Cooperation in Education

Sosnet network promotes

  • training in the field of social work,
  • university specific profiling, and
  • a reasonable division of work.

Its purpose is to anticipate key qualitative, quantitative, and content-related aspects of training.The aim of Sosnet is to educate high-level social workers and researchers with comprehensive professional and scientific knowledge.

Social Work Education in Finland

Social work qualifications comprises both the bachelor’s and master’s degrees with social work as a major subject (The Act on Social Welfare Professionals 817/2015, 7 §).

The task of social work education is to produce skills needed in both practical social work and social work research. Learn more on social work education in Finland (pdf).

The National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira) grants, upon application, the right to practice social welfare profession as a licensed social worker, registers the right of social welfare professionals educated in Finland or abroad to use the protected professional title of social welfare professional.

Qualified Outside Finland

If you are a qualified social worker from another country and wish to work as a social worker in Finland, you must applt for professional practice rights from Valvira. See more information on Valvira’s  webpages. 
If you already have a a conditional recognition decision from Valvira and wish to complete the aptitude tests required by Valvira, see more information on Sosnet’s Finnish webpages.

Statistics

Sosnet collects annually the educational statistics for social work education from the schools of Social Work. Every year approximately 450 new degree students start their studies in six universities. There are approximately 400 MA graduates every year who gain the possibility to apply the right to practice social work from Valvira. More information on social work education statistics in Finland (in Finnish).

Online courses

Sosnet universities offer cross-institutional online courses for social work students. The courses are 5 ECTS and are mainly based on a master’s degree. Courses are offered from each university in the Sosnet network and students receive a wide range of courses.

Studying in the course involves applying for a fixed-term study right to a university that organizes the course.

Responsible university University of Helsinki.

Start of the module March 2026.

Preamble: The Nordic Welfare State Model (NWSM) (Esping-Andersen 1990) with its emphasis on universalism and decommodification, as well as solidarity measures such as income transfers and high levels of social engineering has often been juxtaposed as an alternative to more residual and corporatist models of welfare provision with their more individualist interpretations. A cornerstone of Nordic Welfare State models in their various interpretations envisages welfare provision as primarily a state responsibility with corresponding broad systems of governmental bureaucracy affecting many aspects of people’s lives. Since the 1990’s, however, sweeping changes in national contexts, rooted in altered demographic and economic realities with the gradual entrenchment of neo-liberal ideologies, as well as on a supra-national scale, brought about by globalization and changing migration patterns have forced a re-evaluation of our conception of the nature of social relations and the role of the welfare state and social work in reducing growing inequalities. This has engendered a range of critiques as to the viability of the Nordic Welfare State in the 21st century. This course examines the history, development and contemporary challenges of the Nordic Welfare model. It includes an introduction to welfare state models in a comparative context including the general characteristics of the NWSM from both national and European perspectives. It also specifically highlights topics of labour policy & precarity, disability policy, welfare sustainability and migration policy as well future challenges for Nordic Welfare States and the NWSM.

Target group(s):  Finnish students and exchange students on Bachelor and Master level

Learning objectives:  The aim of the course is providing students with an in-depth
understanding of the NWSM, its history and future challenges in a national and European context.

The course:
•Provides students with basic theoretical knowledge about the Nordic welfare state models (NWSMs)
•Introduces core principles of the NWSMs
•Describes what is (claimed to be) distinctive about the NWSMs in comparison to European welfare states/welfare systems of European countries
•Briefly introduces historical development of the NWSMs, as well as similarities and differences between the NWMs
•Discusses some contemporary struggles and future challenges of/for NWSs

Course Structure: This is an 8-week DigiCampus-based course of video presentations of international experts in the field of Nordic Welfare State development, as well as recommended readings and a two-part written assessment. Teaching and learning will be facilitated using critical questioning and reflective thinking.

