Industrial management meets environmental reporting – how a learning factory for engineering education is used to teach accounting of greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the piloting of an experience-based training module on greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting. The training is designed to promote knowledge and skills of both, students and professionals, in the context of the European Sustainability Reporting Standards. The paper’s purpose is to evaluate the suitability of the chosen environment of a learning factory (LF).Design/methodology/approachThe proposed content and approach were initially created as basic training for cooperation partners from industry and auditing by applying Bloom’s taxonomy up to the level of analyzing, evaluating and creating in a close-to-reality industrial environment. Subsequently, the training was adapted for higher engineering education. Three consecutive exercises are explained concerning the crucial stages of carbon footprinting. To provide support for the authors’ suggestion that LFs are effective for the training in the field of GHG accounting, pre- and post-test and questionnaires were applied.FindingsThis case study reveals that LFs facilitate training participants to reliably identify, classify and quantify emission sources because of their authentic characteristics. Findings in this paper indicate that engineering students prefer this education practice over other formats.Practical implicationsThis case study on active learning may prompt other universities to introduce similar concepts and content. Also, industrial professionals can benefit from this application-oriented teaching method.Originality/valueDespite the urgent and far-reaching need for better awareness and expertise, there is an absence of initiatives that practically teach them. To the best of the authors‘ knowledge, this paper describes the first training of its kind used in an LF.