Ecosocial Adaptation and the Care Professions: A systems-Ecological Approach to Climate Risk

Abstract

As climate change accelerates, it generates not only environmental disruption but a new form of multidimensional social risk–climate risk–unfolding across nested social, ecological, and institutional systems. This paper advances a systems-ecological perspective to conceptualize climate risk as a relational and stratified risk, disproportionately impacting marginalized communities. It then maps dominant adaptation frameworks–ecomodernism, post-/degrowth, sustainability, Indigenous knowledge, and environmental and climate justice, as well as environmental social work–highlighting their divergent assumptions, values, and implications for equity and resilience. Building on these perspectives, the paper introduces the concept of ecosocial adaptation, an integrative framework that foregrounds inclusion, care systems, and ecological interdependence as central to climate resilience. Care professions like social work, public health, education, and allied fields are already engaged in adaptation, yet often without a shared paradigm. This paper calls for the care professions to embrace ecosocial adaptation as a unifying framework to guide practice, pedagogy, and policy, positioning them as critical agents in climate adaptation.