Environmental Social Work in Sierra Leone: An Emerging Field of Practice

Abstract

The paper explores ways in which social workers in Sierra Leone can engage in environmental social work. In the broader context of the Global South, this relates to the results of contributions to global social impact, to develop more environmentally oriented social work practices. Environmental injustice is one of the issues that requires social workers to use holistic intervention methods to achieve environmental justice.  The paper argues for environmental justice and indigenous social work practice in Sierra Leone focused on natural resource management. The paper conducted an in-depth review of the literature on environmental law in Sierra Leone, as well as selected theoretical literature on social work. The paper identified a lack of interdisciplinary collaboration among professionals as well as a lack of social entrepreneurship among social workers in Sierra Leone. The paper recommends active promotion of solidarity and social economics by social workers through natural resource management and engagement in environmental justice. The systems and people in the environment theoretical framework provides a framework for social workers' engagement with environmental issues when addressing client problems (individual, group and community). The curriculum of schools of social work should include social ecology and environmental justice through postgraduate applied courses in corporate social responsibility (CSR), social impact assessment (SIA), public participation (PP).