Our project
Motivation:
In the light of the EU Commission Action Plan: Financing Sustainable Growth and the focus of the German Council for Sustainable Financing on sustainable financial education, our project seeks to address the critical need for education in the field of sustainable financing. With the growing awareness of climate change and sustainable finance, individuals and organizations need to understand and commit to the principles and methods of sustainable finance.
Goals:
Our project has several key goals. First, we aim to conduct a survey to collect data on perceptions and current levels of sustainable financial literacy and identify areas to improve. In addition, we plan to develop and implement a comprehensive, cross-faculty curriculum on sustainable finance. The curriculum will cover topics such as sustainable investing, green bonds, and social responsibility in finance. To evaluate the effectiveness of our curriculum and identify areas for improvement, we intend to conduct an assessment of sustainable finance literacy.
Expected outcomes:
The expected outcomes of our project include a peer-reviewed publication that contributes to the academic discourse on financial literacy, a comprehensive curriculum that can be integrated into educational programs worldwide, and a tool to assess financial literacy. In addition, we will produce a policy brief that summarizes our analysis and provides actionable recommendations for decision makers.
Innovative aspects:
The project has a specific focus on the rapidly growing field of financial literacy for sustainable development and addresses a critical and growing need. By collaborating with experts in finance, economics, education, and psychology, we are taking an interdisciplinary approach that enriches the curriculum. To facilitate adoption by institutions, our curriculum is designed to be easily integrated into existing educational programs.
Complementarity and synergies:
The project benefits from the combined expertise of Liechtenstein University, Kassel University, and Luxembourg University. By promoting cross-border cooperation and cultural diversity, this collaboration increases the impact and reach of the project. Besides addressing societal challenges, our project enhances learners' employability in sustainable finance and promotes lifelong learning.
European added value:
Through the promotion of cooperation between European countries, our project ensures a diverse, inclusive and comprehensive approach to sustainable finance education. The results of the project will be widely disseminated and will have an impact on the promotion of financial literacy in Europe and beyond. The aim of our initiative is to provide students and educators with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to a more sustainable financial system and, ultimately, to a sustainable future for all.
Results
Sustainable Finance Cross-Faculty Curriculum
The Sustainable Finance Cross-Faculty Curriculum was developed as part of the Erasmus+ project Student Literacy in Sustainable Finance. It is designed for students from diverse academic backgrounds and does not require prior training in economics or finance.
The curriculum guides students progressively from essential financial concepts to the understanding and critical evaluation of sustainable finance, ESG information, sustainable investment products, greenwashing risks, and personal investment decisions.
It consists of:
a preparatory Finance Onboarding;
four thematic modules;
sixteen lecture units;
accompanying teaching and learning materials.
The materials can be used as a complete curriculum or integrated individually into existing courses, seminars, workshops, blended-learning formats, or self-study activities.
Curriculum Structure
High-Level Curriculum
The High-Level Curriculum provides an overview of the curriculum objective, learning progression, Finance Onboarding, and the four thematic modules.
Download High-Level Cross-Faculty Curriculum
Finance Onboarding
The onboarding component introduces the essential financial concepts and terminology required to work with the curriculum, including risk and return, diversification, liquidity, investment horizons, costs, asset classes, financial markets, and product documents.
Module 1: An Introduction to Sustainable Finance
This module introduces the foundations of sustainable finance, ESG, the Sustainable Development Goals, the main actors in sustainable finance, and key debates concerning objectives, materiality, and credibility.
Available materials:
Module 2: Investment Approaches, Product Types, and Sustainability Profiles
This module examines sustainability-related investment approaches, primary and secondary markets, channels of influence on the real economy, financial product types, costs, and the return–impact spectrum.
Available materials:
Module 3: Sustainability Evaluation — ESG Ratings and Greenwashing
This module focuses on sustainability assessment, ESG measurement, differences between ESG rating providers, and the identification and critical evaluation of greenwashing and sustainability claims.
Available materials:
Module 4: Making and Reflecting on Sustainable Investment Decisions
This module brings together the knowledge developed in the previous modules. Students reflect on their financial situation, investor profile, sustainability preferences, product evidence, suitability, and behavioural biases before making and justifying an investment decision.
Available materials:
Expert Review and Feedback
To support the quality assurance and further development of the curriculum, a structured expert review was conducted. Experts and professionals from academia, practice, and education were invited to assess the clarity, completeness, interdisciplinarity, didactic suitability, practical relevance, and feasibility of the curriculum.
The expert questionnaire was accompanied by a detailed annex containing the Finance Onboarding and the lecture materials for the four modules. The feedback received was used to review and refine the curriculum and to identify opportunities for its future implementation and development.
Language and Use
All curriculum materials are available in English to support their use across different faculties, institutions, and countries. The materials may contain references or links to external publications, regulatory documents, financial product information, and other third-party sources. Please refer to the individual documents for the relevant source and copyright information.
Sustainable Finance Literacy Assessment Tool
As part of Work Package 4, the University of Luxembourg led the development of a Sustainable Finance Literacy Evaluation Tool, with regular feedback from the University of Kassel and the University of Liechtenstein.
The tool is based on selected questions and survey data from the Sustainable Finance Literacy Survey developed in Work Package 2. It was implemented as a computerised adaptive assessment in RStudio and is designed to estimate participants’ sustainable finance literacy. The selection of questions is adapted during the assessment based on the participant’s previous responses.
The current version contains a limited item bank and should be understood as a first step and reusable template for future development. Additional questions can be added in future projects to improve the precision and scope of the assessment. The tool was tested by students and can be used by anyone with R and RStudio installed.
Detailed information on the methodology, installation, use, and current limitations is provided in the accompanying documentation.