Learning from Sunrisers: Climate Justice, Organizing, and the Future of Ecosocial Work

Background Over the past two decades, a growing group of social work scholars has advanced ecosocial work—an emerging field that integrates environmental concerns into social work practice, policy, and advocacy. Despite theoretical progress, ecosocial work's practical application in real-world contexts remains limited. This study explores how climate justice and social work converge through the experiences of activists within the Sunrise Movement, the largest youth-led climate justice organization in the U.S. By interviewing Sunrise activists, or Sunrisers, with a social work background, this study examines how ecosocial work values are enacted in practice and how social work education supports this work.

Methodology This study employed an interpretive qualitative approach to explore how climate justice activism intersects with social work practice and education. Participants were recruited through two primary strategies: 1) 118 Sunrise Movement hubs across the United States were contacted via email to share information about the study 2) LinkedIn was used to identify individuals who listed both the Sunrise and a social work degree in their profiles. Through this process, we recruited ten participants: eight held a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, and two were MSW students at the time of the interview.

Through semi-structured interviews, we explored their experiences in activism and how these connected to their training and values. Questions addressed their paths into organizing, how they view social work’s role in climate justice, and how their education prepared them for this work. Thematic analysis was carried out by applying open and in vivo coding to develop themes grounded in participant perspectives.

Results Participants emphasized the role of social workers as community organizers and connectors—bringing people and movements together. Social work’s strengths in community engagement, relationship-building, and systems thinking helped participants foster coalitions and link movements like racial justice and climate justice. Even clinical skills, such as active listening and conflict resolution, were described as assets in organizing spaces.

At the same time, many participants expressed deep dissatisfaction with their social work education. Most noted a lack of substantive training in climate justice, community organizing, or systems-level change. Several described their programs as insufficiently radical or apolitical, leaving them feeling unprepared for transformative work. Moreover, the divide between clinical and macro tracks often left macro students isolated and clinical students disconnected from broader justice frameworks.

Conclusions and Implications
By learning from Sunrisers, we gain a glimpse of what ecosocial work can look like in action. Their work challenges the field to live up to its core values and equips the next generation of social workers to meet the demands of the climate crisis. This study highlights the urgent need to integrate ecosocial frameworks into social work curricula—not as electives, but as core to the profession. Programs must prioritize political education, organizing skills, and a deeper engagement with climate/environmental justice. Learning from Sunrisers offers a vision of ecosocial work in action—one that challenges the field to embody its stated values and prepare future practitioners for the realities of climate justice work.