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This paper presents a reflection in memory and tribute to the work and life of Professor Barbara Czarniawska (1948–2024).

We invited those colleagues whom we knew to be close to Barbara to submit reflections about her contributions to academia alongside their memories of her as a person. We present these reflections in the order we received them, and they have only been edited for minor grammatical and punctuation issues to preserve the voice of the contributing authors.

The reflections in this paper represent different translations of Barbara’s academic and theoretical contributions. However, she also contributed to people. While we can count the number of papers, books and book chapters she published, we must also count the number of co-authors, Ph.D. supervisions, visiting professorships and conference plenaries she touched. This (ac)counting tells the story of Barbara reaching out to work and interact with people, especially students and early career researchers. She touched their lives, and the publications are an artefact of a human being, not an academic stuck in an ivory tower.

A paper in Barbara Czarniawska’s honour where some of her closest colleagues can leave translations of her work through a narrative reflection, seems to be a fitting tribute.

The purpose of this study is to explore the feasibility of natural capital accounting for the purpose of strengthening sustainability claims by reporting entities. The study showed how riparian land improvement influenced ecosystem services which could be measured in the context of financial reporting. The authors tested options for incorporating natural capital concepts into financial accounting practices under existing accounting standards specifically: on the balance sheet.

A case study approach was used with an Australian water utility that has accountabilities to protect the environment, including maintaining and enhancing riparian land assets. The authors examined internal data sources, stakeholder engagement outcomes, physical assets, monetary valuation processes and financial recognition of natural capital income and assets. Natural capital income was estimated by process-based ecological modelling and ecosystem services were valued in relation to stormwater filtration and carbon storage using data from both internal and external sources.

The authors demonstrated how an environmental agency can disclose natural capital as a class of assets on the balance sheet. The authors also found that current accounting standards allow the recognition of some types of environmental assets where ecosystem services were associated with cost savings. The proof-of-concept used for asset measurement through ecosystem service modelling proved useful to strengthen sustainability claims or report financial returns on natural capital investment.

While many studies have examined environmental disclosures in voluntary reports, this study established that natural assets can be included on the balance sheet of financial statements, offering a robust approach to measuring and reporting on natural capital. It did so by applying financial accounting processes and principles to a real-world natural capital management scenario with direct participation and cooperation between the asset manager, academic researchers and a government environment agency, bridging the gap between theory and practice.