The National Recovery and Resilience Plan's Push for Improving Italy's Financial Education

SUSTAINABLE FINANCE AT THE CENTER OF A PROJECT FOR GREATER SOCIAL AWARENESS OF MANAGING RESOURCES AND SAVINGS

The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) is a key junction for a renewal of the Italian economy and society. Universities are naturally called upon to play a part in this effort through involvement in some of the many projects into which the PNRR is divided. Among these, the MUSA (Multilayered Urban Sustainability Action) project involves the collaboration of Bocconi along with three other universities in Milan: Bicocca, Statale and Politecnico as well as several other stakeholders.
 
The project, following a model similar to other PNRR sections, is about creating and strengthening innovation ecosystems in areas of technological specialization consistent with the industrial and research vocations of the Milanese territory.It aims to promote and bolster collaboration between the research system, the production system and local institutions, and is divided into six self-standing units called “spokes”. Bocconi is the lead partner in Spoke 4, Economic Impact and Sustainable Finance, coordinated by Andrea Beltratti of the Department of Finance. Beltratti will present the project and related activities on 8 June, in the presence of Bocconi Rector Francesco Billari and Dean of the SDA Bocconi School of Management Stefano Caselli, among others.
 
As professor Beltratti puts it, “the push toward a greater awareness of the value of sustainable finance is connected to a longstanding weakness in Italian society, which is far behind other major European countries in terms of financial education, as seen in the PISA tests. This is all the more worrying considering that Italy, on the other hand, ranks high in the world in terms of private wealth, according to Bank of Italy surveys.”
 
To overcome this cultural limitation, it is essential to involve the school system: Andrea Beltratti himself, together with Alessia Bezzecchi (Program Director of Executive Master in Finance), is working on a training program for high school teachers. At the same time, students from Bocconi Bachelordegree programs have been filming short educational videos, and those enrolled in the Executive Master in Finance will have an “open session” on the subject.
 
Another 8 videos for the general public on the topic of asset management have already been produced, again by Andrea Beltratti, while Stefano Gatti and Francesco Saita (both from the Department of Finance) will produce a MOOC and other video materials, respectively. Andrea Dossi, of the Department of Accounting, will deal with sustainability measurement activities serving SMEs, while Claudio Tebaldi of the Department of Finance will focus on new technologies for sustainable finance (fintech) and blockchain.

by Andrea Costa