The 44thAnnual Congress of the European Accounting Association (EAA) held in Bergen, Norway, during 11-13 of May, was a great opportunity for academics and accounting professionals all over the world to meet and discuss current and future issues in terms of accounting and research. The main areas of focus have been approached from various perspectives such as social and environmental accounting, ethics, financial reporting, management accounting, public sector and non-profit accounting, audit, governance, impact of digitalization and others.
CECCAR`s representative, Mrs Adriana Florina Popa, member of IFAC International Panel of Accounting Education (IPAE) was invited as speaker to the Symposium on ‘Approaching Sustainability through Accounting Education’. During the debate moderated by Gia Chevis, there has been an interesting exchange of ideas involving the panel speakers Brigitte de Graaff, Charles Cho and Ken McPhail. The purpose of the education committee`s symposium was to discuss the role of accounting education in creating a sustainable future, as the curricula is redesigned and the pedagogical approach reconsidered. It led to an open discussion around the way educators need to play a leading role in integrating sustainability in all parts of the curriculum, but also in contributing to ‘sustainability literacy’ from the academic training point of view and concerning the initial and continuous professional development of the accountants.
Historically, the role of professional accountants has been mainly associated with financial accounting and reporting. However, global sustainability challenges that the world is facing in the 21st century are transforming the business ecosystem, as well as the information available to accounting professionals making business decisions.