Course content
Content: Part A will focus on basics of NWSM development, and Part B will focus on contemporary struggles and future challenges of/for NWSM.
Part A – A political-historical perspective of NSWM development.
4 blocks of online lectures + assigned reading and reflective questions in connection with each block + 1 overall student assignment
-Introduction: the foundations of the NWSMs, a brief history of social welfare development, with special focus on the Finnish welfare state – PAULI KETTUNEN (pauli.kettunen(a)helsinki.fi)
-The “characteristics” of the NWSM – HELENA BLOMBERG-KROLL (helena.blomberg(a)helsinki.fi)
-European policy developments, neoliberalism and the NWSM – WALTER LORENZ (walter.lorenz(a)unibz.it)
-Contemporary struggles and future challenges for welfare and welfare states in Europe – PETER BERESFORD (peter.beresford3(a)btopenworld.com)
Part B – Contemporary struggles and future challenges of/for NWSM
4 blocks of online lectures  + assigned reading and reflective questions in connection with each block + 1 overall student assignment
-Precarization and the Nordic Welfare State –  VALTER SANDELL (valter.sandell(a)helsinki.fi)
-Sustainable Welfare – AINO REKOLA (aino.rekola(a)syke.fi)
-A Short History of Nordic Migration Policy – TOBIAS PÖTZSCH (tobias.potzsch(a)helsinki.fi)
-Nordic Disability Policy: Characteristics and Challenges – URBAN MARKSTRÖM (urban.markstrom(a)umu.se)

Assignment description: The learning assignment for this course will consist of two related and interconnected parts, both of which students are required to pass:

Learning Task 1:  In Part A – A political-historical perspective of Nordic Welfare State Model development, students will be asked to write a learning diary based on the four constituent lectures. Each participating lecturer will pose a reflective question at the conclusion of their presentation which students will reflect upon based on lecture content, their own personal experience and some of the suggested readings under the topic.
Each diary entry should comprise at least 1 page with a total of between 3-5 pages.
(font: Times New Roman, 1.15 spacing)
The following questions can be used to support the process of writing reflections:
What did I learn? What is still unclear to me? How is what I learned linked to what I have learned before? What kind of feelings has the lecture evoked? How is what I learned related to me as a person, as a member of society or as an expert in my field?
The criteria for a good learning diary include that the student:
●Has familiarised himself or herself in depth with the assignments given on the course
●Examines the themes of the course from a multidisciplinary point of view
●Recognises the new knowledge that he or she has acquired and how it can be connected to what has been learned before
●Reflects on how what has been learned relates to him or her as a person, as a member of society or as an expert in his or her own field
●Reflects on the ethical questions and feelings evoked by what has been learned as well as how these feelings affect his or her ability to learn and act

Learning Task 2: In Part B – Contemporary struggles and future challenges of/for Nordic welfare States, the students can select one of the presented topics of either Work and Labours Markets, Sustainable Welfare, Migration Policy or Disability Policy and write a short essay in which they reflect on the future challenges and possible ways forward of Nordic Welfare States in the 21st century. It is also recommended to utilize suggested readings on the topic to academically support your arguments.
Essay length: 4-5 pages (font: Times New Roman, 1.15 spacing)
Helpful hints in formulating essay responses:
●Think critically, question the prevailing ways of acting and thinking
●Think creatively, envisage possible solutions, demonstrate new kinds of thinking

Assessment and Grading: Learning tasks are marked according to the HU marking scale 1 to 5 with Part A and Part B being equally weighted at 50% and 50%. See course site for assessment criteria.

Election criteria: BA and MA Social Work students (priority) and other social disciplines.
Number of participants: University of Helsinki MA Social Work students (20), and up to 30 students from other SOSNET universities. Maximum number of students=50.

Readings: The course provides the students with web links of open access books, chapters, and articles.

Responsible university: University of Helsinki

Responsible teacher: The professor in social work, Swedish School of Social Science

Course author(s):The professor in social work, Swedish School of Social Science

Course evaluation: Feedback Activity provided by Moodle (DigiCampus) or Customized Webrolol Survey.

