Science, professional practice and audit work: new perspectives on sustainability issues
The six-year cooperation with the University of Helsinki showed that the ability of research to challenge established ways of thinking and the practical perspective of the audit work complement each other. The international course examined global challenges to sustainability in a manner that benefited both students and representatives of the NAOF’s performance audit function.
The NAOF and the Master’s Programme in Geography at the University of Helsinki’s Faculty of Science have completed an exceptional period of cooperation in the Geographies of Inequalities master’s course.
The starting point of the long-term partnership was to examine global sustainability issues and Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in a critical manner from the perspective of geography. The key message was that solutions promoting sustainability that are considered workable do not automatically lead to fair outcomes that benefit everyone. However, global spillover effects rarely fall within the purview of auditors examining national activities. This is why the cooperation provided new insights for audit activities.
The course was particularly beneficial to the international working group on environmental auditing (INTOSAI WGEA), whose work I led during the cooperation. A student group which included exchange students also gave the multidisciplinary course a more international flavour. Their different backgrounds and experiences added to the diversity of the debate on global challenges to sustainability.
Benefits for both students and auditors
The courses included lectures, literature and group assignments, culminating in an international webinar where the students presented their work. The course themes varied from year to year, while the special theme was proposed by the international audit community. The students had an opportunity to examine real sustainability challenges, such as global impacts of mining, water issues or the role of indigenous knowledge in the governance of different countries. The auditors also suggested changing the format of the course reports: visualised and concise information in the form of infographics instead of long reports.
The National Audit Office provided the course participants with insights into the needs of today’s professional practice, giving fresh perspectives on established academic practices. From the auditors’ perspective, course-based cooperation provided an opportunity to receive inputs on new research trends and fresh student ideas, which makes it easier for auditors to identify new phenomena and risks. The cooperation also served as an opportunity to present performance auditors’ work and present the NAOF as a modern and relevant employer.
A more extensive article on the cooperation has been published in Finnish in the Terra geographical journal: Kun tiede kohtasi työelämän: kuuden vuoden kumppanuus ja opetusyhteistyö globaalista kestävyydestä (When science met professional practice: six-year partnership and teaching cooperation on global sustainability)
