Accounting for sustainability: an active learning assignment

Sustainability is one of the newer topics in the accounting courses taught in university teaching programs. The active learning assignment as described in this paper was developed for use in an accounting course in an undergraduate program. The aim was to enhance teaching about sustainability within such a course. The purpose of this paper is to offer experience-based guidance to faculty members around the world who would like to include sustainability in their courses.

This paper describes the introduction of sustainability in an accounting course via an active learning approach. The assignment that was developed formed part of a management accounting course for 450 business students. In the assignment, the students were asked to propose a sustainable solution for the university organization. Several tools were provided to the students to support them in obtaining an insight into the financial and societal consequences of the proposed solution.

The encouraging experiences with the assignment at the university where it was designed show that it effectively improved students’ understanding of sustainability issues. Furthermore, the assignment provided insight into how management accounting can play a role in enhancing sustainability in an organization. Additionally, the experiences with the assignment show that it can be used to make courses more lively and attractive to students.

As yet, textbooks have not offered much support in how to incorporate sustainability into the field of accounting. The assignment represents a novel use of management accounting concepts in the study of sustainability and is relevant to educators as an example of an active learning approach on the topic of sustainability.