Theme Introduction and Learning objectives
Places in the city matter to people and to social work. Both places service users feel tied to or identify as a special place for them, but also places of relevance to their recovery, e.g., need for help from different service providers. Applying the analytical concept of place allows us to understand how and why places matter to people, and what difference it can make to social work in the city to have knowledge about the meaning of place on both a structural and individual level. We especially wish to contribute to an analysis of social issues that enable social workers to become more sensitive to place by better understanding “the relational character of places, especially the ways in which places are always material, imagined, lived, affected by rhythms, connected across scales from the global to the individual level, contested and saturated with power (Rauhala, Hoevids, Lehto-Lunden & Freimann Jensen, 2022, p. 6).
In this theme you will get an introduction to the definition of place and ways to analyze and understand places and their meaning to people. You will be introduced to case material and exercises that allows you to work with the subject. You will also be introduced to the perspective of placemaking and exercises that allow you to see areas and people’s connections to certain places as relevant to both casework, community work, and critical social work.
In this course you will gain knowledge, insights, and skills on:
- How theory on place from the academic discipline of geography can inform and qualify social urban work
- How you identify ‘placemaking’ in your daily practice
- How you can act on your analysis and knowledge on placemaking in your practice with a variety of actions in urban social work