Esplorare pratiche di lavoro ecosociale in Italia: il progetto PRIN ECOSOW

[Machine translation] The chapter presents the cognitive objectives and the methodological choices that guided the analysis of the ecosocial work experiences identified in Italy as part of the ECOSOW (Social Work and Sustainable Local Development in Italy: Towards Ecosocial Work?) Project of Significant National Interest (PRIN). The research project aimed to investigate if and in what way an ecosocial approach is taken and translated into social work practices, with particular attention to the processes through which the ecological dimension becomes relevant in professional practice. To this end, several projects active in different areas of the country were analyzed, identified as significant experiences for their potential ability to integrate social and ecological objectives and for the involvement of social work in processes of ecosocial transformation. The research design adopted the case study method, considered particularly adequate to grasp, in depth and in situated contexts, the concrete ways through which the ecological instance enters the professional and organizational practices of social work. In this perspective, the project started an in-depth study on some local realities selected as case studies, which in the premises seemed particularly relevant in relation to the objectives of the project. The analysis aimed to explore the contextual conditions and processes that favor their development, the operational and identity implications for social work, as well as the knowledge and skills considered important in ecosocial work and the ways through which they are acquired. In the first part, the chapter presents the motivations and objectives of the research, highlighting the need to consider localized research paths that allow us to deepen in an articulated way how an ecosocial approach can be integrated and become relevant in the practice of social work. In this perspective, the operational and identity implications are analyzed, as well as the contribution that social work can offer to the processes of ecosocial transformation. In particular, the contribution highlights the thematic areas, identified in the light of literature, as the main focuses of study and the general research questions that guided the project. Subsequently, the criteria for identifying case studies and the methodological choices that guided the work of data collection and analysis are explained. Finally, the chapter summarizes the cases studied and introduces the exhibition and interpretative path through which the results of the research work are presented and discussed in subsequent chapters of the volume.