Abstract:
In 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by state nations globally to eradicate poverty in all its forms, combat inequality, preserve the planet, create sustainable economic growth and foster social inclusion (United Nations [UN], 2015:5). Poor and marginalised societies, the key focus of social work, are more severely affected by environmental degradation and climate change (IFSW, 2015). Provided their ethical mandate to address a social injustice, social workers are compelled to respond to environmental injustices (Erickson, 2012:184). Sustainable development is intrinsically connected to environmental and social justice. The goal of the study was to explore and describe the role of social workers in promoting environmental justice for sustainable communities from an NGO perspective in the City of Tshwane.
The study employed a qualitative research approach. The research goals were both explorative and descriptive. The research design was an instrumental case study and data were collected through semi-structured one-on-one interviews. Purposive sampling was used to select 10 participants from various non-governmental organisations within the City of Tshwane. A thematic analysis was employed to analyse the data. The findings revealed that social workers realise the link between sustainability and environmental justice although they are not currently intentionally involved in efforts to mitigate environmental injustices. Social workers lack the knowledge base on green social work that will enable them to adopt a green social work model for practice where both people and planet are important for sustainable interventions. The study concludes that social workers are significant in engaging communities in environmental justice projects promoting sustainable communities. Traditional social work roles should be adapted to fit the green social work narrative and promote environmental justice more intentionally. The study recommends increasing the awareness of green social work amongst social workers and also making more training available for social workers to familiarise themselves with an ecological approach and green social work as a practice model.
