Green Social Work

As a perspective, green social work enables social work to play a vital role in the
protection and promotion of the environment as well as in the pursuit of the illusive
sustainable development. Green social work is comprised of
‘…a form of holistic professional social work practice that focuses on the
interdependencies amongst people; the social organisation of relationships between
people and the flora and fauna in their physical habitats; and the interactions
between socio-economic and physical environmental crises and interpersonal
behaviours that undermine the well-being of human beings and planet earth. It
proposes to address these issues by arguing for a profound transformation in how
people conceptualise the social basis of their society, their relationships with each
other, living things and the inanimate world’ (Dominelli, 2012, p. 25 )͘ .
A profession known as "green social work" has its roots in improving both the
wellness of individuals and the environment. The foundation of green social workers'
interventions is the notion that nation-states, which are United Nations members,
are already committed to environmental justice. Each state is required to provide
every citizen the right to a healthy and sustainable environment as a crucial
component of environmental justice under the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (UDHR). Social workers support environmental justice by assisting individuals
in organising and mobilising efforts to save their physical and natural environments.
As a result, they seek to uphold social justice and human rights in order to improve
both the present and long-term welfare of people and the environment.
It is significant to underline that social workers must have a political attitude that
acknowledges the power dynamics that invariably determine how individuals have
access to resources and share the costs associated with environmental degradation.
But in order to empower people, their involvement should be comprehensive and
focused on addressing environmental injustice, environmental degradation, and
systemic forms of oppression. As a result, the real justification for social work's
involvement in the environment is to uphold social justice and human rights in order
to improve both human and global wellness.
Social workers should be concerned about the following issues:
1. Human rights violations
2. Environment degradation and decimation 3
3. An economic system that perpetuates inequalities and lacks sustainability
4. The neglect of cultural diversity and the non-affirmation of indigenous lifestyles
These issues are connected to the fights for sustainability and environmental justice.
The social worker must take the following actions as a result:
1. Support people in affirming their human, social and environmental rights.
2. Facilitate local communities to realize their inalienable rights to their natural
resources; promote people's participation in protecting and managing their
environment; and enhance the well-being of humans and the ecosphere.
3. Mobilize people to join in meaningful partnerships and alliances to promote
environmental protection, environmental prudence, environmental justice and
environmental sustainability.
4. Empower the marginalized individuals, groups and communities to influence
commercial/business, industry, governments, multinational corporations and all
other institutions to undertake environmentally sustainable and just projects.
Social workers are required to fulfil a variety of responsibilities under these
mandates, including those of educators, enablers, facilitators, coordinators,
community mobilizers, negotiators, mediators, advocates, and consultants. They are
supposed to work not only with the populace but also with the government to push
for 'bottom up' and genuinely participatory policies and mechanisms.
Some of the more specific roles that social workers play are mentioned below:
 The contribution of indigenous groups and community-based organisations to
environmental preservation, conservation, and management should be identified,
acknowledged, documented, and highlighted. Data/information on their contribution
to environmental conservation, such as protecting and promoting mixed forests,
battling forest fires, stopping illegal logging and encroachment, conserving water and
working toward equitable sharing, conserving soil, protecting wildlife, and so forth,
must be documented in order to accomplish this. For environmentally sustainable
and context-specific regeneration, it is imperative to maintain and incorporate the
traditional and indigenous knowledge and practises that are quickly vanishing.
 Encourage the consideration of gender in environmental management and
preservation. Women play a major role in many interactions with nature, so it makes
sense to increase their participation in official programmes and environmental action
projects. The ecofeminist theory supports women's unique connection to nature and
the part they can and should play in environmental management and regeneration.
 Create laws and policies to make sure that the rights, interests, and concerns of the
communities that rely on the environment the most are protected. For this, policy
recommendations should guarantee that conservation issues do not conflict with
locals but are aware of and attentive to their requirements.
 Boost grassroots community structures and create appropriate institutional
frameworks for participation.
 Be a part of the movements for environmental rights, environmental protection, and
against harmful development, industrial pollution, etc. Prepare people to start and
take part in social movements and activism.
 Teach people how to use their resources wisely and sustainably, as well as their role
and responsibility in preserving the environment. Aspects of becoming green also
 include protecting the environment at all societal scales and promoting renewable
resources that enable a green economy.
 People should receive instruction on tactics and strategies for promoting and
protecting the environment.
 To give people access to resources including funds, supplies, technical inputs, skill
learning, and other support, establish links or networks with government agencies,
financing organisations, technical/specialized agencies, and other nonprofit groups.
 Increasing access to literacy, education, training, health services, credit, technology,
and incentives will increase people's engagement.
 Document the necessity for and effects of environmental change on the most
disadvantaged communities.
 Initiate and sustain public participation in the resistance to environmentally
unsustainable and unjust practises by mobilising collective action based on the legacy
of the Chipko, Appiko, and Narmada Bachao Andolan.
***
Chipko Andolan
The Chipko Andolan generated wide attention. The Chipko movement got its
beginnings in the 1970s when a coordinated backlash against forest devastation
developed throughout the Himalaya. The word "chipko" means "to hug," and that is
what the locals did to the trees to stop the contractors from felling them.

