In this workshop, hosted by the Impact and Sustainable Finance Consortium (ISFFC) at Kellogg, we dive into research-based teaching of sustainable finance. The workshop is intended to be interactive and consists of three parts.
9:00 to 9:30 The Consortium
In the first part, Jaap Bos – steering committee member of the consortium – will introduce the Impact & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium, explain the benefits for members and highlight key activities.
9:30 – 10:30 Co-creating teaching materials
In sustainable finance, yesterday’s “best practice” can look obsolete by next semester. Regulations tighten, data standards evolve, and breakthrough instruments—from biodiversity credits to transition-linked derivatives—arrive in rapid succession. Traditional textbooks struggle to keep pace, but carefully crafted case studies can: they zoom in on a concrete decision point, preserve the messy context around it, and give students room to test frameworks against reality rather than theory alone. Yet even great cases age quickly in this field. That is why the most robust approach is to build them with the very people living the transition now—our current students—and then hand them forward to the next cohort. Co-creation delivers a triple win:
For today’s students: researching and authoring a case develops investigative skills, deepens technical mastery, and reveals the practical constraints executives face. The learning is active and memorable.
For faculty and institutions: cases become living course content, refreshed every term at minimal cost while showcasing the program’s thought leadership to industry partners.
For tomorrow’s learners (and the market they will enter): each new cohort begins with materials that reflect the latest policy shifts, investor expectations, and impact-measurement tools—better preparing them to steer capital toward sustainable outcomes.
In short, sustainable finance demands teaching materials that evolve as fast as the discipline itself. By inviting current students to help forge the next generation of case studies, we create a virtuous cycle of relevance, engagement, and shared ownership that benefits everyone involved. In this part of the workshop, former sustainable finance student Florian Oeschger will share his experiences in building a sustainable finance case, which is freely available. Florian Oeschger is a Consultant in Climate change and Sustainability Services at EY, combining a Master’s in International Business – Sustainable Finance from Maastricht and a Bachelor’s in Economics from St. Gallen to translate naturerelated and climate risks into clear, strategic insights for financial institutions. With deep familiarity in TNFD, CSRD, and ESRS frameworks, he partners with clients to embed biodiversity and climate considerations into investment decisions and reporting, helping organizations navigate evolving ESG regulations and build practical, future ready sustainable finance solutions through a collaborative, client focused approach.
10h30 – 11h00 Comfort Break
11h00 – 12h00 A future proof curriculum
In sustainable finance, the knowledge frontier moves as quickly as the capital it seeks to steer. Regulations morph, empirical insights multiply, and new valuation tools— from climate-scenario analytics to nature-positive accounting—surface almost monthly. Designing tomorrow’s curriculum around yesterday’s syllabus guarantees obsolescence. The antidote is convening the people who are actively pushing the boundary—top researchers—and co-creating the learning journey with them. The payoff is four-fold. First, students receive cutting-edge content on demand. Researchers live at the edge of discovery. Bringing them into the curriculum-design process means the latest peer-reviewed findings, datasets, and models are embedded in the course before they appear in journals or conferences. Students learn the state of the art, not the state of last year. Second, academics excel at uncovering causal links—how carbon pricing reshapes credit spreads or how ESG data alters risk premia. By teaming up to craft lectures, simulations, and problem sets, they can translate these insights into pedagogical building blocks that are rigorous and accessible. Third, when researchers see their ideas taught in real time, classroom discussion becomes a live lab: student questions expose gaps, while assignments stress-test assumptions. The resulting feedback feeds directly back into research agendas, creating a virtuous cycle of refinement. Finally, a curriculum stamped by leading scholars signals quality to employers, regulators, and funding bodies. It also draws guest speakers and capstone partners eager to engage with a program that reflects—and shapes—the discipline’s cutting edge. In short, co-creating the sustainable finance curriculum with top researchers transforms the classroom into the field’s nerve center: a place where discovery, debate, and dissemination happen simultaneously. The result is a learning ecosystem that stays relevant by design—preparing graduates not just to follow the market’s evolution, but to lead it.
