Environmental social work and related terms have been used widely to describe an approach to social work practice that is founded on ecological justice principles. However, practice applications of environmental social work are scant and there are various terms and a range of interpretations of the practice that exist. Using a concept analysis framework we identify the attributes and characteristics of environmental social work, develop an operational definition, and use a case study to illustrate the practice of environmental social work. In this way, we seek to improve clarity, consistency, and understanding of environmental social work practice among educators, practitioners, and researchers. In essence, environmental social work assists humanity to create and sustain a biodiverse planetary ecosystem and does this by adapting existing social work methods to promote societal change.

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Social workers were among many researchers urging systemic change before the COVID 19 pandemic, because the dominant socio-economic system governing society was causing environmental injustice and an ecological crisis. This is a brief introduction to hybrid businesses that provide a model to strengthen social and environmental wellbeing. It is based on data collected from the author’s PhD research project, which aims to provide guidance for environmental social work practitioners.

This article describes activities and strategies hybrid businesses use to enhance environmental wellbeing, including a mix of modelling, education, stewardship, collaboration and nature connection. It is based on a multi-case study focusing on three hybrid businesses. Observation indicated there were benefits for both the natural environment and to people involved with the organisations, suggesting caring for the environment and for people can occur concurrently. Activities described could be adopted by social workers interested in increasing environmental wellbeing and justice, including a focus on the environment in social work and promoting the implementation of an alternative social-economic world system.

Social work practice education should be designed for sustainability and relevance in emerging and future work contexts. Changes influencing the emerging world of work including transformations in services, communication technologies, distributed working patterns, and new priorities and identities should inform the design of the integrated learning components of the curriculum. Changes influencing the future delivery of education include increased demand for flexible, collaborative, networked and digital learning; pre-existing but rapidly accelerated because of COVID-19. Together, these drivers compel us to innovate to ensure graduates are practice ready and resilient in these evolving contexts. In this analysis of social work, nursing, and allied health literature diverse approaches to integrative learning are examined, generating an evidence base for informing decision making when innovating in the design of integrative learning. This article advocates an orientation towards the future world of work and education, as a lens for reimagining integrative learning in social work.