Case Study 4: Sustainability Practices in Portugal: A Reflection on Ecosocial Practice

As a social worker with 10 years of professional experience in community intervention and as a recent researcher of ecosocial practice in Portugal, I believe that social work has a fundamental mission in promoting sustainability. Social work should include the environmental dimension in the core of its intervention. This inclusion in practical terms can be achieved through innovative, creative, and integrative community intervention models and projects, with strategies for solving/mitigating social and environmental problems. In the design and planning of the intervention projects, the different sectors of the community (citizens, groups, and public and private institutions) should be invited to look holistically at the problems and together seek resolution strategies for them.