Social work research and practice that address environmental sustainability have already become prominent. However, a change in unsustainable economic structures is also urgently needed. This study explored emerging opportunities in theory and practice for a sustainable economy that are relevant to the aims of social work. As practical examples, our study concerns ‘ecosocial innovations’, i.e., social innovations that combine ecological and social goals. We analysed how these grassroots innovations in the field of social work reflect crucial shared conceptions of alternative economies. The qualitative data set comprised of 50 ecosocial innovations and six case studies in five European countries. The findings show a rich diversity of ecosocial innovations and describe how they reframe economic purposes, value economic diversity and democratise the economy. We suggest that social work might consider these practices as opportunities for collaboration, especially regarding work with people on the margins of the labour market.

中文翻译：

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生态社会创新使社会工作能够促进可持续经济的新形式

解决环境可持续性的社会工作研究和实践已经变得非常重要。但是，迫切需要改变不可持续的经济结构。这项研究探索了与社会工作目标相关的可持续经济的理论和实践方面的新兴机会。作为实际例子，我们的研究涉及“生态社会创新”，即结合了生态和社会目标的社会创新。我们分析了社会工作领域的这些基层创新如何反映出替代性经济的重要共识。定性数据集包括五个欧洲国家的50个生态社会创新和六个案例研究。研究结果显示了生态社会创新的多样性，并描述了它们如何重构经济目的，重视经济多样性并使经济民主化。我们建议社会工作可以将这些实践视为合作的机会，尤其是在劳动力市场边缘与人合作时。