Personal reflections on Introducing a Sustainability Management Accounting Course Unit to an Undergraduate

It all began in a small scale... One day, when I was reading the new edition of Drury’s (2007) Management and Cost Accounting book, I happened to come across a section on environmental cost accounting. It was an ignition to resume my love with the environment after a long period of detachment caused by my higher education. After seeing the light of the world on the World Environmental Day and being the President of the Environmental Society of the school, higher education detached me from my love for the environment for a considerable period. The chapter of Drury was indeed a pleasant eye-opener that there’s a place for the environment in my field of management accounting. The journey began... Then I found myself busy reading materials on environmental management accounting (EMA). For an area initially thought to be new and untrespassed, I came across an unexpected sea of resources on EMA. The introductory documents of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (1995) and International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) (2005) on EMA gave me a better initial understanding on this field. It was during this time, one my colleagues invited me to few topics on “contemporary issues in management accounting”. I introduced a topic called “harmonizing with environment- EMA ” to these sessions, boldly, even without having a standard text book which can be used for teaching. Primary purpose was for me to learn EMA before I taught the students. Luckily, I came across the book “issues in management accounting ” and a chapter on EMA (Soonawala, 2006). It was the base chapter for my first session on EMA. Then came my MBA thesis at a time I was in love with EMA deeply. I soon grabbed the opportunity by opting for a topic in EMA. The thesis then allowed me to study the subject thoroughly and seriously. At this point, I started writing on EMA. Also,