Home

Recommended background

The authors of this course assume that all participants are familiar with general performance auditing methods and have basic knowledge of environmental impacts caused by human activities. It is recommended to pass the course Introduction to Environmental Auditing in the Public Sector before registering for this course. Therefore, instead of explaining the basics of performance auditing, the course will focus on how to plan an audit on water-related issues. 

Course description

The aim of this MOOC is to introduce the complexity of water related topics: from the water cycle and water-related problems to regulating water management, as well as the options for auditing the environmental and sustainability impacts of water using performance audit methods. Surface and coastal water as well as groundwater are mainly in the focus of the course, with specific marine environment and biodiversity related issues excluded.

The course consists of reading material, video lectures, exercises, tests, and audit cases based on the practice of several Supreme Audit Institutions from the European Organisation of Supreme Audit Institutions (EUROSAI) region. Supreme Audit Institutions from the following countries contributed to developing the MOOC: Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, European Court of Auditors, Finland, Lithuania, Malta, North Macedonia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Turkey.

Course outcomes

Students who successfully complete the course will be able to carry out the following tasks:

• understand the importance and scale of environmental and sustainability impacts arising from water issues,
• are familiar with the legal framework of water management, 
• know the main governance tools that are used for water management,
• can draft and analyse performance audit design matrixes addressing the environmental and sustainability impacts of water issues.