In April 1973, a spontaneous Chipko action occurred in Mandal village in the upper
Alaknanda valley. It spread to numerous districts of the Himalayas in many areas of
Uttar Pradesh during the course of the following five years (which are now in
Uttarakhand). It began when the government decided to grant a sports goods
company access to a portion of a forest in the Alaknanda valley so that it could
gather wood. The villagers were incensed by this since they had previously been
rejected when they demanded to utilise wood to make agricultural equipment.
Under the direction of an activist named Chandi Prasad Bhatt, members of the local
NGO (non-governmental organisation) DGSS (Dasoli Gram Swarajya Sangh) entered
the forest and built a circle around the trees to prevent the workers from felling
them.

Gandhian activist and scholar Sunderlal Bahuguna was another leader who persisted
in working in the area to halt other detrimental projects like dams. Similar rallies
spread around the nation as a result of the success this one had. When Indira
Gandhi, India's then-prime minister, issued a 15-year ban on tree cutting in that
state's Himalayan forests in 1980, the Chipko andolan scored a significant success.
Later, the movement spread to other American states. The movement put a stop to
tree cutting in the Vindhyas and the Western Ghats. More significantly, it increased
demand for a natural resource policy that is more focused on meeting both
ecological and human needs.

Numerous NGOs organised locals to participate in afforestation programmes, water

and soil conservation efforts, and the adoption of ecologically friendly technologies.
The Dashauli Gram Swarajya Mandal (DGSM), led by Chandi Prasad Bhatt, has
changed its emphasis from the battle to local restoration activities. The communities
in the upper Alakananda valley were the primary focus of the DGSM's afforestation
efforts. Two noteworthy aspects of this effort were the leadership demonstrated by
women and the high sapling survival rate, which averaged 75% and was significantly
higher than the 14% attained in Forest Department plantations. Additionally,
volunteers implemented appropriate soil conservation techniques in severely eroded
environments, such as filling gullies, building tiny check dams, and planting varieties
of fast-growing grass.

Narmada Bachao Andolan

The Narmada Valley Development Project, whose scope includes building 30 large
dams, 135 medium dams, and 3,000 small dams along the west-flowing Narmada
river system in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat, was approved by the
Narmada Water Disputes Tribunal in 1978.

The Sardar Sarovar Project in Gujarat promised to provide drinking water and
irrigation, but it also uprooted thousands of people and caused extensive
environmental harm. Without discussing the populations who would be evacuated,
the World Bank decided to finance the construction of the Sardar Sarovar project in
1985. The Sardar Sarovar dam's construction has started, but the relocation process
was disorganised. The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA), also known as the "Save
Narmada Movement," was founded in 1989 as a result of a coalition effort between
local opponents, environmental activists, and members of the intellectual, scientific,
and artistic communities. It was headed by Medha Patkar.

The NBA outright opposed alternate growth strategies, such as decentralised water
harvesting, as well as the construction of dams. They requested World Bank
accountability for the eviction of millions of people and at first looked into the claims
of the advantages of the dams. A seven-person team started their extended hunger
strike on January 7, 1991. Press, TV, and documentary teams from India and beyond
expanded their coverage. Environmental activists upped their pressure, which led to
the World Bank beginning the first-ever independent review.
The review's findings revealed the Bank's contravention of its own rules requiring the
approval of the public and made sweeping reform recommendations for the
restoration programmes and environmental impact assessments. The World Bank
gave the Indian government the assurance that it would continue to fund it as long
as reform criteria were met. Knowing that it couldn't adhere to the Bank's
requirements, the Indian government cancelled the remaining loans, halting World
Bank assistance for the Sardar Sarovar dam. The Indian government promised to
finish the dam building with its own cash even without World Bank backing. By
petitioning the Indian Supreme Court, the opposition to the dam campaign refocused
its efforts. The State and Central Governments have continued to provide ongoing
and growing funding for construction.

