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Dr. Annamaria Campanini served as President of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) from 2016-2024.
Annamaria Campanini was born on March 2, 1950, in Parma, Italy the first of two children (brother Ferdinando Campanini) born to Aristide Campanini and Maria Olla. Annamaria married Ivano Minari in 1971. Ivano and Annamaria had three children: Roberta, Andrea and Stefano and three grandchildren, Giulio, Pietro and Marta .
In high school, (Liceo Scientifico Marconi) after learning about the existence of Casa Nostra—a community in Turin for pregnant women and minors, run by the sisters Maria and Imelda Valente, Annamaria spent part of the summer volunteering at the community’s mountain retreat.
After graduating from high school in 1968, Annamaria attended the first year of the mathematics faculty at Università di Parma, but was also interested in sociological studies. In the autumn of the following year, the opening of the first course of the Scuola Diretta a Fini Speciali (SDaFS) for social workers at the University of Parma immediately led Annamaria to pursue social work.
Annamaria Campanini completed three internships. The first involved her in a research activity in a nursing home for the elderly. The second experience was an experimental internship in school social services, with supervision by a professional from the Moral Protection Agency for Children. Her third internship took place at the Italian Association for Assistance to Spastics (AIAS), where she benefited from the supervision of a volunteer social worker, aiming to reach families of children with disabilities to help them overcome isolation tendencies and access resources. It is worth noting that until 1977, there were special and differential schools where children with social disadvantages were often placed.
In July 1972, Annamaria completed the three-year course and graduated with honors.
In November 1972, immediately after graduating, Annamaria received her first professional assignment at the Italian Association for Assistance to Spastics (AIAS), established in 1954 to protect the rights of people with disabilities, compensate for the lack of adequate facilities, promote social integration, create specialized rehabilitation centers, train operators, and promote legislation consistent with these goals. In 1974, a significant change occurred when the responsibilities for prevention and care for this category of disability were transferred to the Municipality of Parma, where AIAS personnel were relocated. In 1977, with the closure of welfare institutions, their competencies were transferred to local authorities. The key idea was to intervene in the “territory,” which becomes a place for the recomposition of needs and resources, providing basic services and health care that are organized within geographic areas. This approach gives the community an active role in managing new problems and their responses. Her work as a social worker continued in the Parma Centro district, a historic neighborhood characterized by dilapidated housing, a high rate of immigration, and an elderly population. In this context, she participated in the opening of a family counseling center with a participatory approach, working in a team consisting of a gynecologist, social worker, psychologist, and midwife. After working as a social worker at the Counseling Center, ar the end of the 70’s, she was charged with the coordination of this sector at the municipality level performing statistic analysis of the characteristic of the clients, their problems and of the interventions carried on by these centers, but also organizing very innovative experiences of continuing education.
Annamaria enrolled in the Sociology degree program at the University of Urbino, and graduated on 1979. Her thesis focused on the employment integration of people with disabilities. In May 1997, she graduated with a PhD in Sociology, Theory, and Methodology of Social Work, IX cycle, from the University of Trieste.
Annamaria Campanini’s first teaching contract was in 1975 at the SDaFS of the University of Parma, initially teaching Community Social Work and later Methods and Techniques of Third-Year Social Work. She introduced content related to the systemic relational model and employed an interactive teaching method, using technological supports to video record simulations.
Her teaching at the University of Parma continued uninterrupted until 2011. From 1992 to 1996, she collaborated with the University of Turin and from 1998 to 2001, she conducted teaching and coordination activities for the professional area of social work in the Experimental Degree Program in Social Work of Trieste University. In 2005 at the Università della Calabria, she was selected as “professore associato “ for the chair in social work, the second one in Italy after 20 years in which only prof Maria Dal Pra Ponticelli held this role in Siena. In 2008, she transferred to Milano Bicocca. The year after her entry into Milano Bicocca, she was awarded an Honorary Degree by Loyola University of Chicago, and in 2013, she obtained the qualification of full professor. Dr. Annamaria Campanini retired from full-time teaching in 2020.
Presidency of the International Association of Schools of Social Work
From 2016 to 2024, Dr. Annamaria Campanini served as the President of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW). During her Presidency, President Campanini oversaw many initiatives. Due to her expertise in French and Spanish and comprehension of Portuguese, she has maintained contact with the organisations of schools that are not English speaking . Some processes, such as developing significant relationships with these colleagues required time and patience and were not as successful as she expected, in terms of membership.
An important step, faciliated by board member Alexandra Mustafa, was to reconnect with ABEPS, the Brazilian Association of Educators and Researchrs, through many on line calls, the organization of one board meeting in Brazil and the participation in a conference of the Brazilian association on internationalization in July 2024. Many online and in person meetings were held with UNAFORIS, (Union National des Acteurs de la Formation et de la Recherche en Intervention Sociale National- National union of the education, research and intervention actors) (now an associate member of IASSW) and AIFRIS (Association international pour la formation, la recherche et l’intervention social – International association for education, research snad social intervention) to discuss their involvement in IASSW. Developing a relationship with UNAFORIS was important regarding the 2028 international conference that will take place in Paris celebrating the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of IASSW.
Durint her Presidency, Dr Campanini sent IASSW welcome messages, when requested, for different conferences and events around the world. Every year for the World Social Work Day, Annamaria recorded messages in English, French, Spanish and Italian to be used during the celebration of this event and in some years she was also able to participate in person at the initiatives in New York, Geneva and Bangkok.
Relationship with IFSW (International Federation of Social Workers) Due to a series of tensions that arose with the IFSW, the beginning of Annamaria Campanini’s presidency (2016) was particularly difficult. First and foremost, was the proposal to merge the IASSW and the IFSW into a single association, which was rejected and confirmed by a decision of the Board of Directors of IASSW. Secondly, there was conflict around the choice of the venue for the 2020 global conference. IASSW and ICSW (International Council on Social Work) voted to accept Italy’s proposal, while the IFSW signed an agreement with Canada to hold the conference in Calgary, despite the absence of an official ICSW representative, as required by the bid. Unfortunately, despite being fully prepared, the outbreak of COVID made it necessary to suspend the international conference in Rimini and resort to an online format, held in 2021. During the conference, held in three different months (January, March, April), it was possible to accommodate different key note speeches, symposiums, workshops, oral contributions and posters.
After this initial period, with the election in Dublin in 2018 of a new IFSW president Silvana Martinez there was the opportunity for clarification of the respective roles and redefinition of common commitments. In particular, it was decided to establish a task force to reformulate the Global Standards for social work education, an initiative that was part of the program presented by Dr. Campanini in her candidacy. The task force led by Dixon Sookrai representing IASSW and Vassilios Iokaimidis represdenting IFSW completed the task and the final document was approved on line in July 2020.
During the Global Conference in Dublin 2018, it was approved by IASSW and IFSW, to complete a revision of the Ethics in Social Work statement, drafted by a task force appointed during the Vimla Nadkarni Presidency.
Dr Campanini led IASSW through the COVID Pandemic. Lena Dominelli, chair of the Sustainability, Climate Change, Disaster Intervention Committee implemented several initiatives to increase visibility of the engagement of IASSW during this period: video messages for members and visitors of IASSW website, a page with social work stories, news and updates, teaching experiences were created and posts were regularly uploaded. A special call was launched for international projects on COVID 19 and a comprehensive report was prepared and edited by Lena Dominelli regarding the COVID impact in different countries. In addition, a survey was launched on “Understanding day to day social work teaching, learning and practice during COVID-19: A global perspective.”.
Collaboration with Sage Publishing for the publication of the International Social Work Journa was positive and after the selection of new editors in Dublin 2018, the quality and the ranking of the Journal has improved.
The Global Agenda Task Force was established, with the decision to launch the initiative for 2020-2030. It created a common bond between the three organisations launching a consultation on the future Global Agenda. With contribution from David Jones and Abye Tasse a flyer containing proposal from IASSW, ICSW and IFSW was prepared and published in the IASSW website and social media, to collect feedback from IASSW members. With Abye Tasse as coordinator of the task force and including IASSW members Antoinette Lombard and Angie Yuen, the initiative was developed and is in process.
In relation to the communication and restructuring, Dr. Campanini worked together with Rashmi Pandey and Preshit Deorukhkar to launch a new website in January 2020, with additional features and user friendly restructuring. A second revamp was accomplished with Neural, in 2023 to further enhance the presentation of the association, consider incorporating a section on resources, such as webinars and other educational materials, accessible only to members. This highlighted the value of membership. Other initiatives initiated included a change of financial institutions, hiring a communications officer, promoting Life Memberships and initiating Student membership.
In 2019, Dr. Campanini, at the CSWE conference in USA, had a meeting with Springer Publisher to develop a IASSW book series. In 2022 the contract was signed to prepare “brief volumes” on Advancing social work education. Two books are ready to be publish and other is nearly ready.
Since launching of the revised Global Standards in 2020, IASSW has disseminated them through workshops, webinars and conferences. IASSW has convened a Task Force of thought leaders to develop ways to support the adoption of the standards as a framework for social work education across the globe. IASSW plans to partner with schools in different parts of the world to implement these standards to achieve excellence in social work education, grounded in a deep respect for cultural and regional contexts.
Angie Yuen, former IASSW President, served as a liaison between IASSW and PolyU to develop a partnership in creating an online learning platform on the IASSW Global Standards for Social Work Education and Training for international users.
Dr Campanini signed an agreement with Department of Applied Social Sciences (APSS) represented by Prof. Eric Chui for three years support, at no cost.
The online learning programme team chaired by Varoshini Nadesan, and the Department of Applied Social Sciences of Hong Kong PolyU developed the Global Standards e-learning course, launched in May 2024 with more than 1000 registrations from different countries around the world.
Another significant initiative was an agreement signed in 2022 with the Chinese Association of Social Work Educators (CASWE) to prepare an online course with10 lectures by international social work scholars explaining the global standards for social work and presenting examples on how these countries apply the global standards for social work education. The lectures were translated into Chinese.
The agreement included the completion of Peer Reviews with 8 MSW programs selected by CASWE. Dr. Campanini led the group of 3 international scholars, who participated in this project. The Peer review process ended in May 2024 and will conclude with the compilation of the final report.
To introduce the service users perspective in social work education, Dr. Campanini signed a letter of intent with Power Us. Together with Power Us, IASSW organized 10 webinars, housed in IASSW website resources and organzed a Social Dialogue volume focusing on the collaboration of service users and schools of social work.
Many other initiatives were initiated during Dr. Campanini presidency, in cooperation with the different committees: the organization of Board meetings and seminars, implementation of three Global Congresses (Dublin, Seoul and Panama) with the selection of Katherine Kendall Awardees and Eileen Younghusband lecturers; the implementation of the World Census on Schools of Social Work Globally, the continuation of Social Dialogue magazine publication, the financial support of international projects, the establishment of three new Resource Centers (in Oceania, Nordic Baltic and East Africa), the update of the social work research document, the development of the IASSW definition of Clinical Social Work, the formation of the Palestine/Israel SW Task Force to support a dialogue between academics of these countries, the research on the IASSW archives in Minneapolis with the aim to develop materials on the IASSW history.
Educational Background
July 1972: Diploma in Social Work, University of Parma
March 1979: Degree in Sociology, University of Urbino
1982-1987: Training in Family Therapy, Milan, Centro Milanese di Terapia della Famiglia (Boscolo-Cecchin)
March 1997: Ph.D. in Sociology, Theory and Methodology of Social Work, University of Trieste.
May 2009 : Honorary Degree at Loyola University in Chicago
Scientific Activity
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of scientific activity from 1975 to present.
Dr. Annamaria Campanini begun her scientific activity in 1975, developing interests in social services problematics in relation to the following fields of research:
– social work and the social services;
– the social worker’s role in Italy and, successively, also in Europe, with specific attention to the educational processes;
– theoretical models of social work and specifically systemic relational theory;
– professional tools, with reference to the interview and group-work;
– social work intervention with children and families, with particular reference to the topic of child abuse;
-social work in multicultural societies;
– the relationship between the theoretical bases of social work and sociological theory;
– evaluation in social work;
– international social work;
– social work competences,
– policy practice in social work
2016 forward, Annamaria Campanini’s scientific interests have been characterized by the interest of social work education at European and international levels with many commitments in international organizations and requests of publication in international journals and books, participation at editorial boards, congress scientific committees, doctoral and master thesis evaluation commissions as later described. For the first time in the history since 1928, an Italian candidate was elected as President of IASSW (International Association of Schools of Social Work) during the Seoul conference in June 2016 and reelected for a second term in July 2020 through 30 June of 2024.
Teaching Activities
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of teaching activities in Italian Universities and abroad from 1975 to present. Since 2016, Annamaria Campanini participated in exchanges with several nations, instigating seminars and conferences for supervisors and professionals. During these exchanges, she met professionals from social work and visited social services organizations and facilities in different part of the world including Europe, China, Japan, South Africa, Argentina, Brazil, Chile USA.
Participation in Scientific Professional Organizations and Activities
International Commissions
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of participation in scientific professional organizations and activities of International Commissions since 1996, with the role of Examination Commissioner and tutor of the master and doctoral thesis in different countries (Spain, Portugal, Sweden. Congo Brazzaville).
Participation in National Organizations
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of participation in national organizations from 1975 to present. From 2016 forward, she participated in the following national organizations:
1996 to November 2016, President of CESIP (Center of Study and Psycho-social Interventions);
Direction, 2020 to 2022 of Nuovo Dizionario di Servizio Sociale (New Dictionary of Social Work).
Participation in International Organizations
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of participation in different international organizations from 2002 to present. From 2002 to 2008 she was the coordinator of the European thematic network, approved and funded by the European Community. For the first three-year period, it was titled EUSW – European Social Work. Commonalities and Differences, and for the second three-year period, EUSW – European Platform for Worldwide Social Work (www.eusw.unipr.it).
This network collected more than 100 partners from all Europe
In relation to the development of activities at European level, she has been elected in the congress of Copenhagen (May 2003) as member of the Executive committee of the European Association of Schools of Social Work.
With this association, in cooperation with the International Federation of social workers (IFSW), the FESET (Federation d’ Educateurs Sociaux Europeenne/European Social Educator Training) and the Italian associations AIDOSS (of which she was secretary) and ASSNAS (National Association of Social Wokers), Dr. Campanini organized in Parma from March 15-17, 2007 the European congress “Social changes and social professions” with more than 800 participants from all over the world. In this congress she was elected President of the Executive committee of the European Association of Schools of Social Work and in virtue of this charge, concluded in April 2011, she participated as Vice-president in the Executive Committee of the International Association of School of Social Work.
She participated as a prime mover in organizing a Workshop on social work education (Beijing 17th/19th June 2009, Shanghai 17th June 2010) within the China- Europe Forum, sponsored by the Charles Léopold Meyer Foundation for Human Progress.
From 2016 forward, she participated in the following organizations and activities:
2018 to 2019, and 2021 international expert of A3ES ( Agência de Avaliação e Acreditação do Ensino Superior del Portogallo) in the evaluation and accreditation commission for social work education BA, MA and PhD in Portugal;
2013 to 2022 member, social work expert of the Reference group Human Health and social work activities – ESCO (European Skills/ Competences,Qualifications and Occupations) organized by European Commission;
2016 to 2024 President of International Association of Schools of Social Work;
2024 to 2028 Past President of International Association of Schools of Social Work.
Scientific Committees of National and International Journals
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of participation in scientific committees of national and international journals, serving also as referee.
Permanent Education Activity
Annamaria Camapanin’s interest in life-long learning of social workers is exemplified by her numerous initiatives carried out in several Universities (Italian and foreign) for students, supervisors and teachers but also in the agencies of various geographic areas and of different institutional natures.
In the context of social work, Annamaria developed permanent education activities and training for teachers of professional disciplines and supervisors, in Italy and Internationally.
She organized many courses on several topics, for workers of the social, sanitary, educational area, in various organizational contexts (USL, Municipalities, Consortia, Associations of voluntary services) in all Italy.
On behalf of the CESIP of which she was president (1996-2016), she organized experiences of institutional analysis of the social service sector at the Municipality of Sassari, Consortium CONINTESA of Bra, Consortium CISSACA of Alexandria, the Center of Services for elderly people S. Mauro Abate Colorno (PR), the Municipality of Reggio Emilia.
