Ecological Social Work in South Africa and the Way Forward

2021 ◽  
pp. 151-174
Author(s):  
Linda Arkert ◽  
Issie Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Hot Spot ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

Internationally, social work has been delayed in engaging with ecological social work. The delay is reflected in South Africa, which is predicted to be a hot spot where the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation are already being experienced. The effects of climate change and environmental degradation are social and environmental justice issues as the marginalized and poor in this country and the world have already been experiencing dire consequences. Social work practitioners and academics, in their roles as advocates for the marginalized and the poor, are therefore duty-bound to act for a sustainable environment for both people and the planet. In this chapter, the authors examine ecological social work in South Africa, its importance, and how it could become part of the global call for an ecological social work approach.

The World Economic Forum Principles on "Climate Governance on Corporate Boards": can soft law help to face climate change around the world?

2020 ◽  
pp. 37-55
Author(s):  
Sabrina Bruno
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Boards Of Directors ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Corporate Boards ◽  
World Economic Forum ◽  
Financial Factor ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic

Climate change is a financial factor that carries with it risks and opportunities for companies. To support boards of directors of companies belonging to all jurisdictions, the World Economic Forum issued in January 2019 eight Principlescontaining both theoretical and practical provisions on: climate accountability, competence, governance, management, disclosure and dialogue. The paper analyses each Principle to understand scope and managerial consequences for boards and to evaluate whether the legal distinctions, among the various jurisdictions, may undermine the application of the Principles or, by contrast, despite the differences the Principles may be a useful and effective guidance to drive boards' of directors' conduct around the world in handling climate change challenges. Five jurisdictions are taken into consideration for this comparative analysis: Europe (and UK), US, Australia, South Africa and Canada. The conclusion is that the WEF Principles, as soft law, is the best possible instrument to address boards of directors of worldwide companies, harmonise their conduct and effectively help facing such global emergency.

Are There Limits to Limits?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Dobson
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Environmental Politics ◽  
Global South ◽  
Peak Oil ◽  
Limits To Growth ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Ecological Problems ◽  
The Rich

The idea that there might be “limits to growth” is a key and contested feature of environmental politics. This chapter outlines the limits to growth thesis, describes and assesses critical reactions to it, and comments upon its relevance today. It argues that, after an initial highpoint in the early 1970s, the thesis declined in importance during the 1980s and 1990s under criticism from “ecological modernizers” and from environmental justice advocates in the global South who saw it as way of diverting blame for ecological problems from the rich and powerful to the poor and dispossessed. “Peak oil” and climate change have, though, given renewed impetus to the idea, and this has given rise to new discourses and practices around “sustainable prosperity” and “degrowth.”

Global Environmental Justice and the Environmentalism of the Poor

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joan Martinez-Alier
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Justice ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Resource Extraction ◽  
Tree Plantations ◽  
Ecological Distribution ◽  
Environmental Racism ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Global Environmental ◽  
The World ◽  
Water Justice

There are an increasing number of ecological distribution conflicts around the world ultimately caused from the increase in the metabolism of the economy in terms of flows of energy and materials. There are resource extraction conflicts, transport conflicts, and also waste disposal conflicts. Therefore, there are many local complaints. Since the 1980s and 1990s there has been a globalizing environmental justice movement that in its strategy meetings and practices has developed a set of concepts and slogans to describe and intervene in such conflicts. They include “environmental racism,” “popular epidemiology,” “the environmentalism of the poor and the indigenous,” “biopiracy,” “tree plantations are not forests,” “the ecological debt,” “climate justice,” “food sovereignty,” “water justice,” and so on . . . These notions have been born from socio-environmental activism but sometimes they have been taken up also by academic political ecologists and used in their analyses.

scholarly journals CLIMATE CHANGE AND COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENTAL CONFLICTS: ARE THEY CORRELATED?

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 067
Author(s):  
Achmad Romsan ◽  
Farida Ali ◽  
Akhmad Idris ◽  
Adrian Nugraha ◽  
Nurhidayatuloh Nurhidayatuloh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Environmental Management ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Major Change ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Water Shortages ◽  
Environmental Disputes ◽  
The World ◽  
The Government

Climate change and global warming affect major change in freshwater availability and season uncertainty which hamper all part of the globe. Although the phenomenon is not new but it needs concerns from all the government of States around the world to  address the problem. If notthe drought and water shortages will directly and indirectly be the world problem and finally will ignite conflict over resources.Pollution and environmental degradation will also affect the sustainability of community’s economic activities. In Indonesia, since the enforcement of the first Environmental Management Act of 1982 up to the third Environmental Management Act of 2019, there have been forty one conflicts involving community and industries and palm plantation companies. All the conflicts are brought before the courts. Herein, industries and plantations are blamed for responsible for river water pollution and environmental degradation. Unfortunately, there is very little information in Indonesia obtained from the research reports, journals, news papers, magazines whether climate change and global warming also responsible for the occurrence of community environmental conflict. From the second data sources obtained from outsite Indonesia it is found that there is a link between climate change and community environmental disputes. The objectives of this paper tryto examine whether the cases submitted and solved by the District Courtsalso have some connection with the climate change phenomenon. Other objectives are to recommend to the Government of Indonesia to strengthen the existing regulations dealing with the climate change

scholarly journals INFO FROM THE WORLD

Detritus ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 201-202
Author(s):  
Managing editor: Elena Cristina Rada
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Environmental Degradation ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
The City