Inquiries: Mari Suonio (mari.suonio@uef.fi)

Target groups are exchange Finnish students on Bachelor and Master level and the responsible university is University of Helsinki.The aim of the course is providing students with an in-depth understanding of the NWSM, its history and future challenges in a national and European context.  Registration link for the course. Open from 1.11.2025 at 9:00 AM-.

Start of the module March 2026.

Responsible university: University of Jyväskylä, code of the course: STOS3013

Start of the module January 2026

Target group: Advanced studies of social work (not for exchange students)

Learning objectives/outcomes: The student understands the links between sustainable development and environmental and economic issues in social work, and that ecological sustainability is crucial for transgenerational, local and global responsibility in social work. The student understands the importance of ecosocial transition in social work and the role and opportunities of social work in the transition. The student recognizes different ways of implementing ecosocial work in social work environments.

Content: The course introduces the concepts of ecosocial transition and ecosocial approach, and their historical development and current discussions in social work. In addition, the course provides concrete applications and tools on how to implement ecosocial work in different settings.

Course structure: E-learning course

Content and assignment description: The course consists of online lectures and other material, on the basis of which the student makes assignments.

Election criteria (Sosnet e-learning course): The first 20 applicants (other than from the University of Jyväskylä) will be admitted to the course.

Assessment and grading: 0–5

Literature:
–                 Boetto, H. (2017) A Transformative Eco-Social Model: Challenging Modernist Assumptions in Social Work. British Journal of Social Work 47, 48-67.
–                 Ramsay, S. & Boetto, H. (2017) Environmental Social Work: A Concept Analysis. British Journal of Social Work 47, 68-86.
–                 Matthies, A. & Närhi, K. (2018) The ecosocial approach in social work as a framework for structural social work. International Social work 61(4), 490-502.
–                 Ranta-Tyrkkö, S. & Närhi, K. (2021) Striving to strengthen the ecosocial framework in social work in Finland. Community Development Journal 56(4), 608-625. https://doi.org/10.1093/cdj/bsab030
–                 Stamm, I. et al. (2023) The ecosocial paradigm in social work: striving for planetary well-being. In Elo, M., Hytönen, J., Karkulehto, S., Kortetmäki, T., Kotiaho, J.S., Puurtinen, M. & Salo, M. (eds.) Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Planetary Well-being. London: Routledge, 177-188. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003334002-18/ecosocial-paradigm-social-work-ingo-stamm-satu-ranta-tyrkk%C3%B6-aila-leena-matthies-kati-n%C3%A4rhi
and selected chapters from Matthies, Aila-Leena & Närhi, Kati (eds.) The Ecosocial Transition of Societies. The Contribution of Social Work and Social Policy. Abingdon: Routledge (ISBN 9781317034605 verkko)
and Other material to be announced separately in the course.

Number of participants: Limited.

More information: The module will be carried out in University of Jyväskylä Moodle.

Responsible university: University of Jyväskylä

Authors: Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö and Kati Närhi

Responsible teacher: Satu Ranta-Tyrkkö

Assisting teachers: Kati Närhi

Inquiries (other than JYU students): Mari Suonio mari.suonio(a)uef.fi

Advanced studies of social work (not for exchange students) and the responsible university is University of Jyväskylä. The course introduces the concepts of ecosocial transition and ecosocial approach, and their historical development and current discussions in social work.

Material Banks

Sosnet has produces material banks for the use of social work studies among the Sosnet network.

Introduction to Social Work in Finland

For exchange students. Content: child protection, adult social work, social work in the social welfare system, gerontological social work, structural social work, management and social work as a profession, education and research.

Multicultural Social Work

A material bank containing lectures, assignments and literature that teachers can use on their own courses. Content: anti-racist social work, intersectionality, migrant experiences, inter-cultural communication, forced migration and family reunification.

Theories in Social Work

A lecture series for students doing their master’s thesis, or for doctoral students. Content: social work research, theoretical frameworks of research, methodology.

Global Perspectives in Social Work

A material bank containing lectures, assignments and literature that teachers can use on their own courses. Content: global social work perspectives.