Inequality within and among countries IWAAC-10

Department Social Work and Health

With twelve degree programs – four bachelor's, six master's and two continuing education programs, including an undergraduate program in social work with an explicitly transnational orientation – the Department of Social Work and Health at Frankfurt UAS offers a wide range of academic training and continuing education. It is characterized by regionally anchored practice projects, extensive research activities as well as international contacts and cooperations. The department's diversity is demonstrated by its ability to react to current social developments and to address them in an interdisciplinary manner. Furthermore, it stands for the topics of diversity, inclusion and interculturality.

Cooperation partners and places of implementation

The partners have been cooperating in various forms since 2011, mainly, but not solely in the area of social work, welfare policies and applied social research. All universities embrace an explicit internationalisation policy, by encouraging inbound and outbound mobility, providing international and transnational academic programs, participating in international research networks, and having close ties with local, regional and transnational partners in terms of academic cooperation, civil society linkages and policy involvement.

Applicant institution:

Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Germany

Project Partners:

University of Western Cape, South Africa (https://www.uwc.ac.za)
National University of Malaysia (https://www.ukm.my)
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India (https://www.tiss.edu)

Involved German and International Academic Scholars:

Download the list here

Project goals

The project objectives are to be pursued primarily at three levels of subject-based partnership:

Developing, implementing, and evaluating a structured, research-based curriculum for the study of social inequalities within and between countries;
Supporting professional exchange between partner universities through guest lectures, a joint summer program, research fellowships, and meetings at the university, department, and institute leadership levels;
Establishment of a transnational research network for young scientists and a regional nexus between research, practice and politics.

Methodological approach and measures

The partners have been working together since 2011 in various constellations – based on partner agreements – mainly but not only in the fields of:

social work,
social policy and applied social research.

In the past, joint teaching research, regular exchange and an interdisciplinary summer program were implemented.

Future plans include:

To implement a joint teaching research curriculum, to train 'teaching assistants' and
– with their help – to supervise online courses;
To establish a regular academic exchange;
To establish and support junior research groups and to consolidate them in a network.

To establish a common internet-based platform and a resource center.

Project sustainability

The project directly serves the implementation of Goal 10: Reduce inequality within and between countries. Indirectly, it aims to strengthen global partnerships (Goal 17).
Social work and applied social sciences provide a unique perspective on coping strategies of individuals, families and communities, and social interventions. The project aims to contribute to social, economic, and political inclusion for all (10.2), elimination of discriminatory laws, policies, and practices (10.3), and support for development (10.A).

Frankfurt UAS was the first university in Hesse to adopt a sustainability strategy.

This defines the following goals in the following areas:

Sustainability in study and teaching
Sustainability in research
Sustainability in continuing education and transfer
Sustainability in university operations and campus development
Institutionalization of sustainability

To this end, 111 concrete implementation measures have been developed, including the establishment of four sustainability professorships and a study-general module to implement the "Sustainability Strategy of Frankfurt UAS - think globally, act locally". One goal is to run the entire university operations CO₂-neutral by 2030 at the latest.

Project Outcomes

2021

2022

2023

Publications

Conference Talk: SWDE Conference (YouTube Video)
Sustainability (https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/24/16808)
Social Dialogue (https://socialdialogue.online/sd28/05_article.html)

Call for contributions

Applying Social Sciences to Reduce Social Inequalities Within and Among Countries

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development sets the vision for global action and encourages a bottom-up consultation process. Social work, social services and community engagement play a vital role in delivering the sustainable development goals (SDG). In addition, applied social science can bring a unique perspective to the study of social inequalities that does not focus on ‘problems’, but allows to understand coping strategies on individual, familial and community level.

Tentative Publications

A tentative book publication wants to look into social inequalities within and among countries (SDG 10) and the relevance of SDGs for social interventions. Papers shall be presented and discussed at the
IWAAC-conference 2024
at TATA-Institute of Social Science (TISS), Mumbai, India,
from February 29- March 2, 2024.
Selected participants will be invited and funded. Authors who have not attended the conference or were not selected for funding are also welcome to submit their work to this publication.

Time-Line:

Abstracts and applications for funding can be submitted before October 10, 2023 on our registration page.
Draft manuscripts are due before December 10, 2023 (we will contact you – on the appraisal of abstracts - with further information)
Conference invitations and grant approvals shall be issued latest January 20, 2024

Call for articles (PDF)