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.

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.

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.