get deeper involved in this work because as we know with the climate crisis these kinds of disasters unfortunately are happening all the time due to climate change and so i think we need to be better equipped to responding we need to do more work upstream to help mitigate these issues before

they start. But I think for me, that was one of the really profound moments in my life where I saw this deep connection to place being disrupted by something like climate change. Thank you so much for sharing that personal and also, I think, in some ways becoming nearly universal experience. My in-laws have been displaced by Hurricane Ian, And it's changed their whole life. And I feel like it is becoming more and more common that all of us have a story on this topic. As we think about place and identity and connection to nature, I wanted to talk about chapter 16 and some of the examples there. There are community garden initiatives mentioned.

Kelly, can you speak to this chapter and explain some of the concepts in it for our listeners and viewers? Sure, I'd be so happy to. This chapter was written by Professor Amy Stein, and she does what so many of the chapters do really well is bring together social work concepts and practices that have long been implemented and applies them now in a multifaceted way to meet needs that we've been describing during the podcast. And so what the program does is it brings together 30 of these immigrants and it starts to check what happens for them as they start gardening together. But not only gardening, gardening plants that are familiar, right, that are culturally relevant. And it looks at how these communities that then establish around these green garden spaces have restorative and therapeutic benefit for the folks that are invested in them. What I really like about this chapter is that it offers a practice solution that is very easily replicated to meet the needs of any variety of folks that social workers may be working alongside. And it really does bring in voice from individuals and it creates more of a partnership space.

And I think because as you're building that community, as you're offering food resources, right, you're starting to meet additional needs. So I really think it's a beautifully written chapter and really inspiring one as well. And to your knowledge, Kelly, are people replicating this? There's these clear emotional health benefits, and they even allude to physical health benefits to this community gardening initiative. Are you aware of social workers replicating this initiative in any way? um you know the book just came out in june and so one of the um the things that rachel mentioned earlier is this idea of creating almost a conversation across social workers and so we really do hope that this um idea is being replicated right it's based on a place attachment model um which many social workers are familiar with right but um professor stein builds on that And so she makes it a conceptual model that's very specific for refugee resettlement. And certainly if others are implementing this or implementing something similar, I think one of the most wonderful things about social work is that it's always growing, changing, evolving and meeting needs. So we would certainly love to hear about it.

along these lines this is a natural place to mention for our listeners and viewers that one way to become a more engaged advocate in eco-social work and environmental justice is to purchase the book which you can do through the show notes section of our website and also you can receive continuing education credit through NASW for reading the book and learning about it and I'm curious might our listeners be able to join any of these Facebook groups or other connected communities to take this to the next level and if so what would you suggest? Absolutely. I know that we have a couple different avenues for doing this. One of them is the eco-social work listserv that actually Dr. Meredith Powers, who was mentioned

earlier, moderates. I can make sure that that is available to our listeners and to our viewers. It's just a quick send them an email and you can get subscribed, no cost. And there is a public Facebook group that is called Ecologically Conscious Social Workers, I believe it's called. And you can search that on Facebook and join as well. With the ISWEJ, we run a conference each year. We would love to have folks join in on that. And then there's many aligned groups as well. So through the IFSW, there's the Climate Justice Program.

I would encourage people to check that out, to look at the Grand Challenge for Create Social Responses to the Changing Environment. And so, sorry, I said it wrong three times, Creating a Social Response for the Changing Environment. They offer quite a lot of resources on their website as well. And there are aligned professions. So the Climate Psychology Alliance, they're very open. They run different group sessions for practitioners where you can actually address some of these climate issues that you may be feeling, that you may be noticing in your practice. And they also offer just a number of different resources for people who are interested. Kelly do you find I mean either of you can jump in and answer this but I'm curious do you find

