Promoting sustainable development in the Australian Murray-Darling basin: Envisioning an EcoSocial work approach

Abstract

Interdisciplinary approaches for promoting sustainable development are critical for navigating social-ecological issues caused by the global environmental crisis. This paper examines the contribution that social work can make towards enhancing social and ecological wellbeing in the Australian Murray-Darling Basin. Located in south-eastern Australia, the Murray-Darling Basin encompasses a network of river systems and is facing severe ecological decline. Compounded by climate change, agricultural production is having adverse social and ecological impacts on local communities, including First Nations peoples, farmers, and women. EcoSocial Work is an area of practice within social work that emphasises the interdependence between ecological and human wellbeing. By applying a transformative EcoSocial Work model, interventions for supporting ecological and social wellbeing are considered at ontological, epistemological, and methodological dimensions of practice. Implications for promoting sustainable development suggest the need to integrate health and social wellbeing as a key element in government policy pertaining to the Murray-Darling Basin.