Research Activities
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of research activities from 1991 to present. From 2016 forward, she has participated in the following research activities:
2015 – 2016, led a research team on competences in Social Work;
2016 – 2018, research on media representation of migration in Italy.
2020 – 2024 research project organised by Fondazione Assistenti Sociali and Pisa University on policy practice in social work.
Conferences – Direction and Participation in Scientific Committee
She has participated in many scientific committees for different congresses in the world, and also as member of the Honor committee. She has acted as abstract reviewer for many different initiatives at international levels.
Speaker at Congresses
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of activities as speaker at national and international congresses from 1987 to present. She has presented speeches in more than 90 Italian conferences and in more than 140 at international levels in English, Spanish, French and Italian.
Publications
Dr. Annamaria Campanini’s CV outlines her full range of publications from 1988 to present. From 2016 forward, she has published in different languages, texts, chapters in text, articles in national and international journals, entries in dictionaries and articles in national reviews or proceedings:
Texts
2016 CAMPANINI A. (a cura di), Gli ambiti di intervento nel servizio sociale, Carocci, Roma
2019 CAMPANINI A., 系统介入——社会工作实务模式收藏, ECUST Press, Shanghai (traduz. In cinese di CAMPANINI A. (2002), L’intervento sistemico, Carocci Editore, Roma);
2020 CAMPANINI A. (a cura di), Gli ambiti di intervento nel servizio sociale, New revised and updated edition, Carocci, Roma;
2022 CAMPANINI A., SANFELICI M. (a cura di) Promuovere le relazioni umane e la giustizia sociale. Contributi alla conferenza mondiale del 2021, Franco Angeli, Milano;
2022 CAMPANINI A., MIRRI A., Il servizio sociale d’urgenza. Gli interventi nelle emergenze personali e familiari, Carocci, Roma;
2022 CAMPANINI A., (diretto da), Nuovo dizionario di Servizio Sociale, New revised and updated edition, Carocci, Roma.
Chapters in Texts
2016 Servizio sociale tra passato, presente e futuro, in Campanini A. (a cura di), Gliambiti di intervento nel servizio sociale, Carocci, Roma;
2017 El trabajo social en Europa, in Vidal Molina P. (Coord.)Las Caras del Trabajo Social en el Mundo. Per(e)sistencias bajo el capitalismo tardío, RIL editores, Val Paraiso, pp-271-296;
2017, Los trabajadores sociales y la práctica política en Italia, in Pastor Seller E., Sistemas y politicas de bienestar, una perspectiva internacional, Dykinson, Madrid, pp.29-44;
2018 Les enjeux académique liées au doctorat en travail social en Italie, in Rullac S., Tabin J., Frauenfelder A. (eds.),La fabrique du doctorat en travail social, EHESP, Paris, pp.93-100;
2018 Retos por la profesion y la disciplina del trabajo social desde una perspectiva internacional, in Pastor Seller E.,director; Verde Diego C., Lima Fernandez A.I. (coords.) El trabajo social ante los desafios del siglo XXI desde una perspectiva iberoamericana, Editorial Aranzadi S.A.U., Cizur Minor (Navarra), pp.21-32;
2019 (con Soregotti C.) The Ethics of Social Work and Its Professionalization: The Italian Case; in Marson S.R., Mc Kinney R.E. jr.The Routledge Handbook of Social Work Ethics and Values, pp.347-353;
2020 Social Work Education in Italy: Light and Shadows. In Sajid S.M., Baikady R., Sheng-Li C., Sakaguchi H., The Palgrave Handbook of Global Social Work Education, Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp. 625-639;
2021 Social work education between internationalization and indigenization. In Siebel F., Schneider A., Thimmel, A. ,Sozial Arbeit- Begegnung mit Grenzen. Social Work- The Encounter with Borders, Wochenshau-Verlag, Frankfurt;
