Sustainability on Campus: Knowledge Creation through Social and Environmental
Reporting
Dr Thereza R Sales de Aguiar and Dr Audrey S Paterson
Corresponding Author:
Dr Thereza R. Sales de Aguiar
Lecturer in Accounting
Department of Accounting & Finance
University of Glasgow
Glasgow
Scotland, UK
Email: Thereza.SalesDeAguiar@glasgow.ac.uk
Tel: 0141 330 7687
Dr Audrey S. Paterson
Associate Professor of Accounting
Department of Accounting, Economics & Finance
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh
Scotland, UK
Email: a.paterson@hw.ac.uk
Tel: 0131 451 3905
1
Sustainability on Campus: Knowledge Creation through Social and Environmental
Reporting
Abstract:
This study contributes to the debate on sustainability in higher education through a project
conducted in a single Scottish university that incorporated sustainability into undergraduate
accounting education through the application of a real-world problem in the form of a social
and environmental report (SER). Data from study participants was collected through
questionnaires, which were analysed and interpreted through the lens of knowledge creation.
The results demonstrate an increase in awareness and positive response to sustainability
issues from all parties. It further indicates that opportunities to shape and develop further
sustainability initiatives are possible through a dialogical approach. Such an approach is
shown to provide an opportunity for knowledge creation and the transfer of sustainability
issues in a democratic and emancipatory way. It highlights the importance of developing
spaces/opportunities for sustainability dialogue that not only transcend the boundaries of a
specific graduate discipline but also the borders of higher education institutions.
Keywords:
Sustainability; Knowledge
Environmental Reporting
Creation;
Higher
Education;
Social
and
Introduction
Providing students with a real-world experience is considered an important approach for
teaching and learning on sustainability issues (QAA 2014). Indeed, education is widely
recognised as being the most powerful means of promoting sustainability, with university
education considered to be a significant influence in advancing developments in
sustainability as many graduates go on to hold leading organisational and governmental
positions (Del Mar Alonso-Almeida et al. 2015). In this paper, we consider how
undergraduate accounting education can respond to the call to incorporate real-world
experiences and sustainability into the curriculum. Our study reports on a teaching and
learning experience, which involved second year undergraduate accounting students at a
single Scottish university in the production of a social and environmental report (henceforth
SER) for their campus. The construction of the SER required students to engage in a dialogue
on sustainability issues with individuals both internal and external to the organization.
This paper contributes to educational literature in two different but complementary ways.
First, it explores SER as a practical tool for teaching and learning. More specifically, it
analyses how students and members of staff perceived the benefits of being involved in the
production of a SER. These impacts are analysed not only in terms of the different types of
skills that students might develop while producing the report, but also in terms of how
sustainability disclosures can contribute to improvements in sustainability practices within
the university campus. Second, this paper contributes to the dialogical approach to SER by
considering how the project promoted a space for formalizing knowledge through
experiences and setting a dialogue. Nonaka and Konno (1998) put forward the idea that a
shared space in which individuals have opportunities to establish relationships and engage in
2
dialogue on real-world issues can create and disseminate new knowledge. The importance of
this analysis lies in the fact that a practical experience of a dialogue in a specific space may
tell us about the abilities of participants and the difficulties they encounter during the
different stages/forms of communication. We use the theory of knowledge creation to
identify the possible strengths and failures of a dialogical approach when it is used to
promote change in an organizational context. Building upon these strengths and failures
creates an opportunity to shape and develop further initiatives based on the dialogical
approach, and provides space for knowledge creation and transfer of sustainability issues in a
democratic and emancipatory way.
Grounded in prior research, this paper begins with an outline of the main educational
concerns of sustainability in higher education. We then explore the dialogical approach to
SER as an emancipatory instrument for accounting education while promoting organizational
changes. The theory of knowledge creation is put forward as a means of analysing how the
SER project can create knowledge and then transfer it between different parties, both
internally and externally, through a dialogical approach. The research methods and context of
the study are then laid out. This is followed by the empirical results and analysis. Finally, we
present our reflections and final comments.
Sustainability in Higher Education
The concluding round table session of the 4th UNESCO Higher Education for Sustainable
Development Conference (HESD) in 2011 featured the three perspectives of ‘community’,
‘curriculum’ and ‘campus’ to support understanding of the contribution of higher education
to sustainability (Müller-Christ et al. 2014). Three key messages came out of the debate.
First, given the role that they play in research and development, universities should work
towards improving the quality of their interactions with external parties and increase their
engagement in addressing real-world issues that affect local communities and society in
general. Second, more consideration should be given to viewing students as co-creators of
knowledge and agents of change (Maxwell-Stuart et al. 2017). Attention should be focused
on engaging students in solving real-world problems that not only enable mastery of their
own discipline but also facilitate knowledge creation through a problem-orientated approach
that encourages collaboration and consideration of the interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary
contexts of sustainability. Consistent with this view, the QAA (2014) indicates that education
should not only provide students with knowledge of their subject, but also prepare and
encourage them to consider economic, social and environmental wellbeing (pillars of
sustainability) into their personal and professional lives. Third, innovation and knowledge
creation with respect to sustainability developments should be stimulated by linking
university accountability with campus sustainability (Müller-Christ et al. 2014). However,
university education has to a large extent maintained its traditional orientation on Newtonian
and Cartesian mental models that standardise learning and action into reductionist thinking
and mechanistic paradigms, which are self-controlling and relatively unaffected by outside
forces (Elton 2003). Therefore, the process of embedding sustainability and real-world
experiences into higher education is challenging.