A million people will be impacted by associated canal systems and other

developments, which could force more than 320,000 people to relocate. NBA has
persisted in taking direct action and engaging in legal proceedings with international
participation to halt additional Narmada dam building. It currently shares
connections with numerous other campaigns against socially inequitable and
environmentally irresponsible development projects.

Save the Western Ghats March

The 2,500-kilometer-long Western Ghats March, which took place between 1987 and
1988, was one of the most prominent environmental movements. The march started
simultaneously from the two ends of the Western Ghats in Tamil Nadu and
Maharashtra on November 1, 1987, following months of planning involving more
than 150 volunteer organisations from Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, and
Tamil Nadu. The March came to an end at Goa three months later when all marchers
from the north and south converged there.
The March's objectives were
1. To study first-hand, environmental degradation and its consequences for
communities living along the Ghats,
2. To try to activate local groups to play a watchdog role to prevent further
ecological deterioration
3. And to canvass public opinion in general (Hiremath, 1988; Vijaypurkar, 1988).
The Western Ghats March's main goal was to raise awareness of the endangered
mountain ecology. Numerous people joined the march as a result of the attention it
received and are still working for the protection of the Western Ghats both
individually and collectively today. A scientific team has advocated zoning the
Western Ghats as an ecologically vulnerable area in 2012, led by Prof. Madhav
Gadgil, one of the organisers of the Western Ghats March. Under political and
business pressure, the government declined to back it and made attempts to make
the proposal weaker. The idea of ecosensitive zones was backed by a number of
organisations and people, which is a sign of the lasting benefits of the region's
coordinated efforts to raise environmental consciousness. While local organisations
continue their work on ecological conservation, no decision has yet been reached
regarding the zoning of the Western Ghats for ecologically sensitive development.
Programmes for ecological restoration
For the benefit of communities, numerous people and groups have undertaken
efforts at ecological restoration.

In Ahmednagar district (Maharashtra), Annasaheb Hazare organised the residents of

Ralegaon Siddhi hamlet to construct a number of storage ponds and embankments
(nallah bandhs) along the low hills surrounding the settlement. Rapidly decreasing
runoff and recharging aquifers led to a significant rise in the groundwater table.
There is currently enough water for irrigation and domestic consumption. Crop yields
have significantly increased (the village has even begun to export food). In addition,
Hazare organised locals to plant 400,000 seedlings. Today, Ralegaon Siddhi is
recognised as a leader in self-help eco-restoration. Hazare also started a campaign
against corruption in state forestry and water supply initiatives (Rai et al. 1991).
Another village in the prone to drought Ahmednagar district is called Hiware Bazar.
Prior to 1989, the hamlet was dealing with a number of issues, including water
scarcity and villager migration to surrounding urban regions in pursuit of
employment. The villagers started a campaign to rejuvenate their natural resources
using monies from government programmes in 1990, following Popatrao Pawar's
election as sarpanch (village chief). The community was based on Ralegaon Siddhi.
The locals used a drip irrigation system to improve food output while conserving land
and water. They steered clear of crops that require a lot of water, including bananas
and sugarcane. The scheme involved planting trees, collecting rainwater, excavating
trenches around the edges of hills to catch runoff, and constructing percolation
tanks.
A programme for social transformation that included a prohibition on alcohol, the
adoption of family planning, requiring HIV/AIDS testing before marriage, and
shramdaan supplemented these programmes (voluntary labour for development of
the village). The socioeconomic climate of the village was enhanced by these
activities. The Maharashtra government designated Hiware Bazaar as a "Ideal
Village," and the Indian government gave it the "National Water Award."
 Social workers' role in environmental preservation and development

By Ravi KishanPosted atAugust 04, 2022

In the previous post we learned about Major environmental movements around the
world

This post provides an introduction to various environmental movements in both

industrialised and developing nations.

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Unequal Impact of Environmental Degradation
3. Social Work and Environment Protection
4. Role of Social Worker in Environment Protection and Sustainable Development
5. Awareness Building
6. Policy managers and consultants to government for enabling people-centric and
environment-friendly policies and models
7. Green Social Work
8. Conclusion

Introduction

There is a growing knowledge and appreciation of the effects that environmental

issues, from pollution to anthropogenic climate change, have on human well-being
as awareness of the nature and scope of the global environmental crisis grows. With
the deterioration and loss of our natural environment, humanity may be facing a
very tough period. The ongoing crisis brought on by environmental deterioration,
climate change, and resource depletion, which provide the basis of subsistence for a
significant portion of the global population, has posed a significant threat to the
existence and welfare of the human race.

