GT-SWP (Global Transformation and Social Work Practice)

The aim of the 4 year program (2023 – 2026) is to build SDG-partnerships (United Nations Sustain­able Development Goals) between countries of the "Global North" and the "Global South".

The content of the 4 year project focuses on questions of global transformation and its effects on social work actors. Central topics of this discourse are, among others:

  • Distribution of poverty and wealth in the countries of the Global North and South and consequences for societies.

  • Influence of colonial rule on the countries of the Global South Racism and forms of discrimination as a challenge for social work professionals.

  • Social work as a human rights profession and the contribution to solving global problems along the lines of the Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Ethnocentrism and Eurocentrism as a challenge for the countries of the Global South.

  • The chances of a return to "indigenous" knowledge for the countries of the Global South and the Global North.

  • Along this thematic classification of the program, numerous activities like exchange programs, symposiums and workshops are planned, among others:

  • Building a foundation for future strategic cooperation between the participating universities.

The program is a continuation of the IFBC cooperation between the universities – University of KwaZulu-Natal, University of Johannesburg and University of Applied Social Studies Dortmund (FHDO) – and is now going further with the Midland State University of Harare in Zimbabwe.