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Organizers: The Department of Social Work, Faculty of Sociology and Social Work, the University of Bucharest in collaboration with the Association of Schools of Social Work in Romania (ASSWR)

Conference theme: Social Work in a shifting world: Responding to transforming realities and their ripple effects

Conference dates: October 29^th – 31^st, 2025

Conference venue: Faculty of Sociology and Social Work (Schitu Măgureanu, nr.9,  Bucharest, Romania)

Conference language: English

Conference website:  www.swicub.com

📢🆕Parent friendly conference offering activities for participants’ children.

The Social Work Department of the University of Bucharest is pleased to invite submissions for presentations at the 9^th edition of the Social Work International Conference (SWIC) to be held from October 29^th to 31^st, 2025.

This year’s theme, Social Work in a shifting world: Responding to transforming realities and their ripple effects is an invitation to critically explore how social work is adapting to the complex and often disruptive transformations shaping our societies today. These transformations include economic instability, political turbulence, global and regional conflicts, migration, demographic changes, climate crisis, technological advancement, and growing social disparities.

The SWIC 2025 conference aims to provide a platform for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and collaboration among social work scholars, educators, practitioners, policymakers, and students. Participants are encouraged to reflect on how social work can remain responsive and proactive in the face of these evolving realities. Emphasis will be placed on intersectional perspectives, innovative practices, and cross-sectoral collaborations that contribute to equitable and sustainable social work responses.

We invite researchers and practitioners from the field of social work as well as other connected social science fields. We welcome scientifically sound and original contributions from researchers, educators, practitioners, and students from social science in the areas listed below. Submissions can be empirical, theoretical or practice based.

Special focus: student and practitioner engagement

The first day of the conference (October 29th, 2025) will be dedicated to activities engaging students and practitioners, including:

• A special student paper stream (undergraduate, master, and doctoral level)
• Interactive workshops and panels
• Networking opportunities with experienced researchers and professionals

This dedicated day reflects our commitment to promoting the active involvement of practitioners and students in shaping the future of social work education, research, and practice.

Conference streams / focus areas

The streams of the conference are divided based on the following focus areas:

1. Social work responses to inequalities, poverty, and systemic marginalization in times of change
2. Child welfare, aging populations, and intergenerational support systems
3. Social work responses to climate justice and eco-social work
4. Social work responses to digital and AI advancement in social work practice and education
5. Social work ethics and professional resilience amid global crises
6. Social work responses and solutions to current socio-economic changes (miscellaneous)

Publication of papers

All submissions to SWIC 2025 must be in English (abstracts and/or full-texts). They will be evaluated through a peer-review process. Selected full-text papers will be published in a special number of the The Social Work Review.

Types of presentations

Presentation types include individual or co-authored papers, poster presentations, and workshops. The abstracts will be evaluated based on their relevance to the conference theme, methodological strength, relevance to social work and actuality of the topic.

Abstract submission 

We are now receiving abstract submissions. To apply please fill out the [Abstract Submission Form].

Abstract submissions should include the following:

• Title of the presentation
• Name and affiliation of the author(s)
• 3-5 keywords

The abstract body (300 words or less, maximum 3000 characters) should follow as much as possible the below structure:

• Background/Context
• Research objective
• Methodology
• Main results and/or implications for social work education, practice and/or research
• General conclusion

All submissions are made through the [Abstract Submission Form]., by August 31^st, 2025.

Please address any enquiries about the conference to swicub@sas.unibuc.ro. 

The SWIC 2025 Organizing Committee looks forward to receiving your abstract!