2021 Per una definizione comune del social work. In Psaroudakis I., Guidi R. (a cura di), Interpretare il cambiamento. Agire politico e sfide formative degli assistenti sociali, Pisa University Press, Pisa, pp.27-38;
2021 (con R.Ghiraldelli) O protagonismo organizativo do Serviço Social no con- texto internacional e brasileiro, in Ghiraldelli, R. e Yannoulas S.C., Política Social, Desigualdades e Mundialização no contexto da pandemia: uma perspectiva intercontinental, Alexa Cultural, Brasilia;
2022 (con Dellavale M., Cellini G.) Fieldwork Education in Social Work in Italy Baikady R., Sajid S.M., Nadesan V.,Islam,M.R. The Routledge Handbook of Field Work Education in Social Work, Routledge, London;
2022 Le service social en Italie, in Jovelin E., Lienard L. Le travail social en Europe. Entre passé, présent, avenir, Presses de l’EHPS, Rennes, pp.299-315;
2022 Comment préparer le travailleur social pour le futur ? Le Rôle de l’association internationale des écoles de travail social in Boucher E. ‘Où va le travail social ? Contrôle, activation et émancipation’, Champ Social Editions, pp.177-198;
2022 (con Sanfelici M.) L’agenda globale delle professioni sociali, in Campanini A., Sanfelici M. (a cura di) Promuovere le relazioni umane e la giustizia sociale. Contributi alla conferenza mondiale del 2021, Franco Angeli, Milano;
2023 La supervision en Italia: pasado, presente y futuro, in Berasaluze, Ariño-Altuna, Ovejas-Lara y Epelde-Juaristi (Coords.) (2023). Supervisión: hacia un modelo colaborativo y transdisciplinar. Thomson Reuters Aranzadi. pp. 451-466;
2024 Social Work Education’s Contribution to the SDGs in Androff, D. & Damanik, J. (eds.). International handbook on social development, social welfare, and the Sustainable Development Goals. London: Routledge, pp.69-82;
Entries in Dictionary
2022 Organismi associativi internazionali, voce in: Campanini A. (diretto da), Nuovo Dizionario di servizio sociale, Edizione rivista e aggiornata, Carocci Editore, Roma, pp.396-401;
2022 Policy practice, voce in: Campanini A. (diretto da), Nuovo Dizionario di servizio sociale, Edizione rivista e aggiornata, Carocci Editore, Roma, pp.425-42.
Articles in National Reviews (or Proceedings)
2016 Esco-European Skills /Competences, Qualifications And Occupations. Un Reto Para El Trabajo Social, in D. Carbonero, E. Raya, N. Caparros y C. Gimeno (Coords.), Respuestas transdisciplinares en una sociedad global. Aportaciones desde el Trabajo Social, Universidad de La Rioja, 2016. ISBN 978-84-608-7364- 8;
2017 (con Frost E., Hojer S., Sicora A., Kullberg K.), Why do they stay? A study of resilient child protection workers in three European countries, in European Journal of Social Work , first on line DOI: 10.1080/13691457.2017.1291493, 2018, vol.21(4), 485-497;
2018 1968 and what it meant for social work in Italy: some personal reflections, in Critical and radical social work, fast track ;https://doi.org/10.1332/204986018X15199229647926, Vol 6(1), pp.115-118;
2018 El trabajo social frente a la globalización: desafíos para la formación y la práctica professional, in Revista de Treball Social, 214, pp.11-28;
2018 (con Lombard A.) International Association of Schools of Social Work: Promoting environmental and community sustainability, in International Social Work, vol.61 (4), 486-489;
2019 Social Promotion in Action: Social Policies and Social Work, in Sociologia, n.1, Rivista quadrimestrale di Scienze Storiche e Sociali, Gangemi Editore;
2021 (con Benassi D., Bertotti T., Rossi P.) Social work and social workers in Italy, in Trabajo Social Global- Global Social Work vol.11, 1-29. https://dx.doi.org/10.30827/tsg-gsw.v11.20913.
Submitted by Dr. Barbara W. Shank, Secretary IASSW 2016-2024 and Dr. Julia M. Watkins, Treasurer, 2009-2014.
Detailed CV : https://www.iassw-aiets.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/CV-EN-October-2024-Annamaria-Campanini.pdf
Email : annamaria@iassw-aiets.org