Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate critically the outcomes of a research project involving collaboration with an irrigation company seeking to improve outcomes from its triple bottom line (TBL) reporting process. Given the imminent basin‐wide crisis within which the organisation operates due to unsustainable over‐allocation of water for irrigation, the paper aims to offer insights from this context as a microcosm of the global sustainability crisis.Design/methodology/approach: The paper is based on action research with a case study organisation. Organisational learning theory is used to assess the quality and depth of learning that occurred in terms of the prospects for the radical changes needed to retreat from ongoing unsustainable water resource management practices.Findings: The organisation's failure to link past learnings with future strategising undermined the potential for TBL reporting to develop into an iterative learning cycle that can effect change. While “small wins” were achieved, these need to be seen as part of a broader paradigmatic change movement if they are to result in enhanced sustainability.Originality/value: The paper is based on a case study that builds from the authors' review of the literature that identifies ways to improve the process of reporting rather than focusing on report content alone. The case study benefited from substantial access and interaction with the organisation's internal stakeholders and offers new insights about how to improve the process of TBL reporting that builds on theoretical and experiential perspectives of other critical researchers undertaking field‐based engagement research.

Natural resource management (NRM) organizations are increasingly looking to resilience thinking to provide insights into how social and environmental systems interact and to identify points of intervention. Drawing on complex systems analysis, resilience thinking emphasizes that landscapes constantly change from social and ecological interactions, and focuses NRM planners’ attention on identifying key variables, feedbacks, and thresholds that can help improve intervention strategies. More deliberative approaches are being developed to use resilience thinking in ways that engage and build human capacity for action. This article documents experiences shared with NRM agencies in rural Australia as we developed new approaches to link resilience thinking with collective learning principles. We present an emerging framework through which heuristics associated with resilience thinking is being used as part of a planning-by-doing process. The framework is being tested to assess whether and how it can enable change agents to advance their capacities for adaptation and transformation.

This paper presents an evaluation framework that aims to improve the outcomes of triple bottom line (TBL) reporting. Currently, most assessments of TBL reporting focus on report content. Our view is that effective evaluation of TBL reporting should go beyond reports as the outputs of a process and focus on what is being learned through the process, the capacity- and relationship-building that might eventuate, and how this impacts on the development of sustainability. To enable more effective reflection of TBL reporting processes, we developed a set of evaluation criteria focused on the process of reporting. These criteria were identified from case studies of social, environmental and/or sustainability reporting processes documented in the literature. A large number of potential criteria were synthesised into three desired outcomes of TBL reporting and 10 prompts for discussion and reflection during evaluation. This evaluation framework should assist those dedicated to challenging assumptions that inhibit progress towards a sustainable future for society.