Social workers are ardent proponents of change and all facets of social justice,
including considerations for the setting in which communities and groups operate. In
a society where social justice is practised, a healthy environment is today seen as a
human right that is specifically connected to human dignity and anti-discrimination
(Wronka, 2008). An rising amount of empirical research across disciplines has shown
the profound and nuanced consequences of environmental and human welfare. The
global consciousness of all humans has a direct impact on the health and survival of
humans in the future.

In all of this, where does social work fit? In the past, social work has been committed
to enhancing and preserving human welfare (Berger & Kelly, 1993). Building on its
historical foundations, social work must embrace its position as a natural proponent
of environmental sustainability and preservation. A new ethic that is consistent with
our growing awareness of our interconnectedness with the natural world and our
comprehension of the limits of nature's resilience in the face of growing human
exploitation is one that social workers must integrate and consolidate. As a result,
social work's strength as a helpful profession frames itself as a natural link to
environmental protection, ecological preservation, and humanity. If social work is to
remain an important profession in the face of rising environmental issues, then this
accomplishment is necessary.
Unequal Impact of Environmental Degradation
As people become more aware of their obligation to address this issue, their interest
in updated information about the relationship between humans and the
environment grows. It is crucial to expand these ties to nature. Human behaviour can
have an impact on the problems that populations experience, including those related
to global warming, health problems, increased vulnerabilty to disasters, and
unparalleled eviction of indigenous peoples from their natural habitats.

Although every person on earth is affected by environmental deterioration, each

person's involvement in the issue and reactions to it are unique. Most frequently, the
poor are held responsible for the destruction of the environment under the pretext
that "poverty is the worst polluter." The reality, however, is quite the opposite
because wealthy countries and wealthy individuals within developing countries are
the ones who contribute to the environment's rapid decline because of their high
and continually rising consumption levels and propensity to produce enormous
amounts of waste.

People are particularly affected by environmental change during catastrophes like

floods, heat waves, landslides, and earthquakes. This highlights how poverty
disproportionately magnifies the negative consequences of environmental injustice
on people.

It is becoming increasingly clear in the modern setting that while the wealthy and
privileged portions of society benefit from environmental exploitation, the
marginalised sections suffer the most negative effects. In other words, both within
countries and globally, the most vulnerable, underprivileged, and disadvantaged
people, organisations, communities, and cultures bear a disproportionate burden of
the harmful effects of environmental challenges.

This prompts us to assert that the environmental crisis is likewise underpinned by

grave concerns about social and environmental justice. Social work has a crucial role
to play in addressing environmental concerns and the ongoing global ecological crisis
because of its humanistic commitment and social justice mission.

Social Work and Environment Protection

Protection of the environment and social work Social work has constantly tried to
create an adjustment for its clients and client groups within their "environment" due
to its profession's long-standing focus on "person-in-environment". The "social"
milieu, however, was long considered to be the appropriate context and setting for
social workers. The relationship a person has with other people, groups,
communities, and organisations is referred to as their "social" environment.
Therefore, in the past, the ecological or person-in-development models in social
work primarily neglected the interaction between people and the "natural"
environment (Coates, 2003).

Numerous academics have called for the ecological model of social work to be
expanded to include "a complete awareness of human's position in the biological as
well as social ecosystems," including Germain (1979), Weick (1981), and Berger
(1995). (Berger and Kelly, 1993, p. 524). The National Association of Social Workers
Journal of Social Work made a strong case between 1992 and 1995 for social work's
inclusion of the physical and ecological environment in its purview. The National
Association of Social Workers (2000) emphasised in its policy statement the
importance of social work's role in promoting both human and environmental
preservation (NASW, 2000).

The editors of the influential book Environmental Social Work, Grey, Coates, and
Hetherington (2013), have acknowledged the need for a paradigm shift within the
field of social work in order for social workers to become more ecologically aware,
break free from their respective disciplinary silos, and work to better understand and
address environmental destruction and climate change. Dominelli (2012), who has
emerged as the proponent of Green Social Work and attempts to persuasively
explain the case for modern social work to interact with environmental challenges, is
the most recent and possibly the most significant of the environmental social work
experts.
Dominelli (2012) contends that "green social work focuses on how responses to
environmental crisis must both challenge and address poverty, structural
inequalities, socio-economic disparities, industrialization processes, consumption
patterns, and....limited resources" in light of the connections between
"environment" and "social" (p.3). To understand why environmental impacts are
disproportionately carried by the most marginalised communities, individuals, and
societies worldwide, it is necessary to comprehend the greater structural power
dynamics in society.