The literature on sustainability in higher education can be broadly organized into two themes.
The first examines the teaching and learning practices related to sustainability issues and
3
real-world experiences (Cotton et al. 2012, Brundiers et al. 2010). Within this literature,
studies have shown that the introduction of sustainability into the higher education
curriculum has not been an easy task and that there are still barriers to be overcome (Cox and
Ingleby (1997). For example, changes that incorporate sustainability aspects have been driven
mainly from the ‘top down’ or ‘bottom up’ (Brinkhurst et al. 2011). Top down initiatives
happen when the higher levels of university administration are committed to promoting
sustainability, while bottom up initiatives originate mainly from students’ interest and best
practice. Academics who are located in the middle of the organization appear to be largely
unable to overcome bureaucratic barriers without substantial support from senior
management (Brinkhurst et al. 2011). One potential solution to this problem would be to
create a combination of class-based and real-world activities, thereby promoting a more
experimental form of learning (Brundiers et al. 2010).
Having considered some of these issues from a teaching and learning perspective, we now
turn our attention the second theme, which concerns sustainability developments within the
physical location of the university campus (Lozano 2011, Brodhag 2013). A substantial part
of this literature assesses the information produced and published by universities for both
internal and public consumption (Godemann et al. 2014, Matthew 2014). This information on
sustainability is intended by higher education institutions to be one of the main drivers of
changing practice on university campuses (Fonseca et al. 2011). However, while producing
sustainability reports seems to provide a good opportunity for universities to communicate
their efforts to stakeholders (Lozano 2011), the literature observes that less than 30% of
institutions actually provide such reports.
Our research brings these two themes in the literature together by exploring the following
three main objectives: first, we evaluate a practical exercise in which a cohort of accounting
students produced a SER for their own university; second, we explore the barriers middleground academics can face while involved with the previously mentioned activity; third, we
apply knowledge creation theory to understand the first and second objectives. In doing so we
contribute to the debate on knowledge creation and sustainability awareness within university
accounting education. In the next section, we explain how SER can be implemented as an
effective and emancipatory pedagogical tool for social and environmental reporting while
engaging different stakeholders in dialogue to promote knowledge and organizational change.
Social and environmental reporting and dialogical education
Thomson and Bebbington (2005), posit that the provision of corporate accounts in all their
guises can be viewed as a means of educating stakeholders both internal and external to the
organization through the communication of events and activities. Taking this view SER can
be utilized as a pedagogical tool to investigate events which were previously partly known or
little understood. Involving different stakeholders’ voices within SER’s can be beneficial,
but the quality of this polyvocal approach is argued to be influenced by the level of
participants’ education, which to some extent determines the depth of the dialogue
(Bebbington et al. 2007).
Dialogical education is developed to allow a critical perspective of a reality, enabling
participants to liberate themselves from the conventional status quo (Bebbington et al. 2007).
4
The dialogical perspective on SER tends to avoid the static approach of conventional
accounting, which is focused on financial and short term concerns (Brown and Dillard 2013a,
b). For this reason, a dialogical approach to SER is considered to be emancipatory (Brown
2009).
Placing emphasis on dialogue can be an important tool for sharing and capturing knowledge
that is not normally included in SER (Bebbington et al. 2007). We support the existence of a
particular knowledge, which is specific to each participant. This type of knowledge combines
an individual’s interpretation of the world and the way participants choose to conduct
themselves as well as individual’s own experiences in relation to a specific organization
(Bebbington et al. 2007). The extent to which individuals share this unique knowledge
depends on their level of interaction within the dialogue process (Thomson and Bebbington
2005). As such, the method of stimulating and carrying out the dialogue is also an important
factor.
Recognizing that each stakeholder and organization has its own agenda, individuals need to
explain clearly what their objectives are in establishing a dialogue and how these objectives
can be linked through common interest (Dillard et al. 2005, Gray et al. 2009). Through such
dialogue, knowledge creation and transfer can be facilitated within the organization.
Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory and Dialogical Education
Knowledge creation theory highlights the existence of two main types of knowledge: explicit
and tacit. Explicit knowledge is that which can be formalized in writing or figures (Nonaka
1991, Nonaka and von Krogh 2009, Nonaka et al. 2006, Nonaka 1994). Tacit knowledge is
personal and involves, for example, senses, intuition, and practical experiences. Tacit
knowledge is shaped by an individual’s own skills, perspectives and beliefs. It is therefore
often taken for granted that this knowledge exists, which can render it difficult to explain and
articulate (Nonaka 1991, 1994). In this paper, we argue that these two types of knowledge are
also part of a dialogical approach to SER and that the quality of SER depends on how these
two types of knowledge are integrated. For example, Thomson and Bebbington (2004)
highlighted that, in a dialogical approach to SER, different kinds of knowledge are
transferred as part of an educational process, which can shape both individual and collective
beliefs, principles, and collective standards in society that, from our perspective, can be
categorized as explicit knowledge. At the same time, they also highlighted the existence of
other types of knowledge that, in our view, could be classed as sub-categories of tacit
knowledge, such as a personal understanding of the world and how people choose to conduct
themselves.
