1st Edition

Teaching Business Sustainability Vol. 2 Cases, Simulations and Experiential Approaches

Edited By Chris Galea Copyright 2007

    If there is one area of business education that requires out-of-the-box, creative thinking it is sustainability. Business sustainability, because of its relative newness (and hence uncertainty), its dependence on interdisciplinary thinking, its need to work with different stakeholders and its non-traditional operating approaches, demands that we train our managers in wholly new ways.  This need for new and non-traditional teaching approaches is reflected in this collection of unorthodox teaching pedagogies. The underlying philosophy behind them is that deep learning for sustainability needs ultimately to be experiential: that is, learning while doing rather than a passive absorption of facts and figures. While much of the underlying theory of sustainability may be taught using more traditional lecture and reading approaches, the implementation of true business sustainability requires students to experiment – to win and lose – while grappling with the myriad challenges and frustrations posed by sustainability: the same challenges and frustrations, one might add, that companies intent on implementing sustainability face on a daily basis in the world in which they operate. The aim is to create a learning environment where students themselves take control over their own learning.  This book – a companion volume to Teaching Business Sustainability 1: From Theory to Practice (Greenleaf Publishing, 2004) – focuses on four main categories of experiential pedagogy: case studies, hands-on exercises, role-play simulations and active learning teaching exercises. It includes contributions from a range of experts in global sustainability education who provide their expertise with class-hardened teaching materials.  Teaching Business Sustainability 2 will be an invaluable resource both for educators working in a wide range of academic disciplines, looking for inspiration and guidance on how to teach business sustainability, as well as for organisations looking to reinvigorate internal management education programmes to factor in corporate responsibility and sustainability issues.

    Introduction Chris Galea, St Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada   Part I: Active learning teaching exercises 1. Getting Out There: Incorporating Site Visits and Industry Assessments in Pollution Prevention and Sustainability Education Kim Fowler, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA, and Jill Engel-Cox, Battelle Memorial Institute, USA  2. Different Planets: Belief, Denial and Courage. The Role of Emotion in Turning Learning into Action Penny Walker, Independent Consultant, UK  3. Sustainability in Business Education: The Leisure and Tourism Curriculum Shirley Eber, Tourism Concern, UK  4. Getting It: Understanding the Science and Principles behind Sustainability Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard, AXIS Performance Advisors Inc., USA   Part II: Hands-on exercises/activities 5. The Sustainability Card Game Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard, AXIS Performance Advisors Inc., USA  6. The Multi-organisation Business Simulation Darcy Hitchcock and Marsha Willard, AXIS Performance Advisors Inc., USA  7. Personalising Sustainability: An Interactive Activity to Reinforce the Presentation of The Natural Step (TNS) Joshua Skov, Good Company, USA   Part III: Case studies 8. Easter Island: A Case Study in Non-sustainability David K. Foot, University of Toronto, Canada  9. Suncor Energy: A Comprehensive Approach to Sustainability Peter A. Stanwick and Sarah D. Stanwick, Auburn University, USA  10. Perspectives on Accounting and Society. Teaching Accountants Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): A Case Study Kumba Jallow, De Montfort University, UK  11. The Anti-Junk Mail Kit Chris Galea, St Francis Xavier University, Nova Scotia, Canada, and John MacKinnon, Deloitte & Touche, Canada  12. The War of the Woods: A Forestry Giant Seeks Peace Monika I. Winn, Faculty of Business, University of Victoria, Canada, and Charlene Zietsma, Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, Canada   Part IV: Role-play simulations  13. Sustainable Games People Play: Teaching Sustainability Skills with the Aid of the Role-play "NordWestPower" Anke Truscheit and Christoph Otte, University of Oldenburg, Germany  14. Using Experiential Simulation to Teach Sustainability Susan Svoboda, Realia Group, USA  15. Teaching Process Sustainability: A Role-playing Case Focused on Finding New Solutions to a Waste-water Management Problem David Annandale and Angus Morrison-Saunders, Murdoch University, Australia

    Biography

    Chris Galea