UEF secures significant Erasmus+ funding to develop social work education in China

The Department of Social Sciences at the University of Eastern Finland is launching and coordinating a three-year project to develop social work education in China. Securing 800,000 euros of funding from the EU's Erasmus+ programme, the project constitutes a capacity building effort that seeks to promote the renewal of higher education in partner countries outside the EU.

The project will be carried out in collaboration between European and Chinese universities. The other European partners are the University of Gothenburg and Keele University, and the Chinese partners are Fudan University in Shanghai, Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou, and Nanjing Normal University in Nanjing. Two significant Chinese social work organisations will also participate in the project. The consortium is led by the Head of the Department of Social Sciences, Professor Juha Hämäläinen.

The project will be carried out in 2017-2020, and it seeks to respond to structural changes taking place in Chinese society by developing social work. The rapid societal change in China is causing major welfare gaps and social problems, which can be addressed through professional social work and a system that supports it. The objective of the project is to modernise and renew the Chinese social work system and the related higher education.

The project will enhance the professional skills of social work teachers and it creates novel study modules and new ways of learning. The project also seeks to promote the status of social work in higher education in China, and within Chinese provincial administrations as well. Key forms of collaboration in the consortium include information dissemination and promotion of interaction, course development, cross-sectoral workshops and international conferences.

For further information, please contact: Professor Juha Hämäläinen, juha.hamalainen(at)uef.fi, tel. +358 50 593 9415