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Beyond Basics – Operationalizing Business & Human Rights

Strengthen your company’s due diligence backbone through practical peer learning, focusing on the real levers that drive impact in the value chain: contracts, purchasing practices, supplier collaboration, and credible remediation. 

The programme is a series of three half-day (morning) sessions for medium-advanced participant companies of UN Global Compact Finland. The series supports companies in structuring and strengthening a due diligence approach that both meets evolving regulatory expectations and reduces key sources of disruption, helping build more predictable supply chain performance. 

Through three expert-led peer learning sessions, and individual work, participants will gain a solid understanding of how to conduct meaningful due diligence in a reasonable and cost-effective way. 

The programme will be held in person in Helsinki, in English. 

Applications are open

The programme is open and free of charge to participants of UN Global Compact Finland. Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee participation, as seats are limited. The registration period is open until 24 February 2026.

 Apply now

What's the benefit?

  • Make contracts and purchasing practices work as levers for impact (not just “pass-through” compliance language).

  • Reduce disruption and the cost of non-compliance by aligning responsible purchasing practices with business reality (pricing, lead times, volume flexibility).

  • Break internal silos to create a shared understanding and vision to act effectively.

  • Take meaningful action beyond Tier 1 through risk-based methods that help focus resources where they matter most – from stakeholder engagement to collaboration with suppliers. 

  • Avoid “audit theatre” by using audits, certifications, and standards in a smarter and more targeted way. 

  • Stay up to date on key legislative frameworks (CSDDD, CSRD, FLR, EUDR, Battery Regulation) and build harmonised due diligence processes that can serve multiple requirements and support credible remediation. 

Programme structure
 

Session 1: Contracts & purchasing as levers for impact

24 March 2026

Topics will include collaboration with suppliers, including contracts and purchasing practices, shared responsibility, and purchasing practices.

Session 2: Deeper supply chain & stakeholder insight

 29 April 2026

Topics will include supply chain mapping and risk management and stakeholder engagement, including risk identification and management, supplier engagement, smart use of audits/certificates, and stakeholder engagement as a source for risk intelligence.
 

Session 3: Harmonised approaches & effective remediation

3 June 2026

Topics will include harmonized approaches and effective remediation, including key EU legal frameworks, building one harmonized approach to these, grievance mechanisms and remedial action plans, and governance from overseeing perspective.

Who is it for?

The series is designed for company representatives who already have some experience in human rights due diligence and want to go deeper. In practice, your company should have completed the UN Global Compact Business & Human Rights Accelerator or a similar basic course, have a public commitment to human rights, and have some experience in implementing the UNGPs into business. 

The programme is especially useful for those working across sustainability, legal, procurement, compliance, or human resources.

Your company should point two working-level representatives to attend sessions and to participate in programme activities.

All participants are expected to attend each of the three core sessions of the programme, with each session lasting approximately three hours. In total, participants should plan for an overall time commitment of around 15 hours, including live sessions and individual work.

This programme is open exclusively to participants of UN Global Compact Finland. 

Why now?

Expectations are increasing, from regulators, customers, and investors, while supply chain volatility, audit fatigue, and fragmented internal ownership often prevent companies from turning due diligence into something that actually works.

This series is built to help companies move from requirements to a practical operating model, and to do so together with peers facing the same challenges. 

Want to join?

The programme is open and free of charge to participants of UN Global Compact Finland. Please note that submitting an application does not guarantee participation, as seats are limited. The registration period is open until 24 February 2026.

 Apply now

Team and expertise

Dr. Juho Saloranta

Juho Saloranta (Doctor of Laws, 2024; Master of Laws, 2014) is a corporate sustainability lawyer, entrepreneur, and founder of Nexus Legal. He is also a postdoc researcher at the Jargonfree sustainable contracting research project (University of Tampere) funded by the Kone Foundation. He has extensive practical and research-based expertise in corporate sustainability regulation, particularly human rights due diligence and responsible contracting. 

Michaela Streibelt

Michaela (law degree 2011, bar exam 2015) is a leading expert in business and human rights with more than 10 years of experience in business and human rights. For the last 5 years she was the resident legal expert of the German Helpdesk on Business and Human Rights. The German Helpdesk is a German government-funded consultancy for business in business associations and supports the practical implementation of due diligence. Since 2023, Michaela has been working as European Legal Advisor for the Responsible Contracting Project. 

Daniel Schönfelder

Daniel (LLM 2014, law degree 2017, bar exam 2020) is a leading expert in business and human rights. He has served as a policy advisor during the drafting of the German Supply Chain Act (LkSG) and the EU CSDDD. His expertise lies in translating complex EU regulations on sustainability including in deep value chains- actionable legal frameworks that prioritize stakeholder protection and corporate accountability. He implemented projects on strategies and methodology for tier n HREDD both inhouse and as external advisor, including in the textile sector.  

Sophia Lawson Hellu

Sophia (M.Soc.Sc.) is a social sustainability expert with strong expertise in economic and social rights, as well as equality and non-discrimination. She has previously worked with human rights organizations. At UN Global Compact Finland, Sophia is responsible for developing and delivering content on social responsibility for Finnish companies, with a focus on human rights, equality, and non-discrimination as part of responsible business practices.

Linda Piirto

Linda (M.Soc.Sc.) is a seasoned sustainability professional with deep expertise in business and human rights, EU sustainability regulation, and anti-corruption. At UN Global Compact Finland, she is responsible for issues related to supply chains and good governance. Linda has a 15-year background in the Finnish Government, having worked on sustainable trade at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and on sustainable business at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Beyond Basics programme runs from March to June 2026. All participants are expected to attend each of the three core sessions of the programme, with each session lasting approximately three hours.

In total, participants should plan for an overall time commitment of around 15 hours, including live sessions and individual work.

The series is designed for company representatives who already have some experience in human rights due diligence and want to go deeper. In practice, your company should have completed the UN Global Compact Business & Human Rights Accelerator or a similar basic course, have a public commitment to human rights, and have some experience in implementing the UNGPs into business. 

The programme is especially useful for those working across sustainability, legal, procurement, compliance, or human resources.

Participation is free of charge. Please bear in mind that only companies committed to the UN Global Compact in Finland can join the programme. 

Your company should point two working-level representatives to attend sessions and to participate in programme activities.

The programme will be held in person in Helsinki.

Live sessions and materials will be in English.

As the world's largest voluntary corporate sustainability initiative, the UN Global Compact is driving change across all aspects of corporate sustainability.

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