This number covers the first half of 2024 and includes several new developments for the Journal of Solution Focused Practices. Along with peer reviewed research, a new review of work published elsewhere and our usual selection of book reviews, we have new interviews and an opinion piece. The interviews offer connection with two countries at different stages of engagement with SF work; my conversation with leading Finnish practitioners and teachers shows how SF has become an established feature of the therapy landscape there, while Andreea Zak’s interview with Roghieh Nooripour offers an insight into how SF practice is becoming widely used in Iran. We also feature our first opinion piece: Victoria Spashchenko writes about her experiences using SF in time of war in Ukraine.
During this period, we have established a new international governance structure for the journal. Adrian Holmes (ASFA) chairs the board of governors/sponsors, who set the strategy, provide the funding and hold the editor to account. Andrew Gibson, also a board member, chairs the journal delivery committee comprising the editors (Mark McKergow, Andreea Zak, Cecil Walker and Anton Stellamans) and journal manager Alex Ashida. These are double linked circles following good practice in inclusive governance from the Sociocracy movement.
There are two new members of the Editorial Board. Welcome to Prof Akira Kitai (Konan University, Kobe, Japan) and Dr Roghieh Nooripour (Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran). We are excited that these new appointments strengthen our ambition to reach beyond Europe and the English-speaking world. The journal is committed to covering SF as a global movement, and these new connections will help to encourage and assess new work from these areas.
We have new guidelines for opinion pieces and case studies to go alongside the existing guidelines for book reviews – we look forward to receiving more submissions in all these categories. If you are thinking of writing something, it’s well worth contacting the editorial team at journalsfp@gmail.com to see if anyone else is along the same lines and get an initial response. We are grateful for the work of our new sub-editor Martin Buckley who helps with final tweaks and polishing of language – even sometimes needed for native English speakers.
An important development is our new Substack channel for updates. Sign up at https://journalsolutionfocusedprac.substack.com/ and you will get a short update every time a new piece is published. This is alongside our existing links to Linkedin, Facebook and Instagram – follow there too if you use those platforms.
Many thanks to the volunteers who have written, edited, reviewed, encouraged and supported work for the journal. There’s lots to come in Volume 8 Number 2.
Finally, this month marks the tenth anniversary of the death of Björn Johannson at the age of just 48 years old. With his partner Eva Persson of the Clues institute in Karlstad, Sweden, Björn was acknowledged as one of the inspirations for this journal by JSFP founder Michael Durrant. We are proud to honour his memory. The cover colours for Volume 8 Number 1 will be those of Löfbergs Lila, coffee producer and Karlstad’s premier international icon.