Global-ANSWER: a European response to improve social policies

For Europe, Social Work and the job of social workers in society is fundamental, as demonstrated by the Global-ANSWER project, of which the Department of Sociology and Social Work of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (Comillas CIHS) is a member and in which it collaborates. The Institute for Migration Studies (IUEM) is also collaborating in the project, with funding of 1.5 million euros within the EU's Horizon 2020 programme.

The project is facing its last year, which began in Granada with the III Global-ANSWER Meeting, with around forty researchers and professionals in the field of Social Work and Human Mobility who have travelled from Rome, Florence, Palermo, Lund, La Rioja, Lugo and Madrid. Ana Huesca, lecturer at Comillas CIHS and principal researcher of the team from the university, together with Almudena Juárez and Laura Zanón, lecturers and researchers also from the Department of Sociology and Social Work at Comillas, were there.

Belén Morata, lecturer at the University of Granada and general coordinator of the project, recalled at the inauguration of the conference that the aim of the network is "to identify good practices from the local level in order to guide Europe, beyond the regulatory and legal aspect, in the improvement of social policies for the care and integration of the migrant population, in a comprehensive, effective way and with the greatest respect for human rights".

The annual balance of the project, entitled "Global social work and human mobility: comparative studies on local governance and good practices of social work in the Euro-Mediterranean region (2022-2025)", was presented there, and the participants analysed the results obtained to date, discussing the future challenges of social work and human mobility in Europe and exploring ways to consolidate the Global-ANSWER Network. In addition, it has been highlighted that this project is being "an opportunity to strengthen collaboration between institutions and professionals from different countries", creating networks that transcend the academic field and that have a direct impact on European social policies.

Two years ago, in 2023, Comillas CIHS hosted the first annual review conference coordinated by Ana Huesca. A year later, it was the Sicilian city of Palermo that hosted the second coordination meeting, chaired by Roberta di Rosa (lecturer at the University of Palermo). This year, the event was hosted by Belén Morata and the University of Granada. The fourth and final meeting will be held at the end of 2025 at the University of Florence, led by lecturer Ivana Acocella.