Chair in Social Services

The degree in Social Work, launched in 2010/11 at UVic-UCC and collaboration between the areas of health sciences and social sciences at UVic-UCC lead to a proposal to the Department of Social Welfare and Family (at that time Department of Social Action and Citizenship) to train professionals and encourage research and knowledge transfer in social services, taking into consideration research groups, experience and potential at UVic-UCC and in Osona county. The Chair in Social Services was formed from these agreements.

Within UVic-UCC’s areas of specialisation, the Chair in Social Services is an interdisciplinary training and research and knowledge transfer centre which fosters, creates, applies and communicates knowledge related to social services and social action, and in particular related to management.

The Chair in Social Services promotes and develops studies, innovation and research projects the following areas:

• social services management
• social services
• ageing and sport
• economics and social services
• rural social services
• cooperation between health and social services
• professional innovation

It also develops funding programmes for training (master’s and doctorates) and research activities, mainly in collaboration with external agents.

The Chair in Social Services also supports activities related to scientific communication (workshops, conferences, seminars, exhibitions, debates), training and specialised activities (postgraduate courses, bespoke courses, short courses, university-specific courses, UVic-UCC Summer School workshops) in the area of social services.

Objectives

The global objective is to support research in the Chair’s specific area and recruit and retain talent in the region to contribute to the development of social services in the University’s area of influence, but also at a national level. The Chair provides a platform for people in the Catalan System of Social Services, with different roles and from different disciplines, where they can interact to share knowledge, produce research, innovate, and most importantly, use science to consolidate knowledge in the area of social services.

The strategic alliance between the Department of Social Welfare and Family (according to mandate of Law 12/2007 of social services supported by the Catalan System of Social Services) and training and research in the academic world, is key for the Catalan System of Social Services. The strategic alliance involves the joint analysis of regional supply and demand for social service professionals and the constant changes in their professional profiles, and in sharing and managing the vast sources of knowledge on social services in the DIXIT regional network.

The drive behind the Catalan Chair in Social Services should be to provide a scientific platform for research, knowledge transfer, model analyses and internationalisation and to link this to the professional and business world with a clear national vocation as well as a view towards internationalisation.

The chair has the following objectives:

• To provide a platform for people from different disciplines and with different roles in the Catalan System of Social Services.
• To promote training, research, innovation, reflection and knowledge generation and transfer.

Our mission is to foster university-level research and study in the area of social services, filling the academic gap in this domain, encouraging scientific communication and helping in knowledge exchange between different organisations, professionals and society.

Our vision is to provide an example in Catalonia, the state and, in the long term, in Europe, in terms of competencies, research programmes, and the communication of knowledge acquired as a result of the community created around the Chair. This includes the involvement of organisations and professionals, technological resources, professionalization and the scientific acumen befitting of social services. We are committed to providing opportunities to develop a wide range of professionals and making a positive contribution to present-day society.