Shaping Our Future: Promoting Innovation, Inclusivity and the Social Work Voice for Change.
Two day conference
10th and 11th June 2025
University of Manchester.
Includes lunch, refreshments and evening pass to the free drinks reception and journalism awards on the evening of 10th June.
Our conference theme is Shaping the Future and throughout two days, in a spirit of collaboration and creativity, we will explore important contemporary and emerging directions for the profession, relevant to practice, leadership, workforce development, research and education.
Join us for key notes presentations, panel discussions, workshops and presentations from practitioners, innovators, leaders, researchers and change makers in social work. This will be an interactive and inspiring event where participants can get involved, get informed and meet new colleagues in the community of UK social work.
We have key content for students and practitioners at all stages of their careers and a special symposium for social workers in Independent Practice.
Here is an overview of confirmed content. More content and details will be announced here shared soon.
Theme: Innovations in Practice
Keynote and panel discussion Innovations in contextual safeguarding with Professor Carlene Firmin, Durham University
Workshops and presentations include:
- Supporting young people through the arts
- The Engage Approach - A Paradigm Shift in Responding to Domestic Abuse
- An Introduction to Social Work with Adults who have Huntington's Disease. A Practice Guide
- Child safeguarding and Deaf British Sign language (BSL) parents: What next at the crossroads?
- Transitional safeguarding
- Leader of change: how can social work drive practice improvements & influence wider society?
Theme: The future of digital technology and AI in social work
Plenary/panel session with sector leaders
Workshops and presentations include:
- Shifts in social workers' engagement with digital technology and its impacts on practice
- The Digital Social Worker - Enablement, Ethics and Elon
- Leveraging Virtual Reality to Transform Training in Social Work
Theme: Advancing social justice
Workshops and presentations include:
- Breaking Barriers: Advancing Innovation and Inclusion Social Work to Tackle Racism and Oppression: the Anti Racist Movement
- Tackling ageism together
- Social Work, Dignity and the learning from the experience of communities that include people with Down syndrome and learning disability
- Community-Orientated Practice Makes a Difference!
- Women in the Criminal Justice System – the role of Social Work
Theme: Contemporary challenges in social work education
Join in with a panel discussion and debate on key issues affecting students, education providers and prospective employers across the UK, plus workshop options throughout the conference
Theme: Doing and supporting new research by and with social workers
Workshops and presentations include:
- Introducing the NIHR School for Social Care Research: Research and Practice in Partnership
- Coproduction isn't just for Christmas- Collaborative Approaches in Social Work Research
- Developing a research career in social care: Personal experiences from five national research capacity building partnerships.
- Doing a Masters or Doctorate while still working
- How to write for publication: yes you can! Workshop with BASW’s Journals Editors – BJSW and Practice
Theme: Workforce sustainability, leadership and wellbeing at work
During the conference, we will be launching our new campaign with the Social Workers Union for better workplace wellbeing and working conditions, and better collaboration between all with a stake in creating better context for practice.
Workshops and presentations include:
- Social Worker Wellbeing: a study evaluating the impact of coaching in the UK
- “It's just the way it is, if you want to be a social worker." Exploring burnout and trauma in the social work profession.
- The use of 'Self' in creating ‘Safe Spaces’.
Social work and the role of social workers in mental health settings
A plenary and panel discussion will present progress on recent work to create a new UK-wide resource on the role of social work in mental health settings and will take stock of progress and challenges in the field across the UK.
Workshops and presentations include:
- Social work matters in mental health: Why social workers are essential for better mental health services
- Elevating the Social Worker in Children and Young People's Mental Health Services
- Co-production in mental health services
BASW UK Social Work Journalism Awards 2025
We will also be hosting our second BASW UK Social Work Journalism Awards on the evening of the 10th June. Come and join us for drinks and buffet and hear about the work of national journalists and their coverage of social work.
- Awards ceremony
- Hear from national journalists about their coverage of social work
- Free drinks reception
- Buffet
- Networking
Don't forget to enter or nominate any articles, broadcast pieces, podcast episodes or drama that deserves to be recognised in the BASW UK Social Work Journalism Awards 2025!
