Engagement, education and sustainability

Develops a case for the enabling potential of environmental accounting (EA). Investigates three areas to support this case. The first concerns the manner in which EA actively and critically engages with practice in an attempt to change practice along lines that are more socially and environmentally sound; EA’s desire to do this is not without problems. Examines the critical school’s reservations concerning the ability of EA to engage with practice in a manner which allows the latter to act as an enabling force. The second theme focuses on the extent to which accounting education, and particularly EA education, can be used to empower future generations of accountants. Third, examines a new area of concern to EA, that of sustainable development, and considers the likelihood that EA can contribute in an enabling manner to this debate.