7th ogsaCONFERENCE

MCI Department of Social Work at the conference of the Austrian Society for Social Work (ogsa) in Graz

The 7th ogsaCONFERENCE recently took place at FH Joanneum in Graz under the title “Knowledge creates power – competition, recognition, and criticism in research, teaching, and practice in Social Work.” The ogsaCONFERENCE is the largest Austrian gathering of experts from the scientific community of Social Work.

Based on the introduction of the Social Work Designation Act (SozBezG 2024) and possible further efforts to establish a professional law for Social Work, as well as a core curriculum for university of applied sciences degree programs in Social Work, central discussions on the profession and discipline were held in a variety of keynotes, panels, and other workshops at this conference.

This broad spectrum of topics was discussed in a wide variety of contexts related to the Social Work profession, with a large number of experts from academia and Social Work practice sharing their own field- and subject-specific insights with the professional association. The presentations by Irene Messinger on the topic of “Knowledge_science and historiography of Social Work: Between Power and Marginalization” and by Gertraud Pantucek on the topic of “Language(s) of Social Work: How to Achieve Understanding and Communication” were extremely inspiring.

The Department of Social Work at MCI | The Entrepreneurial School® was represented this year by Christina Lienhart, Katharina Flunger-Lang, and Moritz Reisberger, who were particularly active participants in the conference. Christina Lienhart was invited as an expert to a panel discussion on the topic of “Knowledge Production and Power Relations in the Context of Dissertations in Social Work” and, as part of this discussion panel, provided concise insights into the creative process and selected findings from her doctoral thesis, which she successfully completed in 2024.

Katharina Flunger-Lang was involved in a workshop organized by the ogsa working group “Social Work in the Migration Society” and presented key perspectives from her ongoing dissertation project. Moritz Reisberger was involved in organizing the conference in his capacity as ogsa board member and moderated, among other things, a panel on the topic of “Knowledge and Profession – Knowledge Diversity as the Basis of Social Work” and a workshop of the Research Working Group. In addition, as part of the editorial team, Moritz presented the third volume of the ogsa book series “Research (in) Social Work in Austria,” published by Beltz Juventa Verlag in January 2025, to the expert audience in attendance.

The entire conference was characterized by a benevolent atmosphere of exchange and cooperation. In general, a positive and productive atmosphere prevailed on both days, in which current challenges facing the profession and discipline were also openly addressed. This led to exciting discussions about current trends and moods in practice and teaching, and ideas for further research collaborations were shared.

All in all, the conference showed how actively and diversely Social Work in this country deals with key topics at various levels in practice, science, research, and teaching. The MCI Department of Social Work is involved in shaping many of these processes and discourses and is particularly pleased about the lively willingness to cooperate and further opportunities for exchange with its highly esteemed colleagues from Social Work and all related disciplines.