The importance of sustainability in the financial sector is more and more present. Banks and investment institutions recognise the importance of a diverse portfolio of environmentally and socially sustainable investments. However, how does this translate into the corporate world more generally? Dieuwertje Bosma, Manager of the Erasmus Platform for Sustainable Value Creation, discusses the new MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) developed in the field of Corporate Sustainable Finance, with the help of Rotterdam School of Management (RSM). This MOOC, set to be launched at the end of October 2024, follows the first very successful MOOC on the principles of sustainable corporate finance that was launched in 2020.
How the MOOCs were developed
The first MOOC that was developed launched in 2020, coincidentally right before all education switched to an online format because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Looking through the course offerings related to sustainable finance available on Coursera at the time, Dieuwertje was surprised to find nothing. “This made a light bulb go off in my mind. We could be the first to offer something like this. I was also aware that one of my colleagues, Dirk Schoenmaker, had just published a book on the principles of sustainable finance. When I asked if he would be interested to develop a MOOC based on his book, he agreed, and so this project started”, explains Dieuwertje.
The MOOC has since gotten over sixty thousand student registrations, with positive feedback on its content. There was a conscious choice that led to the use of a MOOC format. “A MOOC allowed us to share this information beyond our own networks. It is also a more accessible way of learning, especially for people with busy schedules, or ones that don’t want to go through a large textbook to find this information”, explains Dieuwertje.
Based on the success of the first MOOC, many students wanted to learn more about sustainable finance. Many also questioned the real-life application of the principles discussed in the first MOOC. “By this time, Dirk Schoenmaker, together with Willem Schramade, published a book about corporate sustainable finance, which looked at more diverse ways of measuring company value”, mentions Dieuwertje. This book again was the basis upon which the new MOOC was developed.
A bridge between theory and practice
As mentioned, the new MOOC has a focus on practical applications of the theory and concepts behind corporate sustainable finance. “This perfectly reflects the mission of the Erasmus Platform for Sustainable Value Creation”, says Dieuwertje. “Our platform aims to be a bridge between academia and industry. We develop many collaborations to close the gap between what is researched in academia and what is applied in several industries, including, but not limited to, the finance sector. From this desire to bridge theory and practice, the MOOC that we developed perfectly aligns with our business model.”
To make this upcoming MOOC even more applied, RSM lecturer Florian Madertoner was involved in many of the knowledge clips. “Being such an interactive and lively personality, Florian helped explain complex content in real life contexts and applications, making the MOOC much more engaging”, explains Dieuwertje.
Help from CLI and future of the project
From the beginning of this project, the Community for Learning & Innovation (CLI) has helped with guiding the process. “They helped us specify what we wanted to achieve with the project, how we wanted to do this, and what partners we needed to work with in order to make it happen”, says Dieuwertje. Moreover, throughout the project, process and progress management was provided to make sure the project was meeting its deadlines.
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