Over the past few decades, there has been a renewed interest in integrating a broader environmental perspective in social work, emphasising the interrelation and interaction between social and environmental perspectives within the field. This renewed interest has, among other things, been conceptualised as ecosocial work. Ecosocial work promotes a critical examination of the socio-ecological relationship. In the European context, some issues that ecosocial work addresses are framed in relation to sustainable development (SD), with an emphasis on the meso- and macro-levels, including community work and social policies. However, there are still limited European social work studies on how ecosocial work is understood, promoted, and practised at different levels. Based on two focus group discussions, this study explores how the municipal social services and social units in Gävle, Sweden, (1) promote youth health and well-being in their local communities, and (2) perceive challenges and possibilities of enhancing ecosocial work practices within the framework of SD. This study highlights how municipal social workers and other social service providers can contribute to the understanding and promotion of ecosocial community work perspectives in contemporary social work.

This study examines how local social policies addressing young people’s well-being and working-life capacities within the framework of sustainable development are understood, and how they might be further developed in a Swedish municipal context. The study draws on three qualitative datasets: professionals from municipal social services, representatives of municipal units and civil society organisations, and young people aged 15–19. Data were analysed using abductive thematic analysis informed by Doyal and Gough’s theory of Human Need and Helne and Hirvilammi’s Having–Doing–Loving–Being model of relational well-being. Findings indicate that professional participants recognise links between social, economic, and ecological dimensions of sustainability, yet practice is largely oriented towards individual and social concerns, with limited engagement with the natural environment. Youth participants indicated detachment from both nature and societal processes, framed responsibility as habitual, and exhibited intergenerational detachment alongside temporal and geographical distance from sustainability issues. The findings also indicate siloed municipal sustainability policies. The study concludes that current policies may insufficiently integrate the ecological and relational dimensions of human needs and that there is a need to develop ecosocial policies and practices that promote more sustainable well-being and working-life capacities, especially for young people.

De senaste tjugo åren har hunratusentals arbetarväljare lämnat Socialdemokraterna för Sverigedemokraterna. I valen 2018 och 2022 gick det enskilt största väljarflödet från S till SD. Vad beror det på - och vad betyder det för den svenska socialdemokratins framtid? När man verkligen lyssnar på vad de som gjort partibytet själva har att säga framträder en annan bild än den som, liksom det mesta i vår tid, ensidigt fokuserar på invandringsfrågan. Karla Backlund och Stefan Sjöberg har intervjuat ett antal aktiva sverigedemokraater med arbetarbakgrund som tidigare varit socialdemokrater. Visst är invandringen ett närvarande tema i intervjuerna, men sällan ett isolerat sådant. Den kopplas till välfärdens försvagning, arbetslösheten och känslan av att samhällsgemenskapen har gått förlorad. Missnöjet med invandringen flätas samman meed en djupare kritik av samhällsutvecklingen och socialdemokratin. S upplevs ha övergett arbetarna och folkhemstanken för att i stället bli ett parti för medelklassen och eliten. I skärningspunkten mellan personliga erfarenheter och breda samhällsförändringar visar författarna vad som står på spel när en folkrörelse tappar sin bas. För att åter bli den drivaande kraften i svensk politik måste socialdemokratin formulera ett nytt framåtsyftande samhällsprojekt för frihet, jämlikhet och gemenskap.

Based on a systematic literature review, this article explores motives for participation in Community Climate Commons and how community work can promote their participation and mobilization. Four motives – social, ecological, economic, political – were identified and related to a community and ecosocial work framework. Motives were driven by community efforts to protect livelihoods, preserve social identity, strengthen democratic engagement, and address climate threats. Community Climate Commons thus function as arenas for participation, collective empowerment and mobilization, linking community well-being with ecosocial sustainability. The study contributes to social work research and practice by deepening understanding of civic community-based climate action.

Mitigating and adapting to climate change is a vital challenge that cannot rely solelyon technology or macro policies but need also be tailored to local social and ecologi-cal contexts. As theory suggests, institutional designs that increase collective climateaction could potentially speed up climate action in society. In this article we explorethe concept of ‘community climate commons’ (CCCs) to foster interconnected andholistic approaches involving citizens and civil society in addressing climate change.Based on a systematic literature review, the aim is to further develop the concept ofCCCs and to identify key features for the successful establishment of CCCs for thepromotion of collective climate action. The results identify four key features forCCCs: (1) democratic organization with transformative leadership, (2) small groupsizes with clear boundaries and existing rules-in-use for participation, (3) access toorganizational structures, meeting places, social capital, collective identity, and socialcohesion, and (4) external financial, political, and social support. In conclusion, CCCshave a real potential to foster a wider societal mobilization of collective climateaction while simultaneously addressing other issues of concern in local communities.

