Social Work Education in Europe Traditions and Transformations

“This book is a collective joint work that features ten European countries social work profiles: Finland, Latvia, Germany, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Croatia, Romania, and Cyprus and the development of the social work education and practices within their terrains. … interesting about this book is that no matter what context or history or education, Social Work Will always remain a core key for the development of society toward a sustainable, equal, and justice one.” (Gloria Abdo, European Journal of Social Work, Vol. 26 (3), 2023)

Marion Laging, PhD is a qualified social worker with a specialization in education and many years of experience in several social work fields like the care for the elderly and for persons with disabilities, adult education and addiction care. After completing her PhD in 2005, she obtained the post of professor for social work at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences in Germany. Since 2008, she has been director of the Bachelor's degree course in social work and is especially committed to the internationalization of the degree. Since 2019, she has been the Vice President for Education and Advanced Studies at Esslingen University of Applied Sciences. As a board member of the German Association of Schools of Social Work and of the Executive Committee of the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW), she is engaged in the further development of social work qualifications at the national and European levels. 

Nino Žganec, PhD was born in Croatia, where he finished the study of Social Work at the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb. Since the beginning of his career he has worked as the faculty teacher in different positions – assistant professor, associate professor and full professor. The fields of his practical and scientific interest include community social work, ethics and human rights, organization of social services and international social work. He has published in different domestic and international journals and books, participated in several domestic and international scientific research projects in the fields of his interest, and presented many keynote speeches at domestic and international social work conferences. He has experience in political engagement as assistant minister and state secretary in Croatian Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. During his term in the office comprehensive reform of the social care sector was launched. Since 2011 he participates in the executive committee of the European Association of Schools of Social Work (EASSW), and in 2015 he was elected as the president of this association for the mandate 2015-2019. In the same period he performed the duty of vice president of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). He was also elected as a member of the executive committee of the European Anti-Poverty Network as well as the president of the Croatian Anti-Poverty Network for the mandate 2014-2020. His teaching activities include graduate and postgraduate programmes including PhD programmes in different European countries.