Climate Resilience Guide for Social Workers

Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-3-032-24603-5
Verlag: Springer

Buch, Englisch, 86 Seiten, Format (B × H): 155 mm x 235 mm

Reihe: SpringerBriefs in Social Work

This compact book is a guide for social workers and social work students to integrate climate resilience and adaptation into their work in order to cope with a degenerating climate and increasing vulnerability. It is a forward-looking, practical, and ethically grounded manual designed to prepare social workers for the escalating challenges posed by climate change and societal instability. It explores how climate breakdown reshapes both the profession and its foundational mission -- supporting the most vulnerable.

Drawing on climate science, social work theory, and frontline practice, the book addresses how warming, extreme weather, resource scarcity, and even societal collapse could transform who is considered vulnerable, how services are delivered, and what new roles social workers may need to adopt. It guides readers through understanding the most realistic future scenarios, and what those mean for practice on the ground. 

The book emphasizes building both personal and professional resilience, helping social workers not only survive but also lead with clarity and care in a world of uncertainty. Chapters include practical tools for assessing local risks, cultivating emotional and psychological strength, ensuring food and service continuity, and acting ethically in crisis conditions. Among the topics covered are:

• Reimagining Prevention: Integrating Climate Adaptation into Everyday Social Work Practice
• How the Natural World Fits into Social Work Climate Resilience
• Risk Assessment in Practice
• Practising Social Work Amid Societal Breakdown
• Maintaining Mental Health amid Ongoing Eco-Anxiety and Climate Grief: Being the rock in the stream 

With a focus on justice, community care, and adaptive thinking, ultimately empowers social workers to act as stabilizing forces and advocates in their communities -- prepared not just to respond to climate-driven disruption, but also to shape a more compassionate and resilient future. The book is an essential resource for social work practitioners, students, and educators.

Zielgruppe

Professional/practitioner

Autoren/Hrsg.

Rost, Stephanie

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Soziale Gruppen & Klassen
• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Alphabetisierung
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Arbeit/Sozialpädagogik
• Geowissenschaften Geologie Meteorologie, Klimatologie
• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1 Introduction: Why is climate a social work issue?.- Chapter 2 The climate future humanity faces.- Chapter 3 Reimagining Prevention: Integrating Climate Adaptation into Everyday Social Work Practice.- Chapter 4 How the natural world fits into social work climate resilience.- Chapter 5 Risk assessment in practice.- Chapter 6 Food security and survival skills for social work in practice.- Chapter 7 Practising Social Work Amid Societal Breakdown.- Chapter 8 Maintaining mental health amid ongoing eco-anxiety and climate grief: Being the rock in the stream.- Chapter 9 Practical Toolkit for Social Workers.- Chapter 10 Conclusion: Holding the Light in a Darkening World.

Über Autor(innen)

Stephanie Rost is a PhD Candidate at Gothenburg University (Sweden), where her research focuses on climate change adaptations and their implications for social work. She has a professional background as a social worker and social work manager in Scotland, primarily in the area of child protection. Stephanie has contributed to the field through numerous peer-reviewed publications addressing these subjects.