that through your teaching at Columbia School of Social Work and Adelphi University School of Social Work that when you teach the course your students tend to engage more and take some of these steps? I do. And it's actually been such a wonderful experience. And there are so many ways to enter into these conversations to build student capacity. And so I do like to run my courses in a way that students are creating something that maybe lasts beyond the course. So do connect them to these resources and things, but also have them thinking about the populations and the work that they came in to serve, right? What drove them into the field of social work and really starting to articulate that and then layering in that eco-social work

piece, right, and starting to figure out for themselves, like, how does this matter to me in my profession, right, to me in my personal life, and to the work that I aim to do. And Kelly, so much of your work and focus right now is on how you include environmental topics in social work curriculum. So chapter 18 is titled Teaching Place for Social Work Practice. Can you tell our listeners and viewers a bit about chapter 18 and how it connects to your professional focus? Sure, I'd be so happy to. And we are truly fortunate to have this chapter in the book. Professor Susan Kemp is truly one of the founders in this space, having brought this work really to the forefront of the profession for so many years and just

creating space where then she also is inviting in others to the work. So I'm happy to speak to this, of course. She worked with Cindy Sosa and Brie Atkinson on this project. And so what they were really thinking about, again, it keeps coming back to place-based and community-based work and starting to think about how when we are centering our conversations on place, we should be really specific about what place we make in the social work classroom and what a transformative space and place that could be. And that when we are in that classroom environment, it helps us to meet a number of other needs, kind of what Rachel and I were talking about before, creating that sense of community, that sense of attachment, and really encouraging people to

consider their identity within the social work profession and how maybe we can grow from there, which social work has always been a profession that is striving, that sees a better world. And so how can we use the classroom to, again, bring that attitude, that hopefulness truly to the issues that we're facing with extreme weather, for example, for the disproportionate impact of the climate crisis um you know both acute crises right like the hurricanes floods fires and also the more um long-standing problems such as um you know where the sighting of different um facilities that produce exceptional air pollution are are placed right and we know that they're often placed in places um where people have been economically disenfranchised

that are racially segregated. And so asking ourselves as social workers and as social work professionals in the classroom, how can we call folks in? Yes, I think that this chapter in many ways echoes back to your introduction and to chapter one and the person and environment. I do want to read one quotation from the chapter, which is a quotation from one of the students who writes, I'm struck by having what has been invisible in plain view illuminated for me. Prior to this class, it never occurred to me to put equal weight on the end of the person in environment as I was in the beginning of that concept, with the person. A place conscious perspective was not at all what I carried.

I imagined places, home, community, region, as circles around my client that needed to be considered, but not that necessarily deserved my direct engagement. And I think that's right where both this book and your work challenges all of us, not just students, to continue to evolve and grow and be more active. How did the two of you come to the field of social work? What led you to decide to become a social worker? If you could each answer this. Kelly, do you want to go first? Sure, I'd love to. So I did my graduate degree in gender and social policy at the London School of Economics. And I really saw myself in that policy making space. And when I came back to and then I started working in education. And when I came back to wanting to move into higher

education, I really, it feels like I searched the gamut of, um, of graduate programs. I was no longer able to go back and study at the LSD, which was my original intention, um, because of my family and, and, um, and care structures that I, I now had that I didn't prior. And so I started looking at different programs and I was, um, really drawn to law. I thought that might be the place for me, um, until a friend kind of off the cuff, who's been a social worker for over 20 years said, well, what about social work? And as soon as, um, she said that it was as if a light bulb went off and I started researching different programs, reading texts, and it felt as though my, um, personal, I just felt personally aligned with the profession,

the code of ethics, the call to justice. Um, it just, it felt, um, it felt like I had found my professional home. And, uh, so I went back to school through USC where again, I, um, certainly appreciated the, um, the can do attitude that that program offered, right. It sort of looked through the lens of the grand challenges and said, we know that there are, you can account for all kinds of ills in the world, but what are you here to do? How are you here to serve? And again, that just really spoke to me. And it's been the most wonderful experience for me than getting to meet so many others who are driven in this space. And it absolutely was the right call for me. And I'm so glad that you chose our field. Rachel, how about you?