Waste management raises concerns on environmental degradation and public health issues in the city of Nairobi, Kenya where a big share of the urban population still suffers from lack of adequate waste collection services. Governmental and international efforts have focused on implementing waste operations in middle- and high-income areas that fall short of providing informal settlements with equally efficient facilities (Figure 1). This results in increased rates of urban inequalities as well as places waste issues in the broader framework of environmental injustice and marginalization of the poor. In response to the current gaps, the emergence of spon. 

scholarly journals An exploration of the idea of ecodomy in Calvin's view of God and the world: Its implications for churches in South Africa today

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerry Pillay
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
John Calvin ◽  
Church Transformation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
Theological Foundation

The Faculty of Theology chose as its theme oikodome, which speaks about the fullness of life for all. This article explored this theme by looking at John Calvin�s understanding of God and the world. In this article, working from the premise of the sovereignty of God, the author attempted to show that undergirding Calvin�s theology is the idea of oikodome. The author showed that for Calvin everything in life is connected to God and thus the idea of oikodome is deeply rooted in Calvin�s theology. The author illustrated this by examining significant themes in Calvin�s teachings on the Trinitarian God, creation, humanity and providence, state and church, transformation of society, concern for the poor, and education. The author used this information to show what implications the idea of oikodome has for churches in South Africa today, especially in the context of poverty and struggle. The author calls on churches to embrace the theological foundation explicated by Calvin in their endeavour to work toward the fullness of life for all people.

Social Work: A Very Short Introduction

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Holland ◽  
Jonathan Scourfield
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Work Relationships ◽  
Social Suffering ◽  
Short Introduction ◽  
What Works ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The World ◽  
International Human

Social workers spend their time trying to ease social suffering. They encounter the extreme casualties of social inequality: the victims of poverty, illness, addiction, and abuse; they work with abusers and offenders; and operate in the space between the state and the poor or marginalized. Social Work: A Very Short Introduction explains what social work is and looks at its rich historical development. Reflecting international human stories of social problems and social work relationships, as well as the philosophies behind the practice and the evidence about what works throughout the world, it looks at the various definitions, history, and debates about purpose and effectiveness, theory, and methods.

scholarly journals Sustainable approaches to nature in traditional architectural space, their application in the teaching of architecture and interior design

2018 ◽  
Vol 193 ◽  
pp. 04006
Author(s):  
Vo Thi Thu Thuy
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Interior Design ◽  
Ho Chi Minh City ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Traditional Architecture ◽  
Architectural Space ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
The World ◽  
Modern Application ◽  
And Coping

In the world in general and in Vietnam in particular, consequences of air pollution and climate change and needs for sustainable environment have recently led to the necessity of the approach to “sustainable development”. Vietnamese traditional architecture, rich in humanity and harmonization with nature, possesses a wealth of experience in constructing residential spaces and coping with nature, whose approaches have still retained their values up until this age, deserving a deeper look at modern application. The employment and application of traditional values in sustainable approaches to nature have a significant meaning in the teaching of architecture and arts. In this article, we will discuss values and experience from the process of studying approaches to nature in traditional architecture in order to apply them to modern issues and to the training of spatial designers and interior designers in Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture.

Social Workers’ Reflections on Utilising Indigenous Games in Child Counselling

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maud Mthembu ◽  
Nozuko Mkhize
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Social Background ◽  
Qualitative Design ◽  
Community Assets ◽  
Mutual Learning ◽  
Innovative Practice ◽  
Social Work Practitioners

This paper reports on the adaptation of local indigenous children’s games in South Africa that can be integrated during child counselling. There is a plethora of literature that advocates for the reconceptualisation of social work in non-western societies to align it with the values of clients being served. However, there is a dearth of literature on available indigenous social work games that can be applied particular in child counselling. Using a qualitative design, six social work practitioners, purposively sampled, were individually interviewed to explore their integration of indigenous games during child counselling. The findings indicate that through reflexivity, social workers learn and observe context-relevant knowledge from the communities they serve and that accumulated knowledge informs innovative practice interventions in social work. In this paper, children’s social background, culture, play behaviours and community assets informed social workers’ choice of the games they could incorporate in child counselling. The integration of local games, such as Uchiki, Umangqalutye, Eight Stones and riverbank clay, in child counselling sessions promotes a sense of mutual learning that benefits the helping profession to deliver a context-relevant service.

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