Forum to explore challenges of social and environmental accounting
Published by Communications and Development
3 December 2009
The University of Canterbury will host the eighth Australasian Conference on Social and Environmental Accounting Research (CSEAR) this weekend.
The aim of the conference, being held from 6 to 8 December at the Latimer Hotel in Christchurch, is to provide a forum for delegates from a range of backgrounds – professional and public practitioners, policy makers and business advisors, academics and students – to debate a broad range of topics on matters of social and environmental accounting and reporting.
The conference coincides with the opening of the United Nations climate change conference in Copenhagen (7 to 18 December) which addresses themes relevant to the CSEAR conference.
More than 100 delegates are expected to attend the CSEAR conference, which will feature three keynote presentations.
Professor Sharon Beder, a visiting professorial fellow in the School of Social Sciences, Media and Communication at the University of Wollongong, Australia, has a background in civil engineering. She will discuss her experiences in the profession and her efforts as an academic to challenge that profession – campaigning for engineering education reform, exposing professional malpractice, changing professional practice, promoting public debate, and influencing public policy.
Professor Dennis Patten is Professor of Accounting at Illinois State University and has been actively involved in research into corporate social and environmental disclosure. His talk will offer a North American perspective on the world of social and environmental accounting and what he sees as the challenges, the obstacles, and the opportunities ahead.
Professor Caroline Saunders is director of the Agribusiness and Economics Research Unit at Lincoln University and is a specialist on sustainable economic development. Her current research includes evaluating trade and the environment, including assessment of international market policies and their impact on development.
Other topics to be discussed include carbon management accounting, water and natural resource management, greenhouse gas emissions trading schemes, waste and environmental pollution, sustainability reporting, corporate social responsibility, and the social impacts of globalization.
The conference has been organized by the University of Canterbury’s Department of Accounting and Information Systems (ACIS), and is sponsored by the University of Canterbury, CPA Australia and Environment Canterbury.
More information on the conference and a full programme of speakers can be found at http://www.bsec.canterbury.ac.nz/csear2009/index.shtml.
For more information please contact:
Susan Wild
Accounting and Information Systems
College of Business and Economics
University of Canterbury
Ph: (03) 364 2987 ext 7381
Email: susan.wild@canterbury.ac.nz
Or:
Professor Amanda Ball
Accounting and Information Systems
College of Business and Economics
University of Canterbury
Ph: (03) 364 2614
Email: amanda.ball@canterbury.ac.nz