By examining the interactions between tacit and explicit knowledge, the theory of knowledge
creation suggests that there are four modes of knowledge (see Table 1). Nonaka (1994)
devised the ‘Modal Shift and Spiral of Knowledge’ to explain knowledge creation. This
model stresses the dangers of concentrating on only some modes of knowledge creation,
especially ‘socialization’ and ‘combination’. Nonaka (1994) posited that tacit and explicit
knowledge should complement each other in the process of knowledge creation and that, in
order to have constant knowledge creation, an organized and sequential process must be
5
followed, which goes through the four modes in the following order: socialization,
externalization, combination and internalization.
Here, we suggest an adjusted interpretation of these modes of knowledge creation in order to
include a dialogical approach to SER. In Table 1, we recognize that the four types of
knowledge creation complement each other and are part of a continuous dialogue. Moreover,
we argue that the process of knowledge creation in a SER context happens through the
constant exchange, implementation (putting into practice), experience and internalization
(becoming routine) of tacit and explicit knowledge (Nonaka and von Krogh 2009, Nonaka
1994, Szulanski 1996). These steps are similar to those highlighted by Adams and
McNicholas (2007) and Contrafatto et al. (2015) while implementing research in a SER
context.
[Table 1 about here]
From table 1, we can see that organizations reluctant to accept change in a SER context tend
not to socialize, but rather to focus on the mode called ‘combination’, in which SER is
viewed only as a process of creating explicit knowledge (Reeves 2011). In this situation, the
flow of knowledge between tacit and explicit is almost non-existent. Furthermore,
organizations which fail to formalize tacit knowledge by producing SER reports also limit the
dissemination of change into broader society, reducing the possibility of knowledge exchange
and creation (Nonaka 1994).
As a result, tacit knowledge creation is seen to be dependent on specific conditions (Eraut
1985); for example, the need to build a space, or ‘ba’. Another important condition for the
dissemination of tacit knowledge is the establishment of a frequent dialogue between
members of the ‘ba’ (Nonaka and Konno 1998, Nonaka and Toyama 2003). In this context,
face-to-face communication is an effective way to establish a dialogue and is a powerful tool
with which to engage members of the field in the development of ideas and concepts (Gorsky
et al. 2006).
The context of the study and the research methods will be outlined in the next section. This is
then followed by the presentation of the empirical data and its analysis using the lens of
knowledge creation theory.
Study Context
In response to the call to incorporate a real-world experience and sustainability into the
curriculum outlined above, our study engaged 142 second year undergraduate accounting
students on a Social and Environmental course at a single Scottish university in the
development of a SER for their campus. The students organized themselves into groups of 5
to 10 members, and were free to choose their own group members. The composition of the
groups was reasonably well balanced in terms of gender mix.
The course on which the SER project was conducted utilises an experiential approach to
teaching and learning in which the provision of a learning environment facilitated by the
6
educator encourages students to apply existing knowledge and conceptual understanding to a
real-world task (Kolb, 1984). The rationale for adopting this approach is based on the
conception that engaging students in formal, guided, authentic, real-world experiences
encourages them to discover how to deal with real-world problems themselves. Such an
approach is argued to deepen knowledge through action and reflection; facilitate skills
development through practice and reflection; and support the creation of new understandings
when placed in innovative situations which in turn extends knowledge when learning is
brought back to the classroom (Kolb, 1984).
With respect to the data required for the construction of the report, the academic project
leaders provided students with relevant information from different parts of the university,
such as Human Resources, Registry and the Estates department. Students were also directed
to relevant information from sources external to the university, such as a report on the
benchmarking of UK universities in terms of social and environmental practices1, as well as
information produced by other UK universities on their social and environmental practices2.
All information gathered was uploaded to the virtual learning environment for ease of access.
The students were also free to find and include any other relevant information publicly
available that they deemed appropriate and useful for the report. This enabled students, to
choose areas of sustainability practice within their own areas of interest and to investigate
what the university was doing with respect to these.
All students were provided with a project brief that outlined the task in hand, set the
parameters of the project and specific objectives which included the analysis of the
aforementioned documents and related financial data. In addition to preparing a final report,
each group was required to present its findings and suggest recommendations for campus
reporting improvements at the end-of-course workshop the audience of which comprised of
the whole student cohort, and a panel of academic, administrative and external stakeholders.
Feedback Data
An objective of university education is to equip individuals with knowledge (understanding,
identification and/or description of a subject), skills (ability/competency acquired while put
knowledge into practice) and attributes (capacity for independent thinking) that enable them
to act towards the wellbeing of this and future generations (QAA 2014). These are relevant
considerations that add to students’ employability as employers increasingly seek the
demonstration of such skills during graduate recruitment rounds (Drayson 2015). Taking this
into consideration we sought to evaluate students’ perceptions of these skills development
and experience of working with a real-world problem through the SER.
Drawing on the work of Brundiers et al. (2010), our questionnaire included a list of 19
different skills under 4 categories (see Table 2). These skills were selected to adapt the
concept of the three clusters of key competencies that sustainable development in higher
education should pursue (QAA, 2014). These clusters are the following: strategic knowledge
(content of a subject, status quo and past developments on the topic), practical knowledge
(competence to link concepts/content of a topic to practice) and collaborative knowledge
(competence to work in teams). Thus, the questionnaire captured skills developed from
different knowledge acquired on these three clusters, as follows: skills on the subject matter
7
and CSR initiatives in higher education (strategic knowledge), skills on group work
(collaborative knowledge) and other skills (practical knowledge).
