International Erasmus+ Project
The main investigator is doc. Michal Opatrný from the Department of Ethics, Psychology and Social Work and the other member of the research team is Dr. Emanuele Lacca from the Department of Philosophy and Religion. The project is implemented by a consortium of Universities and research institutions in Spain (Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia), Germany (Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg i.Br.), Hungary (Gál Ferenc Főiskola Szeged), and Ireland (Clare Youth Service, Ennis). The aim of the project is to innovate the educational content of follow-up masters and doctoral study programmes in social work. The modules and programmes will focus on the issues of spirituality and social ethics. Partial objectives include creating support materials for these educational modules, especially a multilingual manual for students, professionals, and academics on spirituality and social ethics in social work. The project thus responds to the growing cultural and religious diversity in the EU. Social work faces a challenge to support refugees and other incoming aliens from other countries for whom their spirituality and religiosity are an essential part of their lives. The issue of spirituality and religiosity is closely linked to ethical issues in social work because social workers work with the value systems of the client, society, social work, and their own value system, and must make complex decisions that require high ethical competence. The nature and theme of the project calls for an interdisciplinary approach that is common in social work, as well as an approach that will take into account the specificities of different cultural areas in Europe. The implementation of the project at a wide international level will ensure the usability of its results across the EU, both in traditionally religious countries such as Spain or Ireland, and in highly secularised countries such as the Czech Republic; this covers both the ‘old’ EU countries, such as Germany, and in post-communist EU countries, such as the Czech Republic and Hungary.