The Heikki Waris Institute has always actively promoted international networking in social work practice research. The first global conference in practice research was organised in 2008 in Salisbury, England. The following conferences were hosted by Helsinki (2012), New York (2014) and Hong Kong (2016). Discussion will continue at the Melbourne conference in 2016.

In addition to the aforementioned conferences, representatives of the Institute have actively attended other international conferences and published internationally over the past few years.

The Institute’s innovative approach has generated wide-ranging international interest and attracted renowned researchers and professors, as well as exchange students from universities, as visitors to the Institute.

Heikki Waris Institute’s partner networks on practice research:

• ESWRA, European Social Work Research Association, especially its Special Interest Group (SIG) on Social Work Practice Research, in which Heikki Waris Institute has had an active role in organizing pre-conferences.
• Global Partnership for Transformative Social Work. A cross-Atlantic cooperation network of social work researchers, coordinated by Professor Stanley Witkin, University of Vermont, USA
• Nordplus network on knowledge production in social work, the Nordic Council of Ministers, coordinated by Lars Uggerhöj from Aalborg University

The most frequently used international publishing channels:

• Nordic Social Work Research
• European Journal of Social Work