Highlights and Resources From the 5th Annual Ecological Justice and Social Work Symposium

The 5th Annual Ecological Justice and Social Work Symposium, held in partnership with Adelphi University's School of Social Work Continuing Education and Professional Development Program, can only be described as a restorative event. This year's speakers emphasized the importance of trauma-informed practice across all levels of ecosocial work, helping us to contextualize and reckon with the current political and planetary crises while prioritizing resistance through action, connection, and hope. We are thankful for all who were in attendance, especially our presenters, and hope folks came away with some new ideas to instill hope and reduce trauma within their ecosocial work practice.

Below you will find a brief summary of the information and resources shared throughout the event, including links to the full recording, posters, speaker information, collective playlist and more.

Keynote Presented by Dr. Joanne Cacciatore

Dr. Joanne Cacciatore, Founder of the MISS Foundation and the Selah Carefarm discussed the intersection of traumatic grief and sustainability. She started by sharing how overmedicating for grief doesn't get to the full needs of the griever, instead sometimes causing harm not only to the individual but also the environment surrounding them through wastewater systems. Dr. Cacciatore discussed the solution to this problem in the form of social prescribing and ecological engagement by sharing many of the strategies utilized throughout her Carefarm.

Voices of Impact Session with Drs. Sandra Engstrom and Amy Krings

Supplementing the focus on trauma-informed practice our first Voices of Impact Session featured an overview of the newly developed Climate Trauma-Informed Research Framework which serves for disrupting the cyclic relationships between climate havoc, climate trauma, and social inertia. Such an approach could help reduce the perpetuation of oppression and harm within climate research, and move all of us towards more equitable and collective action. The paper outlining the framework can be found here. Folks are welcome to reach out with feedback or questions.

Voices of Impact Session With Nathaniel Stinnett of the Environmental Voter Project

Shifting us further into actions that can be taken to resist inertia and perpetuating cycles of harm, our second Voices of Impact session introduced us to the Environmental Voter Project. Nathaniel described the process and data surrounding this innovative approach to voter mobilization, concluding with the successes they've seen as a result and a call to action to participate in their phone or postcard banking or other efforts if interested. While specific to the United States, Nathaniel's approach is applicable across countries.

Posters

Four posters were submitted for this year's symposium, representing a diversity of methodologies, topics, and geographic locations. Poster presenters included:

• Adil Hakkim, PhD Scholar, and their professors, discussing nature relatedness among future health care workers (University of North Carolina).

• Nadia Neismanas, LCSW, and Ezequiel Dominguez, MSW, discussing the imperative to protect migrant and seasonal farmworkers from extreme heat (Arizona State University).

• Georgianna Dolan-Reilly, PhD, LMSW, discussing the development of the Critical Ecosocial Framework which integrates ecosocial work with Anti-Racist/Anti-Oppressive practices (Sacred Heart University).

• CÈLIA BOLADO MONTORIOL, Social Work Candidate, discussing social work in natural disasters in a time of environmental crisis from an Ecosocial Approach (University of Barcelona).

All posters can be found here as well as separately within the ToolKit.

Website Submissions

As part of the symposium, we offered space for participants to contribute artwork, poetry, and opinion and practice pieces for distribution on this website and to our email lists. We are thrilled to share that we've received numerous submissions that will be posted throughout the coming weeks. Please keep an eye out for these!

Collective Playlist

This year, attendees curated a collective playlist of songs that foster a sense of motivation and solidarity within the current political and planetary climate. This playlist, representing a diversity of countries, was played throughout the event, and is available for viewing and listening on here.

Resources and Networking

We welcome you to visit the event's Toolkit for access to all of the materials shared above and throughout the symposium. Additionally, we have provided a networking and additional resources document where you can add your information or resources, and find the contact details of others doing this work! For a full recording of the event please visit our YouTube Channel.

Interested in furthering your ecosocial work education? Consider the Postgraduate Certificate in Environmental Justice for Social Workers!

Reach out, peruse the resources, expand your knowledge, find others on LinkedIn, and let's keep the work going!