Social workers have the rare ability to view environmental challenges through the
eyes of the poor and disenfranchised because they naturally recognise power and
privilege, deprivation, and oppression. What could be more important than the
catastrophe facing the earth and all of its inhabitants to survive? Social professionals
also have a natural desire to address the most pressing issues facing people. This
illustrates how crucial it is for the social work profession to take the lead in
addressing environmental issues and reversing their negative effects, especially on
the most vulnerable groups who are often the first and hardest affected by
environmental disasters.

Social justice is the central ideal of social work. In order to realise the human rights
outlined in both the international definition of social work and the ethical rules for
professional practise, it seeks to eliminate structural inequities ranging from poverty
to stigmatisation of people. According to a new perspective for the profession, social
justice includes tackling concerns of environmental justice and caring for the
environment.

The issue has come up in a number of social work forums. For instance, the National
Association of Social Workers (NASW) Delegate Assembly stated in 1999 that
environmental exploitation directly contravenes the NASW Code of Ethics and
breaches the ideal of social justice. As a result, a new environmental social work
policy statement was released. Furthermore, the 56th CSWE annual programme
meeting's theme of "Promoting Sustainability in Social Work" was a declaration by
the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) that sustainability is the social justice
issue of the twenty-first century. Social work, a profession that is positioned at the
core and centre of social justice concerns, has finally begun to pay attention to the
global issue of sustainability.

According to Green Social Work, the social work field needs to transition to an
ecological perspective where the rights of all components of the human and non-
human environment have equal weight. Concerns for social and environmental
justice in social work call for redefining the connections between people and the
environment. Reevaluating indigenous wisdom, which places a high value on the
symbiotic relationship between humans and nature, is one way to achieve this.

The daily interactions of indigenous communities and women with the forest, in
which they appreciate and protect it, demonstrate this harmonious relationship of
care. Chipko, Beej Bachao Andolan, Appiko, and Kenya Greenbelt Movement are just
a few examples of movements that have expressed the sensitivity of care and
nourishment for the environment of the local people. Social work has a growing
responsibility to reestablish the deteriorating connections between individuals and
their surroundings and to raise the necessary awareness. The ecological approach
promotes the necessity for social engagement with environmental challenges in
order to alter and reimagine the social work profession through an ecological lens.

Role of Social Worker in Environment Protection and Sustainable Development

Gross structural inequalities have been created as a result of the dominant

development paradigm, unequal power dynamics, unequal resource distribution, and
a neo-liberalized global economic system, which disproportionately affects the poor
and those with low incomes. Such an economic-social system has damaged people's
ability to manage risk and prevented low-income individuals and their communities
from building resilience. An evident result of this neoliberal, market-driven
environment is environmental injustice, which is the inequitable distribution of the
planet's resources and which is founded in environmental deterioration brought on
by unsustainable patterns of development.

Social workers have a responsibility to work toward achieving "Environmental

Justice" for all, particularly for the most disadvantaged and vulnerable groups.
Environment justice refers to the equitable distribution of the advantages and costs
associated with preserving a safe and sustainable environment that all living things
can benefit from. Social workers who work in environmental justice must address
both systemic and personal forms of injustice that negatively affect individuals and
harm the environment while granting privileges to a select few. As an illustration, the
current unequal distribution of income in the world has resulted in 1,153 billionaires,
while three billion people survive on less than two dollars each day (Kroll and Fass,
2011).
The idea of sustainable development has made it possible for us to understand the
crucial connection between current conduct and probable future outcomes.
Sustainable development is defined as any development that satisfies current
demands without jeopardising the ability of future generations to satisfy their own
needs. Social workers play a special role in developing alternative models of
socioeconomic and environmental development that are grounded in the principles
of environmental justice and a healthy, sustainable existence. Although everyone has
a part to play in maintaining the earth's environment for the use of the current and
future generations of people, as well as the flora and fauna, social workers have a
particular role.