Yeah. Similarly, I think I was drawn to social work just because of the professional values and ethics, social justice being one of them. I did my master's level training at Monmouth University, where I studied international and community development. And that was where I really first got exposed to issues surrounding what we were calling sustainability at that point. I was really excited to do an internship with the International Federation of Social Workers and learn about sustainable development all around the globe. That kind of is where I got my beginning foundational knowledge of some of the global issues surrounding the climate crisis and environmental justice. So that's kind of where it all began for me. And actually, Monmouth, when I

was a student there they the social work school um we put together a community garden for the school now that you're talking about community gardening before and um the social work school at Monmouth has a really nice community garden that one of my classmates did for his internship at the time and it's still going and now it's endowed and they do some great programming there so just another example of community gardening and social work education yes it's an important example and one of many that I'm glad we covered today. I feel like I could go on and on because this book is rich with so many important corners of eco-social work practice and advocacy. What do you think we have not yet covered today that our social work listeners and viewers need

to know? I think one exciting thing that wasn't mentioned yet is that, you know, so the Council for Social Work Education, the accrediting body for all social work programs, they, we recently in the 2015 educational policy and assessment standards included environmental justice for the first time as something that now should be included in all social work programs. So that for me is something really exciting. Kelly was talking about hopefulness before. And while I think it's important, yes, to know that the negative things that are happening, but it's also important to maintain hope that, you know, all social workers moving forward now with the new EPAS, schools are embedding environmental justice in their programs and in their curricula

in a way that we haven't seen before. There's a lot of demand from students to learn about these issues. Like I know, for example, at DU where I'm on the faculty at the Graduate School of Social work, we have an entire curricular pathway dedicated just to ecological justice. And people are coming to DU to study because they know they want to be a social worker and they know they want to focus on environmental issues and do eco-social work for their career. And so I have hope as an educator and as a practitioner that now that environmental justice is being embedded across curriculum all over the country and students are asking for this content, we are just training generations of future social workers who are committed to doing this work,

who have the competence, who have the passion. So I'm really excited for the work ahead, actually. Kelly, anything else that you feel we need to cover from this book? I know we could keep going. We are pretty much out of time, but anything that we have left out? um I think what's important about the book um is that it really demonstrates so many ways in which we can um find ourselves in a therapeutic practice that um you know whether you're interested in the macro level um the mezzo level community-based work or that mental health and individual-based work. There truly is something for everyone here. And there's just a lot of creativity in the book as well, where there are practices such as socially engaged art. I

absolutely love that chapter. She calls it artivism and looks at the ways that that too can um, be so, um, so beneficial in, in many different ways. And, uh, and I, I, what I, what I love about the book, um, having worked on it and now having it as a reader is the, um, the sense of creativity that we can apply. Um, we can use what we already know in social work, right? How to, um, how to listen to community, right? I think that that would be my key, my key takeaway here that we're not reinventing the wheel here. We are taking what we know and building from it while really maintaining those structures that make social work such a unique and wonderful field. On the NANESW website for the eco-social work book, there is a list of all

of the contributors. We would like to thank all of the important work that everyone put into this volume, and we are just grateful for you sharing your expertise, and we are really excited that everyone now gets to learn more about your work. We've been really grateful to serve as the editors for this book. It's been absolutely a collective effort from so many people over the course of two years, and we are forever thankful for the time, the expertise, and the dedication of all of the contributors on the book. Well, Rachel Forbes and Kelly Smith, thank you for this book, Eco-Social Work, Environmental Practice and Advocacy. Thank you for joining Social Work Talks today. The link to the book is in the show notes section. We hope that many of you will

check it out and thank you for joining us today you have been listening to nasw social work talks a production of the national association of social workers we encourage you to visit nasw's website for more information about our efforts to enhance the professional growth and development of our members to create and maintain professional standards and to advance sound social policies You can learn more at www.socialworkers.org. And don't forget to subscribe to NASW Social Work Talks wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks again for joining us. We look forward to seeing you next episode.