ABSTRACT
Due to the centrality of human rights and social justice in the profession, social work must
collectively take a stand on ecological degradation and the climate crisis. Overall, social
work education’s engagement with issues of sustainability and an expanded ecological
justice perspective has been peripheral and piecemeal. It is crucial that social work
education expand opportunities to prepare social workers to respond to the global
environmental crisis. This conceptual paper considers strategies for integrating
environmental content in social work curricula and addresses the essential role of
institutional supports for curricular change and professional development focused on
sustainability. The role of institutional supports to advance curricular change to respond
to environmental crises and promote sustainability is highlighted, along with specific
examples from the authors’ home institution, including (1) institutional commitment
and culture, (2) curricular supports and guidelines, and (3) interdisciplinary faculty
development.
