Steering Committee

Welcome

Dear Friends, Colleagues, Students, Service Users and Community Partners,

It is with great pleasure that Leeds Beckett University announces the forthcoming European Conference on Social Work Education (ECSWE) Leeds 2027, organised by the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW).

In Salzburg in 2025, we reflected on the importance of social connectedness and the role of social work education in building inclusive, democratic, healthy and sustainable societies. As we gather in Leeds in 2027, we invite you to join us in exploring our conference theme:

Reimagining Social Work Education: Solidarity, Justice, and Care in a Changing World

Across Europe and globally, we are living through a period of profound social, political, environmental and technological transformation. Social work educators, researchers, practitioners, students, service users and activists are increasingly confronted with questions about how our profession can respond to growing inequalities, climate crises, displacement and migration, threats to democracy, racism, social fragmentation and rapidly changing digital landscapes.

Social work has always sought to promote human dignity, social justice and collective wellbeing. It is a profession built on relationships, solidarity and care. As educators, we have a responsibility to prepare future generations of social workers who can critically engage with contemporary challenges whilst remaining committed to the values that underpin our profession.

The Leeds conference provides an opportunity to come together to examine whose knowledge counts in social work education, how we strengthen human rights and democracy, how we promote participation and co-production, and how we build more equitable and sustainable futures. It is also an opportunity to learn from one another, to share innovative practices, research and lived experiences, and to imagine new possibilities for social work education and practice.

Our conference theme reminds us that reimagining social work education is not simply about responding to change, but about shaping it. Through solidarity, justice and care, we can work collectively to create educational spaces that are inclusive, transformative and responsive to the needs of individuals, communities and societies.

Leeds, with its rich traditions of community action, diversity and social justice movements, provides an ideal setting for these conversations. Together, we will listen, reflect, challenge assumptions and build connections that can help shape the future of social work education across Europe and beyond.

We look forward to welcoming you to Leeds in 2027 and sharing with you the warmth, creativity and hospitality of our city and university.

Kind regards,

The ECSWE Leeds 2027 Steering Committee

ECSWE Leeds 2027 Steering Committee

President EASSW, Cyprus — School of Humanities and Social Sciences

Reader in Social Work, Leeds Beckett University, School of Health

Dr Darren Hill is a Reader in Social Work at Leeds Beckett University, whose work focuses on advancing socially just approaches to education, research, and community social work. He has a professional background in social work practice, particularly in community-based drug treatment services.

His academic interests include social work theory, mental health, addiction, and social work history. His research explores social justice, inequality, and the role of social work in supporting inclusive and democratic communities. Dr Hill is particularly interested in collaborative, community-based responses to complex social challenges and in strengthening the contribution of social work to contemporary societal issues.

Dr Hill is a Board Member and Treasurer of the European Social Work Research Association. He is also Chair of the Local Organising Committee for the European Conference on Social Work Education (ECSWE) Leeds 2027.

Reader in Youth Work, Leeds Beckett University, School of Health

Vice-President EASSW, Head of Department of Social Pedagogy and Social Rehabilitation, University of Lodz

Mariusz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Social Pedagogy and Social Rehabilitation at the University of Lodz, with extensive professional experience in the fields of social work, youth work, and residential care.

He has led and coordinated numerous European research projects, including initiatives funded under the EU Horizon Europe programme (T-Factor, Yourope, Democreate). His research interests include community work in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, political social work, critical social pedagogy, participatory action research, and youth work.

In 2025, he founded the Inter-University Laboratory of Knowledge Co-production and Epistemic Justice, an initiative dedicated to participatory and socially engaged research and education.

Since 2021, he has served as Vice-President of the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW) and as a member of the Board of Directors of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). He serves as the Head of the EASSW delegation to the Council of Europe.

Head of Study Programme MA Social Innovation, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences

Secretary EASSW, University of Prešov

Zuzana Poklembová is an associate professor, lecturer, and researcher at the Institute of Educology and Social Work, Faculty of Arts, University of Prešov, Slovakia. She holds a PhD in Social Work and received her master’s degrees in economy and in social work.

She is the Secretary of the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW) and a member of the Slovak Association of Social Work Educators (AVSP).

In teaching and research, she focuses on self-care in helping professions, self-compassion and mindfulness in social work, macroeconomic and microeconomic aspects of social work, social policy, employment policy, and the role of professional practice in social work education.

Her academic work also includes tutoring professional practice and co-guaranteeing social work study programmes at Bachelor, Master, and Doctoral degrees, and she is involved in the Self-Care Lab FF UNIPO, which under her direction co-houses the Global Self-Care Initiative (GSCI).

Her main academic aim is to be able to support students in improving themselves personally and professionally for their future social work practice, with the emphasis on their professional skills, self-care, and ability to grow and learn through cooperation with other individuals, cultures, institutions, and specific groups.

Treasurer EASSW, Researcher/Lecturer, HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht

Chair of Social Work — Education and Society, School of Humanities, Social Sciences and Law, University of Dundee

Richard Ingram is Professor of Social Work in the Division of Education and Society at the University of Dundee. Richard is a qualified social worker, and his practice experience includes groupwork, child protection, youth work and working with adults with learning disabilities. Richard joined the University of Dundee in 2004 as a lecturer, and has since developed extensive experience of programme development, institutional partnerships, educational leadership and internationalisation. His research interests include emotional intelligence, relationship-based practice, digitalisation & AI, student experience and global social work. He is currently Co-Editor in Chief of Social Work Education: The International Journal and sits on the executive committee of the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW).