Grand Challenges Roundtable

The need for scientific advance in the solution of deeply significantly human problems is acute, but given the scale of human need, requires a fundamentally different approach that connects discovery to implementation and professional transformation. The Grand Challenges for Social Work represent this critically needed 21st agenda for social change and is perhaps the most important initiative in the history of the profession. Over the past year following formal launch of this movement in January, 2016, distinct lines of activity have formed. This panel will explore the early contributions of academic networks, regional consortia, university-level activities, reimagined degree programs, and practitioner responses both within and outside of social work. The potential of practice-based research networks, innovative interdisciplinary collaborations, and other innovations will be identified. Implementation issues will be addressed, including strategies for directing the diffuse and organically driven forms of scientific productivity that have emerged from the networks. Barriers and constraints affecting future participation and success will be examined,
and future plans outlined.