What is a ‘caring society’?

‘Caring society’ is not a straightforward term. What do you mean by it?

A caring society is defined first and foremost by its members looking out for each other. There’s a willingness to care for and about each other. This takes place both symbolically, in terms of having empathy for others, and practically, in terms of taking concrete steps to look after one another.

Caring relationships are the very fabric of a society – we cannot live together without them. Not only is care an essential human need, it also describes services we perform for people who need help to live their lives. These services may be provided informally – by family members or neighbours, for instance – or within a professional context such as geriatric care or social counselling.

A caring society is based on the universally accepted principle that care makes life possible and meaningful. I realise that the notion of a true caring society is utopian, an ideal vision. But we ought to view this utopia as a guiding principle by which to conduct ourselves in society and a way to achieve greater solidarity, unity and justice.

Why is the topic important for our society?

At present, our society is experiencing an acute care crisis. We are facing shortages in health and social care. This crisis is also reflected in the low status of care work both within the family and at the professional level, where care work is in high demand but pays low wages and carries a poor reputation. In this context, the idea of a caring society represents an important counterpoint.

Societies which value care and care relationships are more equitable, fairer, and promote the wellbeing of all. But ‘Caring Society’ takes it a step further: our environment deserves care just as much as our fellow citizens do. I mean both the environment in a general sense and the built environment where many dimensions of our day-to-day lives take place: workplaces, residential areas, public infrastructure. They are important resources for our lives and a prerequisite for a functioning caring society.

What makes a society ‘caring’?

A society is caring when care is an integral part of all ways in which people live together. It is enshrined as a concept and practised as a reality. Policy, business and science play an important part in this. A caring society requires a balanced combination of formal, informal and private provision of care. Everyone should be able to contribute their own skills to the process of shaping this society, regardless of their prior experience and relationship with the topic.

There will, however, always be demand for care services that cannot be performed within private or informal structures, such as families or neighbourhood communities, due to limited resources or expertise. Another important aspect of a caring society is universal appreciation of the various forms of care work. They should not be taken for granted or casually dismissed.

Finally, a caring society is reflected in the improved wellbeing of its members. When someone is comfortable as part of a community and feels appreciated, supported, autonomous and empowered, they will perceive that community as caring.

What does BFH hope to achieve with its thematic field ‘Caring Society’?

A caring society is one of the most important issues of our age. By exploring it in depth, BFH wishes to encourage the emergence of such a society. At the same time, BFH is positioning itself as a university that covers the entire breadth of the issue rather than demoting it to a subdomain of related disciplines such as healthcare and social work. BFH’s approach to the caring society is deliberately interdisciplinary: it spans various schools, it is incorporated into basic and continuing education as well as research, and it seeks to contribute to the development of innovative methods and creative solutions.

Applied research delivers important insights and ideas for the development of a caring society. Basic and continuing education transfer relevant aspects of the caring society to a wide range of professions. Much like BFH’s other strategic thematic fields, ‘Humane Digital Transformation’ and ‘Sustainable Development’, ‘Caring Society’ focuses on important current challenges.

Research findings alone cannot achieve much. How do you plan to convince the public of the concept of a caring society?

Including the public in the entire process is very important. We involve affected groups in research projects whenever this is feasible. This has long been established practice at BFH. It is incredibly important to take stock of what knowledge already exists in the community, so that every perspective on a given topic can be taken into consideration.

We also need to highlight the value of our work in this thematic field using concrete, comprehensible examples. We intend to achieve this not only across various media channels but also with public events. To reach all sections of our diverse society, we will doubtlessly be experimenting with unconventional event formats. At the end of the day, a caring society is everyone’s business.