We have been the Department of Social Work at Ernst Abbe University for over 30 years. Since then, we have become an important voice for social work in the region and throughout Germany. We teach social work and its related disciplines in a practice-oriented manner through both instruction and research. In doing so, we prioritize the transfer of theory into practice and work closely with our partners in the field in Jena and the surrounding region.

We, the Department of Social Work—as part of Ernst Abbe University, which provides the institutional framework for our teaching and research—see ourselves as members of the international social work community, striving to initiate and shape the discipline and profession as processes that are both academically rigorous and practice-oriented. We use societal changes and social developments as an opportunity to promote opportunities and strategies for social cohesion as well as the strengthening of autonomy and self-determination.

We want to present social work in our department as a globally-minded profession guided by international principles of social work. In doing so, we are guided by the following questions:

• How does social justice come about in society, and how can it be achieved?
• How can we, through our discipline and profession, promote social and sustainable action in business, research, and politics that is consistently guided by human rights and thus opposes actions that jeopardize human dignity and the right to opportunities for personal development and self-realization?
• How can a shared responsibility for people of all ages, life situations, professions, and worldviews become a reality in our society?
• How do we shape a shared world in which diversity of opinion, cultural background, and individual differences in life paths are not only respected but also open up perspectives for a new, different, and shared way of living and learning?

In our teaching, we draw on the full richness of theoretical knowledge—grounded in the humanities, cultural studies, human sciences, and social sciences—to anchor our instruction in scholarly discourse. These diverse insights reflect the relevance and plausibility of a theory-to-practice transfer that enables concrete political action to emerge from the university.

As the Department of Social Work at a university of applied sciences, we strive—in the spirit of Ernst Abbe—to integrate technical innovations with social and ethical components in order to foster social development processes and shape them in a way that is sustainable for people. We do not view research as a vehicle for a process of economization; rather, we evaluate our research projects based on their ethical soundness as well as their social and societal compatibility. In our research, which is oriented toward both the advancement of the individual and the common good, the mandate of social work is formulated as universalistic, because it refers to a concrete political mandate for the individual within their social contexts.

In light of digitalization and the transformation of individual and societal spheres of life, the ecological crisis, and the question of how social work will be taught and conveyed in a way that is future-oriented and sustainable, we in the Department of Social Work are committed to combining innovation with a dignified future for all people. Social justice and shared responsibility form the foundation of our teaching and research; they also shape the opportunities for future generations in the region and around the world, as well as the department’s commitment to sustainability. For us, the future means openness to the world and a commitment to a shared world characterized by respect for diversity.