Symbiotic Business
This project identifies, assesses and assists Symbiotic Businesses that have multiple core values and generate ecological and social as well as economic benefits. Accounting for multiple values draws on social, ecological and sustainability accounting and is essential to Symbiotic Businesses.
Project description
“In conventional business models the financial values take centre stage. In the new generation of models this shifts to a configuration of social, ecological and financial values.”
The Hague, June 2017, NWO (Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research)
This project draws on a long history of research into alternative forms of accounting in the Management School, University of Sheffield. The project aims to develop social, environmental, ecological and sustainability accounting alongside financial accounting to service an emerging generation of Symbiotic businesses and related technologies that support sustainability. These businesses integrate sustainability into the heart of their operations and that requires a different logic for value creation, a redesign of processes both internally and in the chain, and changes to organisational and earning models.
In this way, the project has many research opportunities across all aspects of theoretical and practical accounting. Nonetheless, there are two prime focal points for the project that are (i) the development of suitable multi-value, accounting techniques to help evaluate, report and manage Symbiotic Businesses and related technologies; and (ii) the recognition and dissemination of multiple values among businesses and citizens.
The project is led by professor Frank Birkin in collaboration with Olga Cam. Management school research staff from other departments are also affiliated to the project as are worldwide academics notably from Sweden, the Netherlands, China, Kenya, Russia and Colombia. In particular, a key project partner is the School of Environment at Nanjing University, China. Non-academic involvement includes local businesses such as Pura Panela, the Sheffield Sustainability Network, Sheffield Alumni in Shanghai, Alingsås town Sweden, and Texta:k, a Swedish media company. INTRINSIC EARTH knowledge exchange platform is being developed as part of the project for academics and practitioners to share their ideas, research & initiatives.
Key research outputs
Symbiotic Business Workshops were held in Bogota (2017), Nairobi (2017), Nanjing (2018), Tongxiang (2018) and Sheffield (2018 & 2019).
Conferences at which Symbiotic Business presentations were made include the International Sustainability Conferences in Lisbon (2016), Bogota (2018), and Nanjing (2019).
Relevant journal publications include:
- “Chinese Environmental Accountability: ancient beliefs, science and sustainability”, Resources, Environment and Sustainability Journal, forthcoming.
- “The prospects for environmental accounting and accountability in China”, Accounting Forum, 2019.
- “Four priorities for new links between conservation science and accounting research” Conservation Biology, 2018.
- “Accounting for Sustainability: Episteme Change and Ontological Plurality”, St Petersburg University Journal of Economic Studies, 2017.
- “The relevance of epistemic analysis to the capability approach and sustainability economics”, Journal of Ecological Economics, 2013.
Relevant book publications include:
- Business and the emerging ecological civilization. Chapter in “Business Strategies for Sustainability”, Routledge, 2019.
- Intrinsic Capability: Implementing Intrinsic Sustainable Development for an Ecological Civilisation. Edited book. World Scientific Publications, 2019.
Staff
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Frank Birkin |