Dr Natalie Oh’s UN SDG co-curricular program is quietly revolutionising how the next generation of leaders think about sustainability.
As an expert in banking and finance, Dr Natalie Oh knows a lot about market microstructure and emerging markets. But her greatest investment isn’t in real estate or stocks.
“It’s in people,” Natalie shares. “I think producing the right leadership for the next generation is the most important investment for the future.”
In finance, that starts with getting students to think sustainably from the get-go, says Natalie, who is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Banking and Finance, UNSW Business School.
“After the Banking Royal Commission, I wanted to ensure that the next generation of finance leaders I develop are responsible, and that, through the UN SDG Challenge, I also want to develop responsible leaders in all disciplines who make sustainable decisions.”
And it’s precisely what Natalie’s award-winning UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Challenge for First Years program has set out to do since its launch in 2020.
Embedding sustainability into construction and urban development is critical to achieving the UN’s SDGs. But sustainability is often seen as a luxury that comes at great expense and is often perceived as negatively impacting the profitability of an investment.
So how can organisations demonstrate the ethical and strategic value of sustainable development opportunities?
It’s the billion-dollar question that the 2025 industry partner MULPHA, one of Australia’s leading development and investment companies, brought to students participating in this year’s UN SDG Challenge.
MULPHA aims to address Australia’s housing affordability crisis and build its climate resilience through projects like Norwest Quarter – Australia’s first large-scale, all-electric, fossil-fuel-free residential precinct.
Now in its sixth year, the UN SDG Challenge asks participants to address live cases, while developing consulting and problem-solving skills with guidance from peers and industry mentors.
Live cases were first introduced to the program in 2023 by Natalie, to tap into students’ intrinsic motivations and highlight the real-world impact of the SDGs.
“These problems, presented by local community groups, cultivate empathy and student engagement in a way that traditional learning methods cannot. They bridge the gap between theory and practice to equip students with practical skills and an elevated sense of social responsibility.”
Previous industry partners have included Hunter Renewal (2023) and Snowy Hydro (2024), whose live cases helped shape the program’s commitment to community-led sustainability and regional development.
During the challenge, students broke into groups of three or four to develop ways to effectively articulate and position the development’s sustainability features not just as ethical choices, but as strategic value. They then pitched their solutions to a panel of judges.
“Through live cases like this, students learn how to crack a case, and develop problem solving and presentation skills in the first year. These will help them through the rest of their university journey and into their professional careers.”
Over the years, the UN SDG Challenge has grown through word of mouth from just over 100 students in its first year to more than 350 participants – including high school students – in 2025.
This is particularly impressive as the program is a co-curricular offering, requiring students to opt in driven by their own interest rather than university course credit.
Part of the program’s success is its tripartite teaching model where students learn from the live cases of community organisations, senior students and industry partners. And there’s benefits for everyone involved.
While community organisations bring real-world issues to teach students, they also walk away with new perspectives, ideas and potential solutions to their biggest challenges.
Senior student facilitators from UNSW Global Consulting Group (GCG) teach participants how to break down a problem and put a pitch together. This allows first years to engage more deeply with content, learn faster and build their confidence. The experience helps senior students develop their capacity as leaders and further refine their presentation and mentoring skills.
“Students who complete the challenge often come back in their third year to teach the program, taking their learning outcomes and sharing them with the first years,” Natalie notes.
Each year the challenge also partners with high calibre corporate organizations like Google, EY and Deloitte to form the judging panels.
“The top four teams get to pitch their ideas at the corporate partner’s office in Sydney and win one-to-one mentorship with the company. These opportunities enhance the impact of the program and facilitate valuable networking and career opportunities for students.”
Corporates get to tap into a pool of talented and passionate students and be involved in nurturing the next generation’s potential.
The UN SDG Challenge for First Years has recently been recognised as Best Project at the UNSW SDG Education Awards and was a finalist for an Engagement Australia Excellence Award in Outstanding Engagement in Student Learning.
Moving forward, Natalie wants to expand the program’s impact to also help create equity in education.
“We see many talented students from low socio-economic backgrounds join the university through programs like the Gateway Admission Pathway. I want to reach high school students from those areas and use the UN SDG Challenge to lift their interest in going to university and becoming great leaders.”
The success of the program has also made Natalie consider how she can spark her students’ intrinsic motivation to learn university course material.
“How can I inspire more students to want to learn? I want to educate them earlier in their development, so when they become leaders, they know how to think beyond their salary, commission and bonus and think more sustainably about trade-offs and stakeholders.”
Running the program is a year-long effort for the GCG and Natalie. But for Natalie, every hour invested in the challenge has a compounding effect – future leaders who understand that sustainable thinking is ethical and it’s good business. And that’s an investment we all benefit from.
Want to learn more about the UN SDG Challenge?
Filmed on Friday 20 September 2024
