Abstract: This chapter is based on a qualitative study with an exploratory designand includes two data sources, a selection of method literature and an online questionnaireon use of methods among Norwegian and Swedish practitioners. Theaim of this chapter is to discuss methods and challenges for collective mobilisationwithin community work by comparing methods used in Norway and Sweden. Intotal, 19 professionals and activists from three sectors of society (public, civic andprivate) participated in an online questionnaire. The participants had diverse occupationalor academic backgrounds, engaged in social development and developmentwork in multiple ways, from community development to public health work,youth work and voluntary work, in both urban and rural environments. The resultsof the study show a diversity of methods that can be used for collective mobilisation,including aims of dialogue, co-operation and strengthening co-creation. However,in Norway methods were used more systematically than in Sweden, where methodswere more fragmented. The participating Swedes put focus on practical activitiesand participation,while the Norwegians emphasized their experiences of structuredmethods and adaptations to the selected purpose. The results also show that thepractitioners did not put emphasis on collective mobilisation, but on participation,relationships, dialogue, co-operation, and co-creation. Our findings indicate thatcurrent societal challenges call for further development of methods for both socialcollectivisation and collective mobilisation, instead of individualisation.

In these times of global pandemics and climate crisis, social sustainability has become a crucial issue within diverse sectors and disciplines. This article aims to broaden the discussions on social sustainability in general, and in relation to community work within professional social work in particular.

By means of a cross-disciplinary bricolage approach – with a focus on the commons – we aim to construct a holistic view of urban social sustainability. Beginning with the Anthropocene concept, which recognizes the human impact on the Earth’s natural systems and hence highlights the need to include the natural environment as a determinant of good and fair living conditions for all, we remix arguments and examples relating to social sustainability with environmental and spatial dimensions to develop an urban green commons. Our cross-disciplinary perspective extends beyond contemporary social policy by bringing together natural resource management, public health, and spiritual aspects of the commons. In order to fit the plurality of urban contexts across the planet, further critical deliberations are needed, focusing on social sustainability and collective action for sustainable change in each context. 

Youth empowerment within the context of sustainable development (SD) is starting to gain more attention within social work, both internationally and in Sweden. SD, as an integrated set of global goals in tackling social, economic, and ecological challenges, is a vital concept in social work. Protecting people and the natural environment can be considered the fullest realization of the person-in-environment, a foundation upon which the social work profession is built. The ecosocial perspective is widely discussed in terms of societal transformation in harmony with nature. Within this context, this article explores ecosocial work discourses in youth empowerment. Data were gathered through 20 qualitative semi-structured interviews with key representatives of youth organizations from Gävle municipality, Sweden, and analyzed using ATLAS.ti v.9.0. The main findings are discussed within the framework of ecosocial work, youth empowerment, and a Foucauldian perspective on discourse, power, and knowledge. The results indicate the need for an ecosocial youth empowerment, calling for increased knowledge of both youth empowerment through SD and ecosocial work for those working with/for youth connected to social work practice. The results highlight the importance of an ecosocial youth empowerment on a more structural and collective level.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this article is to highlight empowering community work in elastic-reflexive transformation within professional social work in the Nordic context under the neoliberal transition of welfare states, focusing on Sweden. Two cases from Sweden: community work in a suburb, consisting of a municipal activity, and an association-based community project in a city-centre closed housing area are described, analysed, and compared.

THEORETICAL BASE: Theories of empowerment and community work incorporating social policy and socio-spatial perspectives on local communities.

METHODS: Literature review and qualitative case studies encompassing the triangulation of methodological devices (documents, webpages, interviews, field visits and observations, and a follow-up survey) within practice research.

OUTCOMES: Community work has been transformed and has almost totally disappeared from professional social work in Sweden. Compared to the 1970s, community work has become less political, structural or collectively confrontational, and its aims of empowerment are more individually supportive, group-orientated, and resilient.

SOCIAL WORK IMPLICATIONS: There is a great need to develop community work and the associated empirical research within professional social work, paying attention to changes in the everyday lives of people in marginalised urban and rural housing areas. Even comparative studies between diverse countries are asked for. 

The aim of this article was to identify and discuss ecosocial changes and community resilience mechanisms in a coastal fishing community of Sweden – Bönan. Data were collected through eight semi-structured interviews and field observations. An abductive thematic analysis was used to analyze data and background literature. The findings showed that Bönan has been exposed to a combination of ecosocial changes that have transformed the community, and therefore required community resilience interventions. This article concludes that social workers need to take an active part in ecosocial work for enhancing community resilience.

Increasing sociospatial polarization, segregation and marginalization are challenging community workers to respond to complex social needs and problems across the world. This article focuses on examining sociospatial polarization and community art as a form of community work in Sweden through the case study of Konst-PIMPA (Art-PIMPA). The inquiry studies how Art-PIMPA emerged and developed, working together with young people in a sociospatially divided residential area in the city of Norrkoping. The study shows that community art deals with imagination, creativity and co-creation, in order to explore, express and visualize the invisible factors in social development and change. The focus of Art-PIMPA was on participation, human rights and the democratic right to self-expression, requiring a glocal cosmopolitan outlook, which includes both global and local aspects. This meant taking an ethical-political stance of recognizing our common humanity and rights as citizens of the world regardless of background or context. Additionally, the study is a reminder of the need to generate a structural analysis of both exogenous and endogenous forces that impact our 'glocal world', in which global and local forces interact daily.

I kapitlet diskuteras samhällsarbete som ett metodiskt arbetssätt som har sina särdrag. Samhällsarbete utgår från humanistiska och demokratiska värden. Det finns en gammal socialreformistisk tradition för allas rätt till goda levnadsförhållanden och välfärd. Utöver detta har samhällsarbetare sedan slutet av 1800-talet värnat om medborgerliga rättigheter och jämlikhet. Samhällsarbete är en situations- och handlingsorienterad praktik där det används många olika typer av metoder och kunskapsformer som omfattar vetenskaplig kunskap, social kunskap men också transformativ praxiskunskap som syftar till social förändring. I kapitlet diskuteras två sätt att skapa kunskap, som dels rör en vetenskaplig akademisk tradition och dels en alternativ form som utmanar traditionella uppfattningar om kunskapsproduktion och forskning. Hur detta tar sig i uttryck i samhällsarbete diskuteras mer ingående i kapitlet i termer av praxiskunskap.