Intra-national similarities and differences in social work and their significance for developing European dimensions of research and education

The linguistic, historical, social, cultural, economic, political and ideological divisions of Belgium are reflected in social work. Whereas social work has recently received full academic recognition in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium with BA programmes at University Colleges of Applied Sciences (‘Hogescholen’) and MA programmes at the universities of Ghent, Leuven and Antwerp, in the French-speaking part, its academic status has only been recognised at BA level and through a Master at University Colleges of Applied Sciences (‘Hautes Ecoles’) and still mainly depends on ‘bordering disciplines’ such as sociology and social policy at university level. However, although scholars in both parts of Belgium are open-minded towards different European versions and traditions of social work, exchanges in social work research, policy, practice and education between Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia have been rare. Structural factors like the lack of a lingua franca and the erosion of shared policy, practice and funding structures obstructed the sharing of social work notions across Belgium. In our contribution, we draw on research insights emerging from a joint seminar between social work scholars to identify strategies for the development of a social work research agenda and for better utilising intra-national diversity.