TALLINN, 10 October 2014 – On 5-9 October, the Estonian SAI organised and the Lithuanian SAI hosted the 12th annual meeting of the EUROSAI Working Group on Environmental Auditing (WGEA) in Vilnius which was the first meeting chaired by the new chair of the Working Group.
The meeting was preceded by a one-day training course on auditing the environmental impact of infrastructure which was conducted by the National Audit Office (NAO) of Estonia (Audit Manager Kaire Kuldpere, Senior Auditor Matis Mägi, and Head of International Relations Service and EUROSAI WGEA Secretariat Tuuli Rasso) in coordination with the representative of the British SAI. The course provided an overview of important lessons learned from past audits and the employed methods. The annual meeting was followed by the meeting of the WGEA Steering Committee.
The meeting was opened by Auditor General Alar Karis as the new chair of the EUROSAI WGEA: The main topics included auditing of biological diversity and using research data in environmental audits. The keynote speakers at the discussion on biological diversity were Nicolas Bertrand from the UNEP and Žymantas Morkvėnas from the Baltic Environmental Forum Lithuania. Bertrand addressed the importance and economic value of biodiversity and presented relevant studies. Morkvėnas focused on mechanisms for nature protection and their implementation in Europe. The NAO was represented by Matis Mägi who spoke about the difficulties in managing and protecting semi-natural biotic communities.
The lead speakers at the discussion on using research data were Natalija Bryžachina from the Lithuanian SAI and Age Poom from the University of Tartu. Bryžachina provided an overview of the fundamentals and major risks of using research and surveys whereas Poom spoke about mobile positioning as an alternative research method and the possibilities of using this method in audits. Auditor Alar Jürgenson talked about experience gained from using experts in environmental audits, and Krislin Kivi, an adviser at the EUROSAI WGEA Secretariat, outlined NAO's experience in collecting data by way of surveys. Auditor Kaire Kesküla led one of three parallel sessions. The third day of the meeting was focused on progress made by the Working Group, future perspectives, cooperation in the field of audits, and strengthening the network of environmental auditors. Tuuli Rasso talked about the most recent activities and future plans of EUROSAI WGEA, presented the new strategy for 2015-2017, and introduced the new Steering Committee. Krislin Kivi presented to the participants the results of the annual survey conducted among the members of the Working Group.
Toomas Mattson
Head of Communication Service, National Audit Office
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Posted:
10/10/2014 12:00 AM
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Last Update:
4/14/2016 2:52 PM
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Last Review:
4/14/2016 2:52 PM