Awareness Building

In light of the aforementioned, there is an urgent need to increase awareness of the

larger socio-economic mechanisms present in society that contribute to
environmental degradation while also placing the blame for this on the
underprivileged. Social workers raise public awareness of and knowledge of the
unfair socioeconomic practises that contribute to environmental injustice and
deterioration at the same time. They can encourage people to move toward an
empowering and ecologically just form of development by clearly outlining the unfair
and unsustainable patterns of growth.

Social workers play a critical role in raising public awareness of the hazards posed by
environmental degradation and in empowering communities to take action to reduce
the potential for harm.

Policy managers and consultants to government for enabling people-centric and

environment-friendly policies and models

Social workers must encourage and support people's engagement at all stages of
decision-making, planning, execution, monitoring, and evaluation in order to ensure
that the development paradigm is sustainable, just, and inclusive. They must create
and encourage multi-stakeholder partnerships that include the populace,
professionals, and the government for the same reasons.

Additionally essential to ensuring that sustainable development principles are

implemented in development programmes are social workers. However, a lot of
development initiatives do not adhere to sustainable practises. It is not unusual to
see that environmental impact assessments, which are a required step in project
development, are often skipped in favour of fast environmental clearances for
environmentally risky projects. Governments and communities have failed to hold
massive multinational corporations (MNCs) responsible since the development
paradigm has backed them.

Therefore, the development initiatives founded purely on maximising profits have

resulted in widespread eviction, loss of livelihood, human suffering, environmental
damage, and grave environmental injustice. The most severely affected groups are
marginalised populations whose only means of subsistence are natural resources.
These include graziers, fishermen, tribal and forest dwellers, small and marginal
farmers, grazing communities, and, most significantly as a constituency that cuts
across all of these communities, the women from all of these communities.

Given their gender-specific tasks, women are required to interact with nature in
order to provide for their families' basic needs. Women suffer the most from the
declining environmental resource base due to growing labour demands and
deteriorating health.

Due to irresponsible mining, deforestation, and river damming, indigenous

populations are also the most severely impacted. As a result of losing their rights to
their natural resources, people are forced to migrate and flee the environment. In
order to prevent the communities from becoming ecological refugees—a result of
the prevalent paradigms of development—social workers must raise awareness and
mobilise them to fight this change. They help communities get organised and equip
them with the tools they need to oppose exploitative paradigms and relationships.
Given the likelihood that disputes involving natural resources will rise, social workers
should be prepared to take on a variety of responsibilities, including mobilizers,
educators, organisers, negotiators, advocates, and conflict managers. Social workers
have more opportunity to construct multi-stakeholder partnerships to settle disputes
as well as to create and strengthen networks and coalitions to present a powerful
voice to request alternative development.

Conclusion

Due to its humanistic commitment and social justice perspective, social work is best
positioned to respond to the human implications of environmental change and
stress. Environmental justice and environmental protection can be advanced in a
variety of ways by social workers. Unfortunately, the field of environmental practise,
research, and policy making still lacks an appropriate presence. It is vital for the
social work profession to actively assert its legitimate position in the field of
environment protection and sustainable development given the urgent need for
innovative, successful, and justice-oriented answers to the human components of
global environmental crises. Intergenerational equity is a key component of
sustainable development, which lays a strong emphasis on “the meeting of needs, as
opposed to wants, and places a clear focus on intergenerational equity” (Hembd &
Silberstein, 2011, p. 262). Environmental health, economic viability, and social well-
being, collectively known as the triple bottom line, may be used to define
sustainability both narrowly and widely (Calder & Dautremont-Smith, 2009). Indeed,
the advancement of all three is crucial for the profession of social work.
Wangari Maathai

Wangari Maathai (1940-2011) was the founder of the Green Belt Movement and the
2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. She authored four books: The Green Belt Movement;
Unbowed: A Memoir; The Challenge for Africa; and Replenishing the Earth. As well as
having been featured in a number of books, she and the Green Belt Movement were the
subject of a documentary film, Taking Root: the Vision of Wangari Maathai (Marlboro
Productions, 2008).

Wangari Muta Maathai was born in Nyeri, a rural area of Kenya (Africa), in 1940. She
obtained a degree in Biological Sciences from Mount St. Scholastica College in
Atchison, Kansas (1964), a Master of Science degree from the University of Pittsburgh
(1966), and pursued doctoral studies in Germany and the University of Nairobi, before
obtaining a Ph.D. (1971) from the University of Nairobi, where she also taught veterinary
anatomy. The first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree,
Professor Maathai became chair of the Department of Veterinary Anatomy and an
associate professor in 1976 and 1977 respectively. In both cases, she was the first
woman to attain those positions in the region.