A look back to the activities of the Europe's leading network for social services during 2022.
The European Social Network continued to support social services professionals across Europe responding to the overlapping crises of the war in Ukraine, the cost-of-living and energy crises, while continuing to deal with the after-effects of Covid-19.
2022 saw a return to activities in person. We welcomed almost 600 delegates from 35 countries to the 30th European Social Services Conference in June in Hamburg and celebrated the European Social Services Awards in Malaga in November. Our annual seminar in cooperation with Gironde County Council saw the participation of 100 delegates from 20 countries, to discuss integrated social inclusion programmes combining minimum income and social services, We launched working groups on the resilience and quality of social services, both of which were held in cooperation with members in Madrid and Prague.
We continued to support the development of social work policy and practice. Our analysis of the 2022 European Semester includes an overview of the issues impacting social services in local communities across Europe in 19 European countries. At their meeting in Brussels 24-25 October, members also discussed challenges and good practice regarding the implementation of selected principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) related to children’s services, long-term care and support for homeless people, as well as debating the impact of EU funding on integrated social services and the development of new models of care with MEPs in the European Parliament. Our webinar in March 2022 highlighted social services response to the millions of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and highlighted the need for overarching responses to address longer term social inclusion needs. 2022 also saw the launch of our new podcast series "ESN Talks," sharing the stories of those on the frontline of social services across Europe.
2022 in numbers
13 new members
408 participants at EaSI co-funded activities
17,000 news subscribers
10 in-person events
47,000 online votes for shortlisted projects in the European Social Services Awards
25 speakers and 102 presenters at the European Social Services Conference
Download the 2022 Annual Review below.