Eco-social approach to wildfire emergencies in Sardinia between community social work and multidisciplinary communication
Daniela Pisu, Alessandro Lovari, Ester Cois
This article examines community social work interventions implemented in Sardinia (Italy) in response to the extreme wildfire event that affected the Montiferru-Planargia area in 2021. Drawing on the theoretical framework of eco-social work and the principles of Relational Social Work, the study investigates the interplay between public risk communication and community-based social work practices in insular contexts characterized by environmental, social, and infrastructural vulnerabilities. The analysis argues that multidisciplinary collaboration and stronger institutional recognition of social work are key enabling conditions for developing inclusive, place-based disaster management models oriented toward community resilience.
Methodologically, the study adopts a descriptive case study design within a mixed methods framework. The qualitative component is based on a content analysis of institutional documents at the regional and municipal levels (2014-2022), focusing on risk and crisis communication strategies. The quantitative component draws on a survey administered to social workers operating in the affected areas to explore professional roles, practices, and critical challenges in emergency contexts.
The findings reveal the limitations of an emergency-driven approach to wildfire risk governance and highlight the contribution of social work through its filtering, bridging, and coordination functions. These functions are shown to be pivotal in facilitating inter-institutional collaboration, supporting affected populations, and strengthening relational dynamics at the community level.
Keywords
Community social work, Eco-social work, Crisis communication, Multidisciplinary collaboration, Sardinia.
