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College students are a unique population occupying a distinct life-course and transition period between adolescence and adulthood. Although not monolithic in experiences, knowledge, and demographics, this diverse population is particularly susceptible to immediate, short-term, mid-term, and long-term disaster impacts. Recently, disaster research focusing on college students has rightly focused on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Although the pandemic was a public health disaster interrupting social, developmental, and educational processes for students on a global scale, the climate crisis and related environmental disasters continuously threaten college students' individual development, health, and well-being. Thus, it is critical to understand current knowledge focusing on environmental disasters and college students in order to determine future research needs. This article used the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach to examine research on college students and disasters over the past ten years (2014–2023). We identified 67 articles, which we analyzed through a mixed methods approach, including descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. Results indicate that disaster impacts on college students are an understudied topic in the social sciences, especially in an era of more-frequent and -intense environmental hazards. Our findings demonstrate a need to engage college students in disaster research worldwide so that trade schools, colleges, and universities can collaborate with policymakers to build this unique and disproportionately impacted population's capacity to mitigate against, respond to, and recover from environmental hazards in an ever-changing climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green social work (GSW) is a nascent framework within the social work field that provides insights regarding social workers' engagement in disaster settings. Although this framework has recently garnered more attention, it remains under-researched and underdeveloped within the context of social work research, education, and practice in Canada and internationally. To further develop GSW in social work education and professional training, we considered how social work students and practitioners can use a learning framework to understand the impact and build their capacities to serve vulnerable and marginalized populations in diverse disaster settings. To do this, we developed a four-step case study approach, as follows: (1) provide detailed background information on the cases, (2) describe how each case is relevant to social work, (3) discuss how each case informs social work practice from a GSW perspective, and (4) provide recommendations for social work practitioners and students using GSW in future disaster-specific efforts. This case study approach centers on natural, technological, and intentional/willful hazards that examine current GSW research–practice engagement in Canada and internationally. Applying this four-step case study approach to three extreme events in Canada and internationally (a natural hazard, a technological hazard, and an intentional/willful hazard) illustrates it as a potential method for social work students and professionals to build their GSW capacities. This will assist in building the resilience of Canadian and international communities—especially those who have been historically marginalized. This article sheds light on how current social work education and professional training should develop new approaches to incorporate the GSW framework into the social work curriculum at large in order to prepare for future extreme events while incorporating environmental and social justice into research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cultural responsivity in academic research is central to the use of language that is representative and inclusive of Indigenous worldviews on gender and sexuality diversity. This article uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach to explore current studies' contribution to the use of gender and sexuality diverse terminology and language that is representative of Indigenous worldviews. A systematic review of 85 journal articles (published between January 2000 and June 2021) generates both quantitative results regarding the frequency of terms used and qualitative outcomes of actively used terminologies, geographic regions, identified populations, and gender and sexuality diversity-specific themes in Indigenous studies. A substantial glossary of terminology characteristic of the multiplicity of gender and sexuality diversity was identified, however, further research examining gender and sexuality diversity from the perspective of Indigenous worldviews is needed to align with the best practices of equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social work's response to global climate change has dramatically increased over the last several years. Similarly, growing attention has been paid to rural social work; less clear, however, is how social work, responsive to global climate change, is developed, deployed, and understood in rural contexts; this systematic review elaborates on current social work contributions (research, practice, and policymaking), promoting environmental justice and sustainability in rural communities. Utilizing the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) approach, this article thematically analyzed and synthesized 174 journal articles on social work-specific interventions and environmental justice. The results illustrate insights into the experiences, practices, or objectives of rural social workers vis-à-vis climate change. Significant themes from the literature demonstrated that gender, age, and race limited access to social work services and climate-related disaster response support in rural settings; this article argues that rural community-driven social work practices focused on environmental justice and sustainability should be encouraged and that policy advocacy attentive to climate change and its impact on vulnerable and marginalized groups should be pursued. Current and prospective social work scholars, practitioners, policymakers, and other stakeholders should collaborate with local rural communities to address their unique needs related to climate change. In turn, grassroots strategies should be co-developed to promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction, ultimately achieving the goal of building resilient, healthy, and sustainable rural communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]