Posting with consent from Christoph



Kind regards
Trevor

Note this reply is answering the question:
"Do you agree with the collated SuSanA mission statement?"

And is referring to the following version of the mission statement:

Thank you everyone for your work on the mission statement. I agree with the process Belinda suggested and the wording she, Christoph and Madeleine advocated. (Perhaps the term "model policies"" could replace "integrated policy templates"?)

Below is the version I circulated among PHLUSH members and am commenting on.

“SuSanA is an informal network dedicated to researching and promoting viable and sustainable sanitation solutions, while helping the development of best practice and integrated policy templates. It links on the ground experiences with an engaged community made up of practitioners, policy makers and academia.”

In my individual capacity as a SuSanA volunteer who helps with Working Group info tracking and editing, I think it's fine. The mission statement tells me what to look for and how to stay on task.

As for PHLUSH (Public Hygiene Lets Us Stay Human), we work in an environment as isolated as any other in the "developing world". We are all-volunteer group promoting 1) public toilet design and availability 2) ecological sanitation and 3) emergency toilets for the earthquake vulnerable Pacific Northwest. Our focus is on education, advocacy, and code change in North America. SuSanA is where we turn for much of the information that informs our actions.

We value exchanges with the SuSanA Secretariat and other members. Visit us online, join the discussion on at PortlandPHLUSH, follow us on Twitter, and sign up for newsletter. Consider submitting articles for our blog or visiting us in Portland, Oregon, USA. www.phlush.org

Posted with consent from Darren:


Kind regards
Trevor

Note this reply is answering the question:
"Do you agree with the collated SuSanA mission statement?"

And is referring to the following version of the mission statement:

Dear all,

Overall, I like it but the reference to "integrated policy templates" did strike me as needing rewording to something that put more emphasis on implementation.

Therefore, I would suggest something like :

SuSanA is an informal, INTERNATIONAL network WITH MEMBERS WHO ARE dedicated to researching and DEVELOPING viable and sustainable sanitation solutions. It links on the ground experiences with an engaged community made up of practitioners, policy makers and academia, with the aim to PROMOTE INNOVATION and best practiceS in POLICY, PROGRAMMING AND IMPLEMENTATION.

best regards,

Jonathan

Dr. Jonathan Parkinson
Programmes Manager

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Telephone: + 44 20 300 48528
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International Water Association
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I also agree with the content of the mission statement from a personal and from BOKU's view. I leave the final wording to native english speakers.
Guenter

Posted with consent from Saidi


Kind regards
Trevor

Note this reply is answering the question:
"Do you agree with the collated SuSanA mission statement?"

And is referring to the following version of the mission statement:

Posted with consent from Elke


Kind regards
Trevor

Note this reply is answering the question:
"Do you agree with the collated SuSanA mission statement?"

And is referring to the following version of the mission statement:

Posted with consent from Leif:


Kind regards
Trevor

Note this reply is answering the question:
"Do you agree with the collated SuSanA mission statement?"

And is referring to the following version of the mission statement:

Dear All

Since this Mission Statement debate began a few months ago, I always felt that there was something amiss and what should have been discussed was "Policy Guidelines for the SuSanA forum" which is a discussion of a larger scope and meaning than the Mission Statement.

What is meant here is that somebody somewhere failed to take note that we jumped the gun.What precedes any mission is a vision.And one can't go on a mission without a purpose or in other-words, objectives of the mission.

Does anyone else picture what I see? Do I have any support?

Best regards

S.Mwaniki

Dear Trevor,

Thanks a lot for guiding us through this process and for having contacted the core group members one by one and then putting everything together in the forum! Very painstaking work and very useful.

Looking over the thread, I like Jonathan's suggestion a lot - it is plain language and easy to understand without unnecessary jargon and pretentious wording. Belinda is right to point out that the English needs to be kept simple and "translatable". Sometimes, when you try to translate into French, Spanish or German you realise that you don't know what the English words really mean...

Let me just repeat Jonathan's suggestion here:
SuSanA is an informal, INTERNATIONAL network WITH MEMBERS WHO ARE dedicated to researching and DEVELOPING viable and sustainable sanitation solutions. It links on the ground experiences with an engaged community made up of practitioners, policy makers and academia, with the aim to PROMOTE INNOVATION and best practiceS in POLICY, PROGRAMMING AND IMPLEMENTATION.

Dear Steven Mwaniki,

You are right to ask where is SuSanA's vision before we talk about a mission?
Well, SuSanA does have a really important vision document for sustainable sanitation. This is the founding document of SuSanA - the one that all SuSanA partners have agreed to when they joined. So important that we translated it into several languages. Please see here:
www.susana.org/lang-en/sustainable-sanit.../267-vision-document

We also formulated a goal and objectives for SuSanA (could these be translated into a vision?), see here:
www.susana.org/lang-en/sustainable-sanit...ctives-of-the-susana

This is what is says there:
++++++++++++

+++++++++

So as you can see we have a clear vision for sustainable sanitation but not a clear vision for SuSanA! That's because SuSanA started out small and we were never that interested in "navel gazing", i.e. looking at ourselves as an organisation until now... But now that SuSanA is big and strong, some members have felt that we must have a mission as SuSanA (and maybe even become a real "organisation" one day?). I think we are close to a nice mission statement which will help us (see above). Do we also need a vision statement for SuSanA now? Not sure.

What do others think?

Regards,
Elisabeth

Dear all

I would like to draw your attention to the currently ongoing discussion on the future of SuSanA: forum.susana.org/forum/categories/10-by-...xt-5-years-of-susana

Particularly, there is a survey to collect your inputs to the SuSanA roadmap for the next five years.
The mission statement and the future roles of SuSanA, as well as the topics to focus on are also part of the survey.
I invite you all to take 5 minutes and grab this chance to give your feedback here: www.surveymonkey.com/s/SuSanA-strategy-development

Kind regards Dorothee

I agree with Jonathan and Elisabeth. In our vision statement from February 2008 it is defined:

"The overall goal of the SuSanA is to contribute to the achievement of the MDGs by promoting sanitation systems which are taking into consideration all aspects of sustainability."

and

"SuSanA is not a new organisation, but rather a loose network of organisations working along the same lines, and open to others who want to join and be active in the promotion of sustainable sanitation systems. The Sustainable Sanitation Alliance invites other international, regional and local organisations to join the network, contribute ideas, and to become active members in the thematic working groups. Feedback for the advancement of the joint road map is certainly appreciated, as it is work in progress that will be continuously updated, and will include all joint activities leading towards an increased implementation of sustainable sanitation systems."

Is this not enough to describe SuSanA's mission and roadmap for the next 5-years?

The thematic working groups need to be updated. Today, technology, policy, experience and knowledge is further developed than in 2007/2008. Policy makers (Governmental / State-owned organisations) are still underrepresented in SuSanA, same as the Southern American region.

I wish us further success and good luck, Heinz-Peter