At the end of the project three types of feedback were gathered to avoid bias and allow
triangulation. The feedback was gathered using questionnaires completed by students and the
members of the panel audience. The first source of feedback was that collected from students,
which was gathered to explore how students perceived the activity (both the construction of
the report and the formal presentation) to have contributed to their employability skills
development (see Table 2). The second source of feedback was a questionnaire distributed to
the members of the panel who were part of the audience while students presented their
findings. This questionnaire consisted of four open-ended questions on the panel’s perception
of the project from a skills development and knowledge creation/sharing perspective. The
third type of feedback was a follow-up questionnaire given to the same group of students 2
years after the completion of the project to ascertain any lasting impact of the project on
students’ professional and personal behavior.
Research Findings
Stage I- Feedback after Finishing the Coursework
Student Perceptions of Skills Development
The first set of data consists of student feedback on completion of the SER project. This data
sought to elicit student perceptions of the project to development of skills as laid out in Table
2. A questionnaire was distributed to students at the end of the course. No identifying
characters were included on the feedback sheet to ensure anonymity. Completion of the
feedback sheet was also voluntary. The level of response to the questionnaire was 61
students, which represented 43% of the students. Perceptions of the project contributions to
developing these skills were evaluated using a 5 point Likert scale (Excellent, Very Good,
Good, Poor and Very Poor).
The first category is related to how the project contributed to improving students’ knowledge
of the subject matter. Table 2 shows that most students perceived the relevance of the project
for learning about different aspects of the subject matter, such as social and environmental
accounting, corporate reporting, corporate social responsibility, environmental and social
issues.
[Table 2 about here]
The second category relates to how students perceived the project to have contributed to their
knowledge of the university’s and other organizations’ initiatives regarding corporate social
responsibility. The majority of students agreed that the project helped them to learn more
about their own university. In addition, most students found the project useful in terms of
learning more about other organizations’ corporate social responsibility.
The third category refers to students’ evaluation of the project as a group activity. Students
were very positive about their experience of group work. For example, students perceived the
8
project to have developed cooperation among the members of the team and fostered a sense
of responsibility to organize and attend group meetings. Most students also found the project
to be a valuable activity for experiencing brainstorming and learning how to manage conflict
resolution and workload distribution.
Finally, the fourth category considers other skills that students may feel they have learned.
The students positively evaluated the project in terms of helping them to develop skills in
presentation, discussion, research, writing and thinking critically and creatively. The results
described above affirm the process of change students went through, which allowed them to
develop and implement skills that are desirable for employability purposes.
Feedback from the Panel Audience
Prior studies have indicated that there is a lack of coherence on sustainability among
members of faculty (Aktas et al., 2015), to the extent that university stakeholders and
academics are not fully aware of what sustainability means and what constitutes
sustainability principles (Nejati and Nejati, 2013). This section presents the feedback of the
three non-academic members of the panel and one academic not involved in the construction
of the project. The questionnaire completed by these participants consisted of four open
questions, which explored two main points. The first point considered how the SER project
may have contributed to the participant’s own personal and professional awareness of
sustainability issues. The second point explored the participant’s views on the potential value
of such an exercise and any suggestions and/or comments that they may have regarding the
utilization of this type of teaching and learning activity for sustainability knowledge creation
and development.
Responses to the teaching and learning aspects of the SER project reflected positive views.
For example, one of the positive points highlighted was the opportunity that the project
provided to engage in a dialogue with students on sustainability and environmental issues,
reinforcing the relevance of a space (‘ba’). Creating a space for discussion was considered
beneficial for a participatory process, involving different areas of academic community (e.g.
research, teaching and administration). As such, participatory initiatives can be considered to
facilitate debate and deeper comprehension on the existent complexities, multi-dimensional
and multidisciplinary approach that sustainability requires (Disterheft et al. 2015, Aktas et al.
2015).
The relevance of employing a real-world activity as part of student teaching and learning and
the inclusion of academic and external participants in the project were also acknowledged to
be positive features. Likewise, the information contained within the social and environmental
report were deemed valuable in terms of knowledge transfer, knowledge creation and
employability skills development. This confirms the view that incorporating real-world
activities into the curriculum can facilitate valuable teaching and learning opportunities and
dialogue between academia and practitioners (Brundiers et al. 2010, Brundiers and Wiek
2011).
The SER project was also perceived to have had a positive impact at an administrative level,
as it stimulated thought regarding how sustainability and environmental practices across the
university could be improved. Additionally, the project was reported to have prompted
9
individuals to consider the small changes that they could make in their personal daily routine.
It was further suggested that the project report and presentations had been educational for the
panel audience. This represents knowledge transfer, through which members of the panel
identified possible areas of change in their day-to-day actions of which they were previously
unaware.
Wright and Wilton (2012), posit that the absence of knowledge is one of the most important
barriers to sustainability in higher education. The impact of human factors on organizational
change (eg.: the existence of ambassadors for sustainable development) is also identified as
essential to overcome resistance during the process of integrating a sustainable development
approach in higher education (Verhulst and Lambrechts 2015). The data presented so far thus
indicated that this project has proven to be instrumental in the transfer of knowledge among
students and members of staff; allowing deeper understanding and dialogue with respect to
sustainability.
