2018 Social Work Conference

Three social work academics from the School, Professor Jim Campbell, Dr Sarah Donnelly and Dr Hilda Loughran are members of the Local Organising Committee and Scientific Committee for the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development which takes place on the 4^th to the 7^th July 2018 in Dublin, Ireland. It will bring together over 2000 social work and community development delegates, from over 100 hundred countries and provide an international forum for the sharing of the latest practice, pedagogical and research-based knowledge across all of the UN Goals on Sustainable Development. The conference will take place in the prestigious Royal Dublin Showground facilities over these four days, with up to 18 rooms running in parallel each day. The programme will consist of invited keynote sessions and paper presentations (oral, workshop, pecha kucha, symposia and poster) and technical field trips the day before the conference.  The Conference scientific committee has ensured a rigorous abstract submission process to ensure quality as well as an important mix of practitioner, academic, service user and student presenters.

The programme is designed to allow for maximum knowledge-sharing between delegates in a range of stimulating learning spaces. Each of the keynote speakers have been chosen because of their expertise in areas related to the UN Goals on Sustainable Development, and their contributions to social work and social development in each of the six continents in which they work (Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, North America and South America). From these keynote guided sessions to peer led oral presentations and workshops designed to maximise interaction, the aim is to allow for delegates to share research and experiences from their own situations with other countries and cultures.  The Conference therefore seeks to encourage the building of networks and collaborative relationships within and across countries to further develop research, practice and policy development.  Importantly the Conference seeks to encourage the voice of sometimes marginalised delegates, including service users, practitioners and early career researchers.

As we build towards the launch of the Conference on the 4^th of July,  the Conference hosts and local organising committee intend that, not only will the UN Goals on Sustainable Development be championed through the voices and actions of social work and community development delegates, but that the ideas, themes and practices that are discussed at the Conference will also be sustainable, and translated into actions which can improve the lives of individuals, families and communities around the world. In this way The Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education and Social Development in Dublin, will have maximum impact and purpose for attending delegates