Exposing students to the potential and risks of stakeholder engagement when teaching sustainability: A classroom exercise

Abstract

In-class, stakeholder negotiation exercises are proposed as a means of students experiencing and reflecting critically on the potential and the risks of an increasingly popular mechanism for advancing sustainability—stakeholder engagement. This article reviews the theoretical framework for stakeholder engagement and for an issue-based rather than firm-centric approach to classroom stakeholder negotiation exercises. An example of a classroom exercise is given as the basis of a possible template for replicating the exercise. This assists students to recognize the potential and risks associated with stakeholder engagement at individual, organizational, and societal levels.