Stage II –Feedback Two Years after Finishing the Coursework
Student Perceptions of the Impact of SER on Behavioural Change and Knowledge Creation
A follow-up questionnaire was issued to students 2 years after the project. The second
questionnaire attracted 27 student respondents; 44% of the number of students that responded
to the first questionnaire. The response rate was probably lower due to some of the original
study participants having graduated. This questionnaire was designed to elicit student
perceptions of any lasting impact of knowledge exchange of SER on their personal and
professional behaviour. In general, students acknowledged that the elaboration of SER had an
impact on their personal understanding of sustainability and environmental issues and had
engaged them in thinking about and discussing such issues both inside and outside of the
university environment, which may not have happened otherwise. Approximately 44% of
students indicated they had other opportunities to discuss social and environmental issues
during their degree, but that these opportunities were mostly related to other courses on their
programme of study, which were coordinated by members of staff that were involved in the
SEA project. In general, students indicated the importance of having a space (‘ba’) within
their programme of study to discuss social and environmental issues with peers/members of
staff.
I believe, as with most issues, that social and environmental issues should be explored
for potentially negative impacts on groups and individuals (such as universities,
companies and communities). Some issues may not cause noticeable effects
immediately but awareness should be created to their nature and future problems.
(Student 2)
Engagement with the SER was also reported to have provided a useful point of discussion
externally, particularly from an employability aspect.
At a job interview, I discussed it as an example. (Student 22)
I was able to discuss these issues when I was going for a role within the student union.
Because of this and my awareness to these relevant issues and how it can affect the
university I was successfully offered the role I applied for. (Student 4)
10
It was further noted that engagement in the SER had, in some circumstances, initiated
personal behavioural change.
It made me realize that lights need to be turned off. I now save more electricity, recycle
more. (Student 12)
While another indicated
I didn't waste as much paper working notes. (Student 19)
Indeed, approximately 30% of students noted that it increased their awareness of the
importance of sustainability and environmental issues and of simple ways in which
individuals can make small contributions to reducing waste and carbon emissions.
Yes, through this project I got to understand the importance of recycling and energy
saving. I rely more on buses now when commuting to university and I also share-a-car
with a friend which again can help to lessen the [university’s] carbon footprint.
(Student 4)
Thus, evidence of behavioural change extends to knowledge transfer and knowledge
exchange beyond the context of the university, enhancing students’ environmental awareness
and employability skills. This movement beyond the course indicates that it has the potential
to influence and generate multiple new knowledge transfer spirals.
In addition to the evidence of behavioural change, there was indication of knowledge
creation. Students perceived the four modes of knowledge creation to be related to different
stages of project elaboration. It was surprising that most students related more than one
project stage to one specific mode of knowledge creation. However, in general students chose
the following correspondence (see Graphic 1): Socialization (Presentation), Combination
(Report), Externalization (Report) and Internalization (Recommendations and Presentation).
This confirms that students perceived the project to be not only an opportunity to present
explicit knowledge, but also an opportunity to express their own tacit knowledge.
[Graphic 1 about here]
This result may also indicate that students developed all four modes of knowledge creation,
but that some parts of the project were more effective tools than others for promoting
different modes. Table 3 shows that students did not perceive all stages of SER as having
equal impact on them through engagement/discussions (measured by a 5 point Likert scale).
For example, the presentations seem to have had a different impact on students’ experience of
knowledge, with this activity perceived as a way to share tacit knowledge and as an
opportunity to present the explicit knowledge shaped by their own experiences. This result
may be relevant when identifying the part that different stages of the project may have on the
process of knowledge creation. Thus, providing appropriate incentives for engagement in
real-world activities could contribute to developing different modes of knowledge creation,
thereby facilitating the achievement of specific results needed by an organization.
11
[Table 3 about here]
Stage III - Reflections of Academic Project Leaders
The final section presents the views and reflections of three academic staff who were
involved in the design and implementation of the SER activity.
The conception of this project arose from discussion on how accounting education could
respond to the call by UNESCO (2015) and the QAA (2014), to incorporate a real-world
experience and sustainability into the curriculum. The ability to write and analyse reports and
to engage in critical thinking are key employability skills within the accounting profession.
This led us to consider the application of the student SER project within the discipline of
accounting, on the grounds that such a project could potentially offer contributions to
sustainability from ‘community’, ‘curriculum’ and ‘campus’ perspectives, as well as
facilitating knowledge creation through a dialogical approach.
Reflecting on the feedback provided by both the students and panel audience involved in the
project, the SER project appears to have provided an innovative way of delivering the subject
matter by engaging students, academic staff and other interested parties in the pursuit of a
common goal. The dialogic approach of SER emphasizes opportunities to share not only
common, agreed and/or accepted knowledge about the world, but also each individual’s
understanding of the context in which they find themselves and how they decide to conduct
themselves in this context. Thus, engagement with the SER and the recommendations
contained therein may have an emancipatory dimension through which students can liberate
themselves by formally articulating their own experiences within a generated space for
debating social and environmental issues
The theory of knowledge creation places emphasis on an organized sequence of modes of
knowledge creation (Nonaka and Toyama 2003). Taking this into consideration our research
reinforces the idea that the process of knowledge creation works as a spiral, constantly
turning via creation of a space in which personal knowledge is shared, thereby creating new
ideas. A desirable scenario for higher education would be to increase the frequency of
spiraling by promoting interactions between accounting students from all year groups and
courses.
