8th Congress of Social Work 2022

introduction themes comitees programme registration location information links archive

1. thema: Social work in emergency situations (covid-19 etc.): challenges and responses
Social work in emergency situations (COVID-19, etc.), challenges and responses to them

2. thema: Monitoring, evaluation and other research of introduced changes in social work
Monitoring, evaluation and other research of introduced changes in the field of social work

3. thema: Social work in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation and networking in addressing complex societal challenges (long-term care, mental health, addictions, violence)
Social work in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation and networking in addressing complex societal challenges (long-term care, mental health, addictions)

4. thema: Identity and competencies in social work
Identity and competencies in social work

5. thema: Social work as the response to the deepening social inequality
Social work and the deepening social inequality

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1. thema: Social work in emergency situations (covid-19 etc.): challenges and responses


Although recently the Covid-19 epidemic was the one to create an emergency situation, in the past, social work had striven against other extraordinary circumstances, such as natural disasters (earthquakes, floods) or other one-time events of crisis that prevented people from living a normal life. Such situations, while usually limited in time, affect all aspects of the functioning of society, organisations, communities and individuals. Although the topic also includes these other types of emergencies encountered by social work, the past two years have been most marked by the Covid-19 epidemic. How did the epidemic and the related Covid protection measures influence the practice of social work? What were the effects of changes in legislation? How did public and non-governmental organisations respond to state measures? How did the epidemic affect the provision of social care services and programmes, and in turn, people who use them? What were users' experiences and evaluation of services to which they turned for assistance and support, in terms of the responsiveness and effectiveness of services? Which were personal, professional or ethical challenges encountered by organisations and their employees? Which innovative methods and approaches were developed during the Covid-19 epidemic? What can feedback from politics, social work organisations and practice tell us about social work's capability to contend with the challenges of emergency situations? What are the examples of good practices and innovations which could be used and developed for future practice?


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2. thema: Monitoring, evaluation and other research of introduced changes in social work


Market-oriented increase in the choice of services and programmes, individualisation of user needs, increased variety and complexity of life experiences, life courses and living conditions are among the factors influencing social work practice. Social workers and organisations as such should repeatedly respond to such challenges by developing new programmes and services and introducing innovative approaches to and research of users' living realities. During the past decade, social security saw the introduction of measures (in the spirit of new public management) the influence of which (both on the quality of the working environment and the quality of services and assistance for users) is not monitored systematically enough to enable the planning of further measures based on the effects of the existing ones. How can newly introduced measures, services and programme developments be evaluated? Can research, monitoring and evaluation only be considered bureaucratic obstacles or can they be seen as the path leading to positive change? Which methods are used in the research of the changing practice of social work? How do the data collected lead to change and the development of new programmes? Are we competent enough as practitioners in the role of researchers? What is shown by data on recently introduced changes (such as the reorganisation of Social Work Centres, the introduction of changes due to Covid-19)?


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3. thema: Social work in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation and networking in addressing complex societal challenges (long-term care, mental health, addictions, violence)


Interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation has been occurring for some time and ever more often in legislation, in numerous acts and conventions, and as a solution for complex challenges which go beyond the limits of individual sectors and the work of individual organisations. Social work typically operates in different areas, where different sectors, organisations, professional groups and individual experts overlap, which is why also their competence, responsibilities, knowledge and approaches overlap. What is the role of social work in interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral cooperation? What are the legal and organisational frameworks of social workers' actions in the "interspaces" of organisations divided between different departments/sectors? What are the advantages of the knowledge and competencies of social workers operating in interdisciplinary and inter-institutional contexts? What are the challenges of this type of co-operation for the profession of social work? Is social work a recognised and respected actor in these areas of work? To what extent is such cooperation possible in the team approach to social work, how does it take place and what are its potential benefits and risks?


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4. thema: Identity and competencies in social work


The practice of social work has been constantly changing in response to challenges brought by changes in society. This involves not only the profession's identity, and competencies that social work students acquire today, but also the historical development of both, the profession of and education for social work. What does this mean for knowledge, professional identity, and the competence of social work and individual social workers? Which competencies do future generations of social workers need to have to be able to solve complex and increasingly burning societal issues (such as political conflicts, the impact of climate change etc.) and be competent partners in dialogue with other professions? What is the role of social work in Slovenia and how is it recognised in public and the media? What is the role of social work in areas that have so far been less considered, such as climate change, food safety, sustainable solutions to societal challenges? What is the importance of the strengthening of social work's identity? What role does education play in shaping social work' professional identity, and how successful is it? What are the benefits and threats of the use of competence models in education for social work?


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5. thema: Social work as the response to the deepening social inequality


In many ways, social inequalities have increased and become more visible due to the Covid-19 epidemic. At the level of organisations, the provision of services for users was often limited or prevented by the Covid protection measures and ad hoc changes of legislation (which often were completely unrelated to the epidemic). However, these changes do not only result from the circumstances related to Covid-19 but represent a permanent situation in the Slovenian social care, health care and other policies. What is social work's response to such systemic obstacles which have been increasing social inequalities? How much power does social work in Slovenia have to bring to attention the increasing social inequalities and help prevent them, as well as influence the trends of (anti)social policies? How do social workers see their role? What are the role and influence of social workers in asserting people’s rights to public funds, or assisting employment seekers? What would the introduction of the universal basic income mean for social security and social work, and what is the importance of recently emerged practices resulting from professionally often harmful policies and Covid-19-related emergency situations?


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