The Foundation for the Fields of Teaching, Education and Training (Okka) has awarded the Kainuu Vocational College the broadest certificate for sustainable development ever given in Finland. The certificate covers the curriculum-based schooling and non-degree-based adult qualification line offered by the school.
“We have unflinchingly reviewed our daily pedagogical actions in light of the wellbeing of our staff, our students and the environment,” principal Raimo Sivonen said.
Sivonen emphasises that in the end all decisions are made on an individual basis, but that the college can affect its own actions, attitudes and the communication of its message.
“I believe that the certificate has already in itself affected our choices,” he said. “This is the fifth certificate we have been awarded, and it’s important that the different methodologies in the college all function according to the same principles.”
Certificate a trendsetter
Principal Sivonen says he believes that the newest award will help guide KAO’s operations, which have been delineated in the college’s internal operations manual.
“This is a message that we’re doing things right,” Sivonen said. “And that’s not the last of it, because our operations are checked every two years.”
The Okka Foundation has awarded their sustainable development certificate to vocational undergraduate schools and course organisers. Now, for the first time, it has added a two-way degree-inclusive and non-inclusive college to its purview.