Another desirable scenario would be the identification of real-world projects as generators of
linked spirals of knowledge creation. Interactions with other areas of knowledge in an
interdisciplinary manner would also be encouraged. Members of staff from different areas of
the university who participated in the panel audience shared the space created by the project
and may be able to use the knowledge they acquired to start a spiral of knowledge creation in
their own field. The creation of these linked spirals could be very effective by way of
engagement in a space in which participants could exchange explicit and tacit knowledge.
The challenge for academics however, is finding a balance between keeping the spirals
turning frequently to promote new changes, and amplifying the chain of interrelated spirals of
the initially created space. Ideally, the influence of the space would extend beyond the
university boundaries when, for example, students start to apply the knowledge acquired in
their workplace and/or communities. Such an outcome would satisfy the QAA (2014)
12
objectives of encouraging economic, social and environmental wellbeing (pillars of
sustainability) into students personal and professional lives.
Final Comments
In this paper, we described an educational exercise of which the main focus was the
production of SER at a single Scottish university. As a teaching and learning practice, the
data indicates the SER project was not only perceived as a good initiative through which to
develop awareness of sustainability issues, but it also equipped students with employability
skills, such as: working in groups, conflict resolution, presentation and communication skills.
Moreover, the SER project provided a space (‘ba’) for engagement in which students,
academics and members of administrative staff engaged in dialogue that facilitated better
understanding of the initiatives that the university has in place regarding sustainability.
This paper also provides an analysis of the SER project as being a practical example of a
dialogical approach to SER and knowledge creation. Our research demonstrates that the
application of these two approaches, when taken together, can contribute to a new
visualization of developments within and engagement with the SER agenda in the higher
education context. While the study is limited by the sample size, it nevertheless contributes to
the debate on sustainability within the university setting and compliments the work of
Müller-Christ et al., (2014) and opens up opportunities for further research in this area. It
demonstrates that incorporating sustainability through the inclusion of a real-world problem
in the curriculum can increase awareness of and responses to sustainability and
environmental issues. More specifically, we have demonstrated that explicit and tacit
knowledge were shared and created in the sequence of the stages required by the described
SER project. Reflecting on this experience, we have determined that a dialogical approach to
SER can be achieved by using several modes of knowledge creation in a complementary
manner. This study supports the idea that the construction of a SER should involve different
stages in order to encourage generation of different modes of knowledge creation, as
suggested by Nonaka (1994) in the ‘Modal Shift and Spiral of Knowledge’.
Indeed, the reflections presented above signify a visualization of knowledge creation and
dissemination, which can help to identify areas (or modes of knowledge creation) in need of
improvement. It can also help to map how, where and why space boundaries should be
expanded; influencing internal and external environments. In our view, providing the correct
incentives at each stage of the construction of the social and environmental report can
motivate the development of the modes of knowledge that organizations most need to
facilitate sustainability. Selection of these modes can be done strategically depending on the
particular objectives and/or perspectives of the individuals involved in the process of
knowledge creation.
In the specific experiment described in this paper, knowledge creation was possible because
of the establishment of new spaces. Creation of a space that facilitates dialogue on
sustainability issues by academic staff can turn into a powerful instrument of change.
However, maintaining the conditions necessary to keep the space operating, by spinning
spirals of knowledge creation, is a challenge that needs to be explored further in future
research. The pursuit of knowledge creation and interaction of organizational members (staff
13
and students) may help to identify strengths and barriers, as well as plan for future desirable
achievements/impacts of sustainability. We strongly encourage future research to explore the
conditions that help to maintain the space in which discussions on sustainability issues are
carried out in higher education.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are very grateful for the comments received by the reviewers of this paper. We appreciate
the support received by members of staff and external organizations (due to research
procedures we are unable to disclose their names) that contributed to the project. We also
would like to express our appreciation to Dr. Bill Jackson and Dr. Akira Yonekura for their
useful comments and feedback. Thanks also go to the students who participated in the
project. Without their engagement and passion to the subject this article would not exist. We
also would like to give our thanks to the Edinburgh Centre for European Financial Studies
(EDIFIS) and the QAA Enhancement Theme, who provided small grants to the University
Enhancement Group to support this project. An early version of this paper was presented the
2013 International Enhancement Themes Conference organized by the Scottish Higher
Education Academy. We very much appreciated the comments received during this event.
14
Table 1: Adaptation of patterns of knowledge creation to SER development
MODES OF KNOWLEDGE
CREATION
SOCIALIZATION
DESCRIPTION
From tacit to tacit knowledge.
Individuals learn tacit skills from
each other by observation,
imitation or practice.
COMBINATION
From explicit to explicit
knowledge. Combination of
different explicit knowledge to
create new knowledge.
EXTERNALIZATION
From tacit to explicit
knowledge. Individuals are able
to formalize their tacit
knowledge.
From explicit to tacit
knowledge. Individuals use preexisting explicit knowledge and
shape it with their own tacit
knowledge.
INTERNALIZATION
RELATION TO SER
DEVELOPMENT
SER is conducted via interactive
communication and reflection
about the world. The
knowledge created within this
process is not formalized in SER.
