The purpose of this paper is two-fold. The first is to provide insight into the academic life, teaching and research activities of active participants in the sustainability accounting and management academic community in North America. The second is to provide readers with an overview of the papers in this special issue.,To meet the first objective, we specifically sought out those who self-identify as sustainability accounting and management academics, based in North American universities and who actively engage in the sustainability academic community in North America. Using an anonymous online survey, this group was asked to respond to various questions about their academic life, research and teaching activities.,Survey respondents report that they choose to focus on sustainability accounting and management because they want to make a difference (change the world). To that end, the respondents identify carbon emissions and climate change, social issues such as inequalities, as well as grand challenges and sustainable development goals, as important research topics to pursue in the future. While passionate about their research topics, respondents generally note that research outlets that will serve to significantly move their careers forward are difficult to find. A relatively small number of respondents teach sustainability accounting or management, however, most courses taught are dedicated to the topic and teaching sustainability was identified as amongst the most enjoyable aspects of their academic lives.,With study respondents feeling closed out of a number of mainstream journals, career paths at North American institutions could appear somewhat limited for those choosing sustainability accounting and management research as a focus, interest and even passion. This is perhaps even more profound on the teaching side where from a practical perspective, we need to be teaching accountants and managers the significance of sustainability in and for the profession, yes – but even more so for society broadly.,As we move into the digital age, it is important that professionals bend their minds to sustainability as much as they do to keep up with the “pace of change” on other fronts. A potential risk is that “high-tech” subsumes equally important social aspects that need to be embedded in the process of generating accounting and management professionals.,To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time a survey on the work experiences of a sample of scholars teaching and doing research in the area of sustainability accounting and management has been presented for publication. It is meant to provide some descriptive insights into what drives some active participants in this group of academics and reflect on where the future might lead as sustainability becomes an urgent necessity rather than a choice. These descriptive insights and reflections provide a starting point for future inquiries.

中文翻译：

---

更好地了解北美的可持续发展会计和管理研究与教学：看社区

本文的目的是双重的。首先是深入了解北美可持续会计和管理学术界积极参与者的学术生活、教学和研究活动。第二个是为读者提供本期特刊的论文概览。为了实现第一个目标，我们专门寻找那些自称为可持续会计和管理学者、驻扎在北美大学并积极参与北美的可持续发展学术界。使用匿名在线调查，该小组被要求回答有关他们的学术生活、研究和教学活动的各种问题。调查受访者表示，他们选择专注于可持续发展会计和管理，因为他们想有所作为（改变世界）。为此，受访者将碳排放和气候变化、不平等等社会问题以及重大挑战和可持续发展目标确定为未来的重要研究课题。尽管对他们的研究主题充满热情，但受访者普遍指出，很难找到能够显着推动他们职业发展的研究渠道。相对较少的受访者教授可持续性会计或管理，但是，大多数教授的课程都专门针对该主题，并且可持续性教学被认为是他们学术生活中最令人愉快的方面之一。由于研究受访者感觉被一些主流期刊拒之门外，对于那些选择可持续性会计和管理研究作为重点、兴趣甚至激情的人来说，北美机构的职业道路似乎有些受限。这在教学方面可能更为深刻，从实践的角度来看，我们需要向会计师和管理人员传授可持续发展在行业中的重要性，是的 - 但对整个社会更是如此。,随着我们进入在数字时代，重要的是专业人士要尽可能地关注可持续发展，以跟上其他方面的“变革步伐”。一个潜在的风险是，“高科技”包含了同样重要的社会方面，这些方面需要嵌入到培养会计和管理专业人士的过程中。据我们所知，这是第一次对在可持续会计和管理领域教学和研究的学者样本的工作经验进行的调查发表。它旨在提供一些描述性见解，了解是什么推动了这组学者中的一些积极参与者，并反思了随着可持续性成为迫切需要而不是一种选择，未来可能会走向何方。这些描述性的见解和反思为未来的调查提供了一个起点。它旨在提供一些描述性见解，了解是什么推动了这组学者中的一些积极参与者，并反思了随着可持续性成为迫切需要而不是一种选择，未来可能会走向何方。这些描述性的见解和反思为未来的调查提供了一个起点。它旨在提供一些描述性见解，了解是什么推动了这群学者中的一些积极参与者，并反思了随着可持续性成为迫切需要而非选择，未来可能会走向何方。这些描述性的见解和反思为未来的调查提供了一个起点。