Stadsdelslyftet Andersberg är ett omfattande projekt inom Gävle kommun med idag mycket viktiga ambitioner såsom att öka integrationen, skapa mer jämlika förutsättningar, att öka den upplevda tryggheten, samt att utveckla en modell för brett samverkansarbete med dessa och andra samhällsutmaningar i stadsdelar där det finns behov. Gävle kommun anlitade en forskargrupp vid Högskolan i Gävle för att bedriva följeforskning av projektet Stadsdelslyftet. Syftet med följeforskningen var att undersöka hur den nya mötesplatsen Andreassalens verksamhet bidrar till uppfyllandet av Stadsdelslyftets målsättningar, med ambitionen att generera forskningsbaserad kunskap som en grund för utvecklingen av verkningsfulla metoder för att åstadkomma ökad social inkludering och en socialt hållbar stadsutveckling. Forskningsmetoden har inkluderat semi-strukturerade intervjuer och fokusgruppsintervjuer samt enkätundersökning.  Resultaten visar att Andreassalen spelar en viktig roll i det samverkande samhällsarbete som bedrivs i Andersberg och att verksamheten har bidragit till uppfyllandet av flera av Stadsdelslyftets effektmål. Andreassalen fyller en funktion som ett områdescenter där kommunala aktörer, civilsamhällets föreningsliv, boende från lokalsamhället och andra stadsdelar, möts och interagerar och där en mångfald av aktiviteter organiseras. För att uppnå en socialt hållbar utveckling av Andersberg är det därför angeläget att Stadsdelslyftets och Andreassalens arbete fortsätter och vidareutvecklas. I det fortsatta arbetet att vidareutveckla Stadsdelslyftet och utarbeta en modell för liknande arbete i andra stadsdelar finns viktiga lärdomar att dra från arbetet med Andreassalen.

Stadsdelslyftet Andersberg is a comprehensive project within the municipality of Gävle with very important ambitions such as increasing integration, creating more equal conditions, increasing the perceived security, and developing a model for broad collaborative work with these and other social challenges in neighborhoods where there is a need. The municipality of Gävle asked a research group at the University of Gävle to conduct participatory research on the Stadsdelslyftet project. The purpose of the research was to explore how the new meeting place Andreassalen's activities contribute to the fulfillment of the Stadsdelslyftet project goals, with the ambition to generate research-based knowledge as a basis for the development of effective methods to achieve increased social inclusion and socially sustainable urban development. The research method has included semi-structured interviews and focus group interviews as well as a questionnaire survey. The results show that Andreassalen plays an important role in the collaborative community work conducted in the neighborhood Andersberg and that the activities have contributed to the fulfillment of several of the project impact goals. Andreassalen serves as a community center where municipal actors, civil society associations, residents from the local community and other city districts meet and interact, and where a variety of activities are organized. In order to achieve socially sustainable development of Andersberg, it is therefore important that the work of Stadsdelslyftet and Andreassalen continues and is further developed. In the continued work to further develop Stadsdelslyftet and develop a model for similar work in other city districts, there are important lessons to be learned from the work with Andreassalen.

Summary

This study examined how youth perceive their health, well-being, and working-life capacity in relation to ecosocial work within the context of sustainable development. Data were gathered using the photovoice method with two discussion groups, including 11 15- to 19-year-olds from Gävle, Sweden. Inductive thematic analysis was used to create themes from the data. The Having-Doing-Loving-Being model of well-being by Helne and Hirvilammi, and Zimmerman's psychological empowerment were applied to interpret the findings.

Findings

The findings indicate that the participants saw sustainable development as a “buzz concept” with low relevance for their health and well-being. The participants perceived health and well-being as “feeling good” on an individual level, with more emphasis on doing activities for self-actualization and less on working-life capacity or environmental issues. They expressed no interest in disseminating the results of their discussions to other stakeholders for collective empowerment and social mobilization, which is a crucial part of the photovoice method. The results also indicate an individualistic and hedonic life orientation among the participants.

Applications

The study provides social work and its practitioners an understanding of the importance of enabling youth voices and linking youth personal and collective well-being with sustainable development. The study also offers an understanding of well-being within social work discourse that incorporates environmental stewardship alongside youth's personal fulfilment.

The concept of social sustainability has long been a subject of discussion within academic literature and practitioners. However, there remains a lack of clarity in its definition and scholars argue that this can impacting the legitimacy of addressing social sustainability challenges. Through a systematic literature review and a content analysis, we shed light on the multifaceted discourse surrounding the concept of social sustainability, elucidating its diverse applications and meanings portrayed and defined within scholarly discourse. Our findings show that the concept predominantly revolves around four prevalent categories: “Equity,” “Well-being,” “Participation and Influence,” and ‘Social Capital. Based on results, we develop and present a novel analytical framework of the four pillars of social sustainability, referred to as the “SoSuCompass,” representing a conceptual framework to clarify the concept's multifaceted nature. The framework can serve as a tool for a fuller comprehension of the definition of social sustainability.