Innovating social work practices to better address homelessness: partecipatory action research with community services in Italy

The chapter illustrates two community participatory action research (CPAR) projects carried out with social practitioners working in services for homeless people in Italy. One project was carried out in the north-east, where local welfare is well structured and organised. The second was implemented in the south, where social care services are underdeveloped and institutions less attentive to extreme poverty. In both cases, the local university promoted and participated in the CPAR process. The projects showed that the CPAR can help in the co-creation of innovation in social work, encouraging equal inclusion and collaboration of social professionals in the identification, research and resolution of community issues. Additionally CPAR supports the group re-elaboration of their own experience working with homeless people. The comparison between the two cases confirmed that contextual factors can be critical in social innovation.