Embracing the Paradox in Educational Change for Sustainable Development: A Case of Accounting

Qian, Wei

doi:10.1177/0973408213495609

Cited by 13 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 34 publications

(50 reference statements)

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“…Experiences from numerous projects and programmes at institutions of higher education have shown that attempts to integrate the topic of sustainability into teaching, research and operations often encounter resistance (Barber et al, 2014;Quian, 2013;Peet et al, 2004;Holmberg et al, 2008;Pesonen, 2003). This means that much valuable energy is lost and the results of projects and programmes rarely meet the expectations placed on them.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universities talk, students walk: promoting innovative sustainability projects

Daub

Hasler

Verkuil

et al. 2020

IJSHE

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Purpose This paper aims to describe an innovative approach of integrating sustainability into the structures and processes of a business school without creating resistance. Design/methodology/approach A sustainable entrepreneurship competition was embedded as an independent programme in an already existing business plan competition at the School of Business FHNW. The paper shows, which structural elements of the competition had to be adapted to the needs of sustainable entrepreneurs. Findings The paper outlines aspects that need to be considered and steps that need to be taken to run a sustainable entrepreneurship competition supporting as many high-quality projects as possible. It describes the importance of developing an independent instrument that meets the specific needs of sustainable entrepreneurs in project planning. The sustainable innovation plan is explained. Social implications The student projects are developed at the School of Business FHNW as part of the entrepreneurship competition, which has been successfully carried out twice. They have numerous measurable positive social and ecological effects, which are described by the students in their sustainable innovation plans and are subsequently reflected in the realization of the projects. Originality/value Using the example of the Swiss Student Sustainability Challenge, the paper demonstrates under which conditions a sustainability project can be successfully integrated into the existing structures of an institution of higher education and develop into a beacon project of the university. Other universities can make use of these findings to launch comparable projects at their institutions.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Universities talk, students walk: promoting innovative sustainability projects

Daub

Hasler

Verkuil

et al. 2020

IJSHE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Because environmental sustainability is inherently interdisciplinary, some have argued that it needs to be incorporated into more academic disciplines to fully educate students for environmental literacy (Svanström et al, 2008;Jucker, 2002). However, this requires faculty IJSHE 20,7 commitment from a range of disciplines to integrate sustainability into their coursework (Qian, 2013;Boyes et al, 2009;Bacon et al, 2011). Owing to the difficulties of raising awareness about sustainability in an educational context, universities have placed greater emphasis on raising awareness through operations because they are more visible, face less resistance and have potential economic benefits (Rad et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Links between sustainability-related awareness and behavior

Cogut

Webster

Marans

et al. 2019

IJSHE

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Purpose Sustainability literature has cited the influential role of both awareness and engagement in facilitating increases in pro-environmental behaviors. The purpose of this study is to compare these links across behaviors and explore their interactive influence. Design/methodology/approach Two research questions were examined: 1) Is awareness about campus efforts regarding waste-prevention and sustainable travel/transportation options associated with increases in student waste-prevention and sustainable travel/transportation behaviors? 2) Is the link between sustainability awareness and changes in behavior conditioned by student engagement (i.e. participation) in campus sustainability activities and events? Research questions were examined using data from the University of Michigan Sustainability Cultural Indicators Program. A sample of freshmen completed a Web-based survey in 2012, and again as seniors in 2015. Findings Greater awareness of campus waste-prevention efforts in 2015 was associated with significant increases in student waste-prevention behaviors from 2012 to 2015. Also, among students who were engaged (i.e. reported participating in a campus sustainability activity/event), greater travel/transportation awareness in 2015 was associated with a significant decline in sustainable travel/transportation behavior. Consistent with previous studies this study found a link between sustainability awareness and increases in sustainable behavior. However, this study also indicates that this link is not present for all behaviors (i.e. use of sustainable travel/transportation). This study also found that engagement does not amplify the awareness–behavior link. Originality/value Understanding key drivers of changes in sustainable behavior for specific behaviors can inform the allocation of resources and help university campuses reach their sustainability goals.

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“…Although, Higher Education (HE) must conduct research and learning for sustainable development (Koehn and Uitto, 2014), Scott et al, (2012) have posited, there is a lack of commitment to ESD in Higher Education, where ESD implementation is poor (Wei Quan, 2013). Importantly, securing top level management support is seen as critical to addressing poor ESD implementation (Wei Quan, 2013).…”

Section: Education As An Education For Sustainable Development Barriermentioning

confidence: 99%

Education for Sustainable Development Barriers

Foley¹

2020

JSD

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Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) is seen as fundamental in the shift to realising sustainability. Unfortunately, the integration of ESD, especially in higher education is poor. An important question therefore is, what are the barriers preventing the integration of ESD? This paper explores key barriers preventing the integration of ESD. Additionally, it is emphasised in this paper that the dominant social paradigm fundamentally shapes and reinforces ESD barriers. It is argued here that addressing ESD barriers, particularly the dominant social paradigm, is fundamental to the integration of ESD. Within the context of anthropogenic climate change, resource overuse, water stress and wealth inequality, addressing ESD barriers is now imperative.

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Embracing the Paradox in Educational Change for Sustainable Development: A Case of Accounting

Cited by 13 publications

References 34 publications

Universities talk, students walk: promoting innovative sustainability projects

Universities talk, students walk: promoting innovative sustainability projects

Links between sustainability-related awareness and behavior

Education for Sustainable Development Barriers

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