SER is produced by putting
together different types of
explicit knowledge that exist
internally or externally to the
organization. An illustration of
this situation could be
production of SER by following
guideline requirements.
Individuals are able to express
their own experiences and
interpretation of the world
through SER.
Individuals are educated with a
common understanding of
social and environmental
accounting so they can
interpret SER using these
concepts, but the individual
shapes them with his/her own
experiences of the world and
ways of conduct.
Source: Adapted from Nonaka (1991, 1994) and Thomson and Bebbington (2004, 2005)
Table 2: Students’ feedback on skills acquired
Mean
Median
(I) CONTENT OF THE SUBJECT MATTER
Social Issues
3.97
4
Environmental issues
4.20
4
Corporate Social Responsibility
3.95
4
Corporate Reporting
3.82
4
Social and Environmental Accounting
4.03
4
(II) ORGANISATION'S CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
INNITIATIVES
University CSR
4.25
4
Other organisations’ CSR
3.46
4
(III) GROUP WORK
Organize in a group
4.18
4
Attend meetings
4.38
5
Team work and cooperation
4.35
5
Mode
Standard
Deviation
n
4
5
4
4
5
0.86
0.89
0.83
0.99
0.90
61
61
61
61
60
4
4
0.81
1.07
60
61
5
5
5
0.83
0.80
0.80
61
61
60
15
Work load distribution
Conflict resolution
Brainstorm
Work in collaboration
(IV) OTHER SKILLS
Research skills
Writing skills
Think critically and creatively
Presentation skills
Discussion skills
4.11
3.80
4.05
3.59
4
4
4
4
4
3
4
5
0.91
1.01
0.92
1.31
61
60
61
58
3.67
3.92
3.70
4.13
4.07
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
4
5
4
1.22
1.05
0.92
0.85
0.87
61
61
61
61
61
Table 3: The parts of the project students perceived learning experience from
engagement/discussion with others was facilitated
Mean Median
Report
Recommendations
Presentation
Questions/answers after presentation
3.76
3.24
3.86
3.24
Mode
4
3
4
4
3
4
4
4
Standard
Deviation
0.89
1.04
0.65
1.26
n
21
21
21
21
Note: n represents the total of students that responded to this part of the questionnaire.
Graphic 1: Students’ perception on different parts of the project
Internalization
30%
41%
33%
41%
15%
Report
56%
Externalization
30%
22%
33%
4%
Recommendations
Presentations
Questions/Answers
52%
Combination
Socialization
26%
15%
33%
41%
67%
15%
0%
22%
None
0%
16
REFERENCES
Adams, C. A., and P. McNicholas. 2007. "Making a difference: sustainability reporting,
accountability and organisational change." Accounting, Auditing & Accountability
Journal 20 (3):382-402.
Aktas, C. B., R. Whelan, H. Stoffer, E. Todd, and C. L. Kern. 2015. "Developing a
university-wide course on sustainability: a critical evaluation of planning and
implementation." Journal of Cleaner Production 106:216-221.
Bebbington, J., J. Brown, B. Frame, and I. Thomson. 2007. "Theorizing engagement: the
potential of a critical dialogic approach." Accounting, Auditing & Accountability
Journal 20 (3):356 - 381.
Brinkhurst, M., P. Rose, G. Maurice, and J. D. Ackerman. 2011. "Achieving campus
sustainability: top-down, bottom-up, or neither?" International Journal of
Sustainability in Higher Education 12 (4):338-354.
Brodhag, C. 2013. "Research universities, technology transfer, and job creation: what
infastructure, for what training? ." Studies in Higher Education 38 (3):388-404.
Brown, J. 2009. "Democracy, sustainability and dialogic accounting technologies: taking
pluralism seriously." Critical Perspectives on Accounting 20:313-342.
Brown, J., and J. Dillard. 2013a. "Agonizing over engagement: SEA and the ‘‘death of
environmentalism’’debates." Critical Perspectives on Accounting 24:1–18.
Brown, J., and J. Dillard. 2013b. "Critical accounting and communicative action: On the
limits of consensual deliberation." Critical Perspectives on Accounting 24:176–
190.
Brundiers, K., and A. Wiek. 2011. "Educating students in real-world sustainability
research: vision and implementation." Innovation in Higher Education 36:107124.
Brundiers, K., A. Wiek, and C. L. Redman. 2010. "Real-world learning opportunities in
sustainability: from classroom into the real world." International Journal of
Sustainability in Higher Education 11 (4):308-324.
Contrafatto, M., I. Thomson, and E. A. Monk. 2015. " Peru, mountains and los niños:
dialogic action, accounting and sustainable transformation." Critical Perspectives
on Accounting 33:117-136.
Cotton, D., I. Bailey, M. Warren, and S. Bissell. 2012. "Revolutions and second best
solutions: education for sustainable development in higher education." Studies in
Higher Education 34 (7):719-733.
Cox, B., and A. Ingleby. 1997. "Practical pointers for quality assessment." In Evaluating a
course: practical strategies for teachers, lecturers and trainers, edited by I. Forsyth
and D. Stevens. Kogan Page.
Del Mar Alonso-Almeida, M., F. Marimon, F. Casani, and J. Rodriguez-Pomeda. 2015.
"Diffusion of sustainability reporting in universities: current situation and future
perspectives." Journal of Cleaner Production 106:144-154.
