Global perspectives on Social Work in Nairobi

MCI department of Social Work represented at the World Conference on Social Work in Nairobi

Recently, the Department of Social Work, represented by Robert Koglek (senior lecturer) and Laura Feith González (teaching & research assistant), participated in the Joint World Conference on Social Work, Education, and Social Development (SWSD 2026) in Nairobi, which was held under the theme “Harambee – For Sustainable Shared Futures.”

During the conference, they presented findings from the research project “Social Work and Sustainable Development” under the title “Preparing Social Workers for the 2030 Agenda: Embedding the SDGs in Education and Practice.” The project is funded by the OeAD (Austrian Agency for Education and Internationalization), will be carried out from 2023 to 2026 as part of a North-South research collaboration, and is being implemented in cooperation with the Institute of Social Work in Tanzania. The findings were presented by Laura Feith González and Robert Koglek together with the Tanzanian project partners and demonstrated how teaching, research, and international cooperation can be fruitfully integrated.

Laura Feith González:

“The SWSD 2026 in Nairobi was a valuable opportunity to present our research findings to an international community of experts together with our Tanzanian project partners and to gain new perspectives. The discussion on how Social Work can contribute to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals worldwide was particularly enriching. The conference demonstrated once again how important international collaboration is for learning from one another, sharing knowledge, and jointly developing innovative approaches to teaching, research, and practice.”

In addition, Robert Koglek presented the initial findings of his PhD research project in a second presentation, which examines how social workers in the field of disaster risk management can be better prepared for their tasks through an intersectional competency framework.

In addition to professional exchange, the conference also provided an opportunity for international networking with researchers, faculty, and practitioners from around the world. A particularly wonderful moment was reuniting with Elena Haslwanter, a graduate of MCI’s bachelor’s program in Social Work, who completed her studies earlier this year and is now working as a social worker in Kenya.

The numerous discussions have also given rise to promising opportunities for collaboration, which will be further explored in the coming months - and there are also plans to publish the results of the Social Work and Sustainable Development Project in the form of an academic paper, incorporating feedback from the professional community in Nairobi.