All roads lead to Aberdeen for international social work conference

The Granite City welcomed the European Social Work Research Association Conference 2026 with initial special interest sessions held at Sir Ian Wood Building before the main conference opened at P&J Live. Professor Gary Spolander and Professor Richard Ingram from University of Dundee made up the local organising committee for the North East conference.

Professor Gary Spolander, Professor of Social Work at RGU: "Evidence informed practice is really important in terms of ensuring that we deliver services which are fit for purpose and which really exemplify the best understanding that we have of social work in society today."

Professor Richard Ingram, Head of Social Work at the University of Dundee: “Nearly 900 social work researchers from all over the globe are taking part in one of the largest conferences of its type in the world. The challenges facing individuals, communities and society nationally and internationally have never been greater, nor has the need and appetite for impactful social work research. It is fantastic that Scotland is the location for such an important event.”

Professor Karen Winter, Professor of Children's Social Care at Queens University Belfast & Chair of the European Social Work Research Association: "In the challenging context that we're currently in, the role of social work is more important than ever to build communities to address the issues that they together face.”

Professor Eric Chui, Professor of Social Work and Criminology at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University: "It's lovely to see not only academics but at this conference in particular there's a very good mix of practitioners, researchers, policy makers, and even some of the students in social work. When we put everyone together, what we want is a very ripened community. Most importantly, it's about the wellbeing of people around the world."

Veronica Strachan, University Secretary and Vice Principal Governance at RGU opened the event, and told delegates:  “Hosting this conference here in Scotland is very important to us, it reflects our pride in our longstanding tradition of social work that is rights-based, community-oriented practice and recognises both our continuing and emerging challenges, and opportunities.

“Conferences such as ESWRA Aberdeen 2026 matter because they create space not only to share research findings, but also to question assumptions about whose knowledge counts and how change happens. Coming together creates a vital forum for collective learning, sharing and reflection, challenge, and debate, being knowledge-building, informing practice and enabling change.”

The conference theme was Social Work and Interdisciplinary Research: researching and facilitating evidence informed practice and policy. This theme aligns with the importance of celebrating, enhancing, and promoting social work research to inform professional practice, facilitate policy and enable change at individual, community, and societal levels. 

The event opened at RGU with special interest groups holding a series of campus sessions on Wednesday 15 April before the main event at P&J Live on Thursday 16 April and Friday 17 April.

Main image courtesy of University of Aberdeen