Dillard, J., D. Brown, and R. S. Marshall. 2005. "An environmentally enlightened
accounting." Accounting Forum 29:77-101.
Disterheft, A., S. Caeiro, U. M. Azeiteiro, and W. Leal Filho. 2015. "Sustainable
universities-a study of critical success factors for participatory approaches."
Journal of Cleaner Production 106:11-21.
Drayson, R. 2015. "Students attitudes towards and skills for sustainable development:
employer attitudes towards, and skills for, sustainable development."
17
https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/resource/student-attitudes-towards-and-skillssustainable-development-2015 Accessed 28.08.2016.
Elton, L. 2003. "Dissemination of innovations in higher education: a change theory
approach." Tertiary Education and Management 9:199-214.
Eraut, M. 1985. "Knowledge creation and knowledge use in professional contexts."
Studies in Higher Education 10 (2):117-133.
Fonseca, A., A. Macdonald, E. Dandy, and P. Valenti. 2011. "The state of sustainability
reporting at Canadian universities." International Journal of Sustainability in
Higher Education 12 (1):22-40.
Godemann, J., J. Bebbington, C. Herzig, and J. Moon. 2014. "Higher education and
sustainable development." Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 27
(2):218 - 233.
Gorsky, P., A. Caspi, and R. Trumper. 2006. "Campus-based university students’ use of
dialogue." Studies in Higher Education 31 (1):71-87.
Gray, R., J. Dillard, and C. Spence. 2009. "Social accounting research as if the world
matters." Public Management Review 11 (5):545-573.
Karatzoglou, B. 2013. "An in-depth literature review of the evolving roles and
contributions of universities to Education for Sustainable Development." Journal
of Cleaner Production 49:44-53.
Kolb, D. A. 1984. Experiential learning: experience as the source of learning and
development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Lozano, R. 2011. "The state of sustainability reporting in universities." International
Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 12 (1):67-78.
Matthew, E. 2014. "Making water count: water accountability change within an
Australian university." Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal 27 (2):259 282.
Maxwell-Stuart, R., B. Taheri, A. S. Paterson, K. O’Gorman and W. Jackson. 2017.
"Working together to increase student satisfaction: exploring the effects of mode
of study and fee status." Studies in Higher Education 42
Müller-Christ, G., S. Sterling, R. van Dam-Mieras, M. Adomßent, D. Fischer, and M.
Rieckmann. 2014. "The role of campus, curriculum, and community in higher
education for sustainable development-a conference report." Journal of Cleaner
Production 62:134-137.
Nejati, M., and M. Nejati. 2013. "Assessment of sustainable university factors from the
perspective of university students." Journal of Cleaner Production 48:101-107.
Nonaka, I. 1991. "The knowledge-creating company." Harvard Business Review JulyAugust 162-171.
Nonaka, I. 1994. "A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation."
Organization Science 5 (1):14-37.
Nonaka, I., and N. Konno. 1998. "The concept of 'Ba': building a foundation for
knowledge creation." California Management Review 40 (30):40-54.
Nonaka, I., and R. Toyama. 2003. "The knowledge-creating theory revisited: knowledge
creation as a synthesizing process." Knowledge Management Research & Practice
1:2–10.
Nonaka, I., and G. von Krogh. 2009. "Tacit knowledge and knowledge conversion:
controversy and advancement in organizational knowledge creation theory."
Organization science 20 (3):635-652.
18
Nonaka, I., G. vonKrogh, and S. Voelpel. 2006. "Organizational knowledge creation
theory: evolutionary paths and future advances." Organization Studies 27:11791208.
QAA. 2014. Education for sustainable development: guidance for UK higher education
providers. QAA763-June 2014.
Ralph, M., and W. Stubbs. 2014. "Integrating environmental sustainability into
universities." Higher Education 67:71-90.
Reeves, J. 2011. "Investigating knowledge exchange and creation on a practice-based
Master’s programme." Studies in Higher Education 36 (8):953-967.
Szulanski, G. 1996. "Exploring internal stickiness: impediments to the transfer of best
practice within the firm." Strategic Management Journal I7:27-43.
Thomson, I., and J. Bebbington. 2004. "It doesn’t matter what you teach?" Critical
Perspectives on Accounting 15 609-628.
Thomson, I., and J. Bebbington. 2005. "Social and environmental reporting in the UK: a
pedagogic evaluation." Critical Perspectives on Accounting 16:507-533.
UNESCO. 2015. "Shaping the future we want: UN decade of education for sustainable
development
(2005-2014)
Final
Report.
ED/TLC/ESD/2015/RP/1.".
http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/leading-the-internationalagenda/education-for-sustainable-development/ Accessed 03.06.2016.
Verhulst, E., and W. Lambrechts. 2015. "Fostering the incorporation of sustainable
development in higher education. Lessons learned from a change management
perspective." Journal of Cleaner Production 106:189-204.
Wright, T. S. A., and H. Wilton. 2012. "Facilities management directors’
conceptualizations of sustainability in higher education." Journal of Cleaner
Production 31:118-125.
1
https://peopleandplanet.org/university-league and http://www.eauc.org.uk/universities_that_count__he_benchmarking_report
2 Link to the report produced by the University of Plymouth
(http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/files/extranet/docs/WEB/CSR%20Report%20web%20final.pdf). In
addition, links to access to sustainability information provided online at the webpage for the University of
Nottingham and the University of Northampton.
19