Dr. Mengnan Zhu, International Business and Management
Sustainable Investing
It is proven that individuals and businesses can be financially rewarded by implementing sustainable investing while contributing to positive social changes. I attended The 2023 Valley and Ridge Workshop to receive systemic training and to exchange ideas for redesigning a typical finance course. My goal is to appropriately add “sustainable” to the finance knowledge base as this trend has been changing the traditional way of business and investment. The project aims to provide a deep understanding of sustainable opportunities, what it means for participants, and how it can help improve society and the world.
One challenge in promoting sustainable investment is the complexity of assessing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. In addition, limited regulatory frameworks, inconsistent definitions, and economic trade-offs between short-term and long-term gains further hinder progress. With the comprehensive knowledge and interdisciplinary perspectives learned from the workshop, I plan to tackle some of the challenges with three specific learning objectives. The first is to think critically about how sustainability can be considered in the investment decision-making process of corporations and individual investors. Second, to analyze and evaluate the impacts of sustainable investment from the three core notions of ESG. Third, engaging in meaningful conversations and debates on tensions and challenges among stakeholders in sustainable investment practices. The pedagogical workflow follows “Build Awareness ----> Explore Tools and Methods ---> Evaluate and Refine.” Meanwhile, I am excited to incorporate new resources discovered during the workshop, including experienced/placed-based learning opportunities, hands-on case studies, and guest talks by real-world practitioners. I’m eager to implement the redesigned course, enhancing our students’ readiness to become sustainability leaders.