Auditing the University: Promoting
Business Education for Sustainability
Through Audit-Based Learning
Kay Emblen-Perry
Abstract Efforts to improve university-wide sustainability generally include
sustainability learning, teaching, assessment, and campus sustainability activities;
traditionally discrete activities facilitated separately by academics and estates’ management staff. In order to incorporate a local context into the University of Worcester
Business School’s education for sustainability and improve university-wide sustainability performance, these two strands have been combined to create a constructivist,
learner-centred business sustainability module based on sustainability audits of the
University. Auditing the University provides practical, active audit-based learning
to deliver students’ evolving preferences for experiential, collaborative learning and
employers’ demands for employment ready graduates. The sustainability audit undertaken uses real-life business processes to develop students’ sustainability knowledge
and skills that are vital to promote sustainable business futures and softer employment skills such as negotiation, collaboration and influencing, which are essential
for future career success. This paper presents a case study analysis of a Level 5
undergraduate business sustainabiltiy module that utilises audit-based learning and
explores opportunities and challenges associated with delivering it. It reports the
findings of a study into students’ experiences of audit-based learning in the module,
which operates as a ‘living lab’, and explores its ability to promote innovative learning, teaching and assessment in education for sustainability. The paper also utilises
the Framework for 21st Century Learning to explore audit-based learning’s ability
to develop knowledge and skills appropriate for 21st Century businesses. Research
findings are synthesised to capture and share this innovative approach to learning,
teaching and assessment of business sustainability and offer insights to developers
of interactive, experiential sustainability learning, teaching and assessment tools.
Keywords Audit-based learning · Sustainability audit · Learning, teaching and
assessment · Business sustainability · Education for sustainability
K. Emblen-Perry (B)
Worcester Business School, University of Worcester, Worcester WR1 3AS, UK
e-mail: k.emblenperry@worc.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_19
303
Business Education for Sustainability
Through Audit-Based Learning
Kay Emblen-Perry
Abstract Efforts to improve university-wide sustainability generally include
sustainability learning, teaching, assessment, and campus sustainability activities;
traditionally discrete activities facilitated separately by academics and estates’ management staff. In order to incorporate a local context into the University of Worcester
Business School’s education for sustainability and improve university-wide sustainability performance, these two strands have been combined to create a constructivist,
learner-centred business sustainability module based on sustainability audits of the
University. Auditing the University provides practical, active audit-based learning
to deliver students’ evolving preferences for experiential, collaborative learning and
employers’ demands for employment ready graduates. The sustainability audit undertaken uses real-life business processes to develop students’ sustainability knowledge
and skills that are vital to promote sustainable business futures and softer employment skills such as negotiation, collaboration and influencing, which are essential
for future career success. This paper presents a case study analysis of a Level 5
undergraduate business sustainabiltiy module that utilises audit-based learning and
explores opportunities and challenges associated with delivering it. It reports the
findings of a study into students’ experiences of audit-based learning in the module,
which operates as a ‘living lab’, and explores its ability to promote innovative learning, teaching and assessment in education for sustainability. The paper also utilises
the Framework for 21st Century Learning to explore audit-based learning’s ability
to develop knowledge and skills appropriate for 21st Century businesses. Research
findings are synthesised to capture and share this innovative approach to learning,
teaching and assessment of business sustainability and offer insights to developers
of interactive, experiential sustainability learning, teaching and assessment tools.
Keywords Audit-based learning · Sustainability audit · Learning, teaching and
assessment · Business sustainability · Education for sustainability
K. Emblen-Perry (B)
Worcester Business School, University of Worcester, Worcester WR1 3AS, UK
e-mail: k.emblenperry@worc.ac.uk
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Universities as Living Labs for Sustainable Development,
World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15604-6_19
303