IFSW Asia Pacific Regional Conference 2025

MCI presents TNF project results and participates in international knowledge transfer on Social Work issues

Moritz Reisberger, teaching & research assistant at the department of Social Work and the MCI Center for Social & Health Innovation, recently took part in the Asia-Pacific Social Work Conference 2025 (APSWC 2025).

The multi-day conference consisted of intensive dialogues, keynotes, presentations, and joint workshops. Participants from the fields of Social Work practice and research from many different countries focused on “Social Work in (Eco-)Social Crises” and thus on topics that will shape the future of Social Work worldwide.

In the form of a panel presentation, Moritz Reisberger gave the international audience direct insights into the initial research results of a comprehensive two-year MCI study. In two consecutive research projects, Moritz, as project manager, worked intensively with project collaborator Lena Rolvering on the design and (further) development of the profession and discipline of Social Work in Tyrol.

At the APSWC, the initial partial results of the study conducted in 2024 were embedded in the international research discourse. The presentation and subsequent discussion were extremely valuable and insightful – both for further analysis in the MCI research project as such, and for the interested audience as possible ideas for follow-up studies.

However, it was not only these insights that proved extremely beneficial for the international Social Work community. Rather, it was the mutual exchange on omnipresent international eco-social crises and professional ways of dealing with them that was perceived as the central added value of the entire conference. Researchers from a wide variety of Social Work contexts shared their evidence-based findings, including from countries such as Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand, Zambia, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

It was surprising to see how similar social problems are globally, even though the local effects vary. On the other hand, it was equally clear how important professional codes of ethics and Social Work values (IFSW) are in all practical contexts and how important they are for Social Work professionals. These findings are a positive sign for the discipline and profession of Social Work in these tense times for social policy.

This international transfer of knowledge and exchange at a supraregional level, far beyond Europe, is warmly welcomed by the department of Social Work in terms of disciplinary development. Potential international research collaborations should be pursued further in order to consolidate existing findings and supplement them with further research. An internationally converging discipline of Social Work can thus have a direct impact on the further development of practice, theory, science, and education. Practical research in Social Work therefore never stands still.