Promoting Ecological Citizenship: Social Work Approach to Save the Environment for Sustainable Livelihood

Ecological citizenship is gaining recognition as a strategy to mitigate the impact of climate change. Climate change continues to pose a threat to the well-being of individuals, families, groups, and communities. Not only does it affect the environment, resulting in environmental degradation posing a threat to the general well-being of individuals, but it also has consequences for society since it compromises livelihood. Environmental degradation, as a cause of climate change, also threatens their society and future generations’ well-being. The devastating floods that caused massive destruction in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape in April 2022 are some of the factors that result in environmental degradation, thereby increasing vulnerability, which serves as a reminder of the significant role of ecological citizenship. Social work has a responsibility to help improve the quality of life, especially of marginalised and vulnerable populations, and can, therefore, play a crucial role in minimising the devastating effects of climate change through promoting ecological citizenship. Promoting green behaviour among citizens is one way in which social workers can indicate their commitment to sustainable development. Because environmental problems are proving to have a social angle, social workers should include the attainment of environmental justice and sustainability as part of their social interventions. In addition, social work can influence the environmental actions of various stakeholders. This paper offers a pragmatic approach rooted in social work to consider ecological citizenship to support sustainable livelihood. Informed by approaches and processes in social work, this paper explores and describes the role of social work in promoting ecological citizenship to achieve sustainable livelihood.