The overwhelming response to the call for this edition of Social Dialogue demonstrates the breadth and significance of social work’s contributions to addressing pressing global challenges and their interconnected impacts at regional and local levels. The topics covered in the two volumes emphasise the scope of social work’s engagement with human rights, social justice and inclusion across diverse contexts worldwide. IASSW is committed to providing a platform for social work voices, perspectives and experiences from across the world, a commitment reflected in the contributions brought together in these two volumes of Social Dialogue.
The 31st edition also reflects a commitment within social work to thinking and acting differently in search of innovative ideas and solutions to the complex challenges confronting societies and communities. The scope and rigour of the articles convey an important message: social work not only has valuable contributions to make, but also recognises the need for new approaches to respond meaningfully to these challenges.
These contributions also resonate strongly with IASSW’s current initiative to establish Special Interest Groups (SIGs). As a starting point, nine SIGs are in the planning phase, with convenors ready to bring colleagues together around shared interests in the following themes:
- Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Decolonial Social Work
- Digital Transformation in Social Work
- Climate Justice and Eco-Social Transformation
- Migration, Displacement, and Human Mobility
- Ageing, Care, and Intergenerational Solidarity
- Mental Health and Self-Care in Social Work and Social Work Education
- Gender Equality, Women and Girls
- Gender and Sexual Diversity
- Social Innovation and Transformation in Social Work Practice, Education, and Welfare Governance
Authors and readers are invited to join these emerging SIGs and contribute to shaping their direction through dialogue, networking, knowledge exchange and collaboration with colleagues across the world. Interested colleagues are encouraged to express their interest at communication@iassw-aiets.org.
Keeping pace with a rapidly changing world also requires social work to look inward and consider how we can strengthen our collective efforts globally. As the Editor-in-Chief aptly observes in this edition, the “vast global network of social workers represented in these volumes demonstrates a shared commitment to forging new pathways for addressing power, inequality, and injustice in ways that enhance the wellbeing of individuals, families, and communities.” This shared commitment provides a strong foundation, but a further step is needed to translate the wealth of knowledge, expertise and innovative thinking within social work into a stronger collective voice and greater global influence.
Building a global community around shared interests is critical to strengthening and empowering social work. Contributing expertise and leadership, building partnerships across borders and diverse contexts, and sharing knowledge and resources are important ways of strengthening social work from within and advancing sustainable solutions to global challenges. Underpinning these collective efforts is our shared commitment to social work’s ethical principles and values. To strengthen this shared foundation, IASSW and IFSW have established a joint taskforce to review the Global Social Work Statement of Ethical Principles, reaffirm its fundamental values and consider how these values are interpreted and applied in contemporary and emerging contexts. The process will include extensive global consultations, with the revised Statement envisaged for adoption in 2028.
The contributions to these two volumes of Social Dialogue demonstrate the wealth of innovative ideas and approaches that social work brings to addressing complex challenges. The knowledge, experiences and perspectives shared by authors can extend beyond publication into classroom discussions and case studies, webinars, panel discussions and collaborative research and practice initiatives. These exchanges enable colleagues not only to share expertise, but also to listen to and learn from one another, deepen our understanding of diverse contexts and strengthen our capacity to develop responses that are both globally relevant and locally meaningful.
Realising the potential of these contributions requires sustained collective engagement and action. IASSW provides a platform for colleagues to connect across regions and diverse contexts and, together with our international social work and social development partner organisations, to strengthen solidarity and advance shared goals. Our collective challenge is to build on the contributions reflected in these volumes through dialogue, mutual understanding and respect for diverse contexts, and to work together to translate our shared knowledge and commitments into meaningful action, both globally and locally.