A distinctive development in accounting research is the growing interest in studying issues related to the external environment of organizations. Particularly distinctive is the explicit focus on the relationship between social trends and accounting. The central argument for this type of research is that it significantly increases the timeliness and social relevance of the research. This project, which consists of six sub-projects with varying specific research questions and objectives, focuses on a number of current societal trends - striving for/demands for sustainable development, financial crises, globalization and changes in market conditions - and relates them to equally current accounting issues - harmonization and globalization of accounting, accounting quality, integrated reporting, the link between management/governance and the effects of crises in and for organizations (especially banks) and the development/testing of methodologies/approaches for the implementation of sustainability efforts in organizations. The project does not intend to contribute new knowledge only to the research literature, but also in several respects to other accounting stakeholders, primarily standard setters and regulators (e.g. International Accounting Standards Board (IASB), EU and FAR), organizations (e.g. management and accountants) and financial market participants. The knowledge the projects are expected to generate is also highly relevant to accounting education.