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Beginning: 01.02.2005
End: 31.12.2013
Funding: Faculty of social work, University of Ljubljana
Co-funding:
RS Ministry of Foreign Affairs
RS Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology
The City of Ljubljana
Collaborating organisations:
University of Colombo
Coordinator: University of Ljubljana
Leader: Bogdan Lešnik
Associates:
Dilrukshi Abeysinghe
Gabi Čačinovič Vogrinčič
Vito Flaker
Subhangi Herath
Ramanie Jayatilake
Vesna Leskošek
Nina Mešl
Milko Poštrak
Anula Rathnayake
Jelka Škerjanc
Lea Šugman Bohinc
Petra Videmšek
Mojca Urek
Darja Zaviršek
Romana Zidar
in drugi / and others
Other milestones:
The "end" marks the date when social work study at the University of Colombo is expected to be autonomous and sustainable.
Keywords:
International Education in Social Work; Practice Placements; Intercultural Exchange; Response to the Tsunami Disaster
Summary:
As a response to the tsunami disaster that hit Sri Lanka on 26 December 2004, the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana (UL), has been assisting the Sociology Department, Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo (UC), to establish social work education.
Cooperation between the two universities started in February 2005 with a preliminary research of the social consequences of the tsunami, conducted by a group of UC students and teachers with the project leader, and continued with an action project by students and teachers from both universities on the southern coast of Sri Lanka in August 2005.
The project encompasses three concurrent sets of actions. One covers the formalities of cooperation between the two universities. Another concerns students' activities: joint actions, practice placements for UL students in Sri Lanka, supervised by UC faculty, and vice versa. The third is the implementation of a social work study programme at the UC. This set consists of the development of a curriculum during visits of UC teachers at the UL; intensive courses at the UC taught by visiting teachers from the UL; and doctoral study at the UL of two UC lecturers/instructors who will teach social work at the UC upon completion of their studies.
An undergraduate study programme of social work was introduced at the UC in 2008 as a stream, offered for three years within four-year sociological studies and accepting 10 to 15 students per year. The first batch of students concludes the programme in 2011. Students will graduate from sociology - social work stream until the conditions are met for a degree in social work. Preparations have begun to start the procedure for the establishment of a Department of Social Work and Social Policy at the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo.
Courses of the programme
Publications:
Subhangi Herath & Bogdan Lešnik (2008), Internally displaced persons: Implications for the development of social work in Sri Lanka. In: Shula Ramon (Ed.), Social work in the context of political conflict. London: Venture Press (pp. 77—97).
Bogdan Lešnik & Mojca Urek (2010), Traps of humanitarian aid: Observations from a village community in Sri Lanka. European Journal of Social Work, 13, 2 (Race and Ethnic Relations), pp. 271—282.
Mojca Urek & Bogdan Lešnik (2010), Tsunami project: A case of a collaborative project between two universities. In: Lučka Kajfež-Bogataj, Karl H. Müller, Ivan Svetlik & Niko Toš (Eds.), Modern RISC-societies: Towards a new paradigm for societal evolution. Vienna: Edition Echoraum (pp. 373—387).
Darja Zaviršek & Subhangi M. K. Herath (2010), 'I want to have my future, I have a Dialogue': Social work in Sri Lanka between neo-capitalism and human rights. Social Work Education, 29, 8, pp. 831—842.
Conferences:
Disaster Conference/Seminar, 24 April 2009, St Aidan’s College, Durham University
Other:
Interim report
1. Protocol
• April 2005: Letter of intent signed by the UL in the UC
• November 2008: Adoption of a three-year project plan
• April 2011: Visit of the UC Vice-Chancellor Prof. K. S. Hirimburegama to the UL Rector Prof. R. S. Pejovnik, signing a new general MoU between the two Universities and an Annex regarding this project (see the relevant UL web page and UC web page)
2. Students' activities
• February 2005: Preliminary research on the southern coast of Sri Lanka (14 students and a teacher from the UC + project leader + support)
• August 2005: Joint action project on the southern coast of Sri Lanka (16 students and a teacher from the UC + 6 students and 2 teachers from the UL + support)
• December 2006: Study visit of 14 UC students and a teacher in Slovenia
• Practice placements of UL students in Sri Lanka:
◦ March 2009 (4 students)
◦ November 2009 (4 students)
◦ March 2010 (4 students)
◦ November 2010 (5 students)
◦ March 2011 (4 students)
Planned:
• Study visits of UC students in Slovenia
• Continuing practice placements for UL students in Sri Lanka
3. Social work study at the UC
(a) Visiting teachers from the UC to the UL (curriculum development):
• March-May 2008: Ramanie Jayatilake, Subhangi Herath
• April-July 2010: Subhangi Herath
(b) Visiting teachers from the UL to the UC:
• December 2008: Vito Flaker (Introduction to Social Work)
• July 2009: Mojca Urek (Community Mental Health)
• February 2010: Darja Zaviršek (Theories and Methods of Social Work)
• July-August 2010: Jelka Škerjanc (Community Social Work, Introduction to Social Work (for the new batch), coordination of practice placements)
• February 2011: Gabi Čačinovič Vogrinčič, Lea Šugman Bohinc (Collaborative Social Work)
• July 2011: Milko Poštrak (Theories and Methods of Social Work, Social Work with Groups at Risk of Exclusion)
• January-February 2012: Mojca Urek (Community Mental Health, Community Social Work)
Planned:
• February 2012: Vito Flaker (Introduction to Social Work, Community Social Work)
• May 2012: Petra Videmšek (Theories and Methods of Social Work)
• May-June 2012: Nina Mešl (Collaborative Social Work)
(c) Doctoral study of UC lecturers/instructors at the UL:
• Dilrukshi Abeysinghe, proposal accepted in 2010, conclusion expected in 2013 (title: "Towards a culturally competent, community-based approach in mental health in Sri Lanka: A challenge for social work", supervisor Darja Zaviršek)
• Anula Rathnayake, proposal accepted in 2010, conclusion expected in 2013 (title: "Mental health and family in Sri Lanka: Family intervention and the significance of family support for people with mental health problems", supervisor Gabi Čačinovič Vogrinčič)