Abstract

Over the years a mainstream of ideas about economics, management and accounting has been established. These ideas include specific ways of understanding economics, human beings, organizations, market transactions, accounting and the framing of policy issues. This conceptual framework has been successful to some extent within the scope of its own ideas about development and progress. But ideas about progress may change over time and new challenges call for new thinking. Sustainable development in the sense of the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) sanctioned since 2015 represents such a challenge. Ecological Economics is here proposed as a response to the new challenge. Ecological Economics can actually be defined as “economics for sustainable development”. Alternative or complementary ideas about economics, individuals, organizations, market transactions, accounting and the framing of policy issues are formulated in the hope of contributing constructively to a sustainable society.