Environmental accounting curriculum construction: a study from environmentally challenging site

The demand for the business to engage more into sustainability issues contributes to the increasing challenge in accounting profession to adapt to it. Yet, previous studies that deeply investigate the effort to close the accounting graduates competencies gap through relevant curriculum are limited, especially in the context of environmentally fragile regions. The purpose of this study is to deeply investigate how environmental awareness is constructed and enacted within accounting curriculum development in this context. This research design is grounded in Schatzki’s theory of practice and site ontology to guide data analysis process. North Maluku as the jurisdiction of LLDIKTI XII was selected in accordance to the research gap, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine accounting academics from six universities under within the area to discover how sustainability values are internalised and translated into pedagogical and institutional practices. The findings suggest that curriculum development operates as a living practice of collective reflection, professional dialogue, and moral engagement where educators integrate environmental awareness across ethics, management, and locally contextual modules. Moreover, professional networks emerge as dialogic practice sites where academic and professional logics converge to co-construct curriculum legitimacy. Theoretically, the study extends Schatzki’s notion of social sites by conceptualising curriculum as an evolving ecology of moral practice linking sustainability, ethics, and professional identity. Practically, it calls for institutional frameworks that promote reflective curriculum forums, collaborative networks, and sustainability-driven pedagogical rewards. Through this integration, accounting education becomes a site for developing moral agency and ecological accountability in regions facing acute environmental challenges.