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

Posting with consent from Christoph

Hi Trevor,

I agree with the mission statement except for the wording “integrated policy templates” -
This sounds a bit pretentious and like awful policy-geek talk, I would tone this down…

As Eawag we are happy that academia is specifically mentioned.

Best,

Christoph Lüthi, PhD
Senior Scientist
Eawag/Sandec

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:

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.

The following is a reply received via email, which I am posting here with Belinda's consent.

Dear Trevor,

You have 'mission impossible' trying to get agreements on one mission statement. I quickly went to see the conversations and postings on the blog and not there has been many evolutions. So I do not want to change this one!
I would suggest (personally and as UNICEF) that a few persons in SuSanA secretariat finalise it, ASAP!
Secondly, in terms of English it is good- but I would drop words like 'template' and 'engaged', as it sounds sophisticated but does not lend any itself relevance for the wider non-English audience. Keep it simple and easy to understand. Note you also have to translate it in French, Spanish and other languages!!!!!
So I agree with the mission statement in principle.
However, I have always questioned how we can remain informal but then try to formally influence policy and best practice. At some point it will need to be formalised to hold accountable/ or support organisations to meet the mission!
Thanks for taking time to include my thoughts,

Belinda

Belinda Abraham
Chief, WASH
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
No. 11, Street 75, Sangkat Sraschark, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I have received a number of replies via email, but will only post them once I have consent from the authors.

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:

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.

Dear all
Thank you all for this very interesting discussion arround the mission statement.
At SEI we sat down and looked at varios statements and we did not at this time have Dorothee statement at hand which is good statement however we want a statement where we would be able to recognize SuSanA.
We are very much in favor of the mission statement from Eawag-Sandec
“SuSanA is an information network of organizations and individuals that share a common vision of sustainable sanitation solutions.
SuSanA provides an open platform for discussion, collaboration and knowledge sharing and its working groups contributes to
international dialogues in order to encourage best practices and integrated policies in the sanitation , hygiene and water sector.”

We really beleive that the vision document is the glue that tie us together and unite us therefor it is very important to mention it. We also think that the word viable is implicit in the formulation of sustaianable sanitation so we would like to take it out from the mission statement.
All the best from the north....snow in Stockholm today
madeleine

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to developing the mission statement further. To me Dorothee's version reads quite elaborate now, and I can certainly find myself in this.

Thank you David for taking this discussion further!

Here my comments:
1) There may be a way to turn it the way that the members and partners of SuSanA are actually "dedicated to researching and promoting viable and sustainable sanitation solutions
2) Optionally, aspects on what SuSanA is offering to its members and how it works could be included. Key words are: coordination platform, working platform, sounding board or It provides a platform for discussion and interaction...

All together we would get something like:

SuSanA is an informal network of individuals and organisations dedicated to researching and promoting viable and sustainable sanitation solutions. It provides a platform for discussion and interaction, 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.

Regards,
Dorothee

Dear all, thank you to those who have contributed to this discussion. I apologise that I have not been able to get back to this subject sooner, but it has been a little busy!

When I started this process I spoke to several brand and marketing experts who suggested keeping things simple, avoid jargon and don't try to be all things to all people. Many of their ideas will be reflected in our website as it evolves over the next few months. We are a very jargon driven industry, although sometimes we don't realise this (I have tried to reduce the times I use the word 'interventions' as this is a word that is not in general usage, yet we use a lot). I like bits of what you all have written so I will do my best to come up with a collaborative next version. I am leaving for India in mid November and not back until mid-December, and at that point we may have had new suggestions that will enable further refinement.

I have gone over this several times and at the moment I think it is a bit clumsy. Let's get a broad consensus and then I can tidy up the next version.


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.


Regards, David

my take on SuSanA's mission statement - feel free to borrow - re-work - etc ...

SuSanA is an open collaborative space where on the ground experiences are linked to a deep community made up of practitioners, policy makers, and academia working to promote sustainable sanitation innovations, research, and events.

or Maybe mission statements could be 2 sentences - ?

SuSanA is a platform dedicated to promoting sustainable sanitation innovations, research, and events. It links on the ground experiences with a deep rooted engaged community made up of practitioners, policy makers, and academia.

I don't think the word "uniting" is appropriate here. This is not the "United Nations for Sanitation." I would prefer use of words like sharing and interacting.

Before refining the mission statement, I would invite attention to the title "Sustainable Sanitation Alliance" and its abbreviation "SuSanA." They appear a bit odd. I think the readers should first suggest simple title. Abbreviation will follow easily.

The purpose of sanitation solutions is to provide benefits to the people. During my nearly 40 years’ of experience in water and sanitation, I always advocate that no real benefits from sanitation solutions can be obtained, unless hygiene aspects are also involved (and, water is embedded in hygiene). And, I have the first hand experience of the issue. The title, therefore, may have some reflection of hygiene; even though, say, sanitation takes 75% share and hygiene takes 25% share, in the sanitation network.

F H Mughal

Dear SuSanA community

After some more discussion, the following refined SuSanA mission statement has been submitted via email by Conrad Thombansen (GIZ);

SuSanA is an open, user friendly network uniting practitioners, policy makers and academia around the topic of sustainable sanitation solutions and advocates for the promotion of broad access to viable sanitation services.

We look forward to receiving more input to this discussion about the mission statement of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA).

Rgds
Trevor

Dear David

Just before you wind-up on this search of 'mission statement' I reckon you may consider SuSanA as a 'hub of information exchange,education and awareness creation' and probably add 'also dissemination of this information to stakeholders in the sanitation sector'.

Thanking you

S.Mwaniki

Dear SuSanA community

We have received some feedback via email from some core group members on the mission statement which I am posting here.

Christoph Lüthi (Eawag/Sandec) responded with the following:

Eawag-Sandec would like to emphasize the best practice work that has been a focal area of many WGs:

SuSanA is an informal network of organisations and individuals that share a common vision of sustainable sanitation solutions. SuSanA provides an open platform for discussion, collaboration and knowledge sharing, and its working groups contribute to international dialogue in order to encourage best practices and integrated policies in the sanitation, hygiene and water sector.

Conrad Thombansen (GIZ) put forward the following two versions

SuSanA is an open, user friendly and visible platform uniting practitioners, policy makers and academia around the topic of sustainable sanitation solutions and can advocate for the promotion of broad access to viable sanitation services.

SuSanA is an open, user friendly and visible platform that unites practitioners, policy makers and academia and can advocate for the promotion of broad access to sustainable sanitation services.

Please encourage everyone you know in the SuSanA community to read this thread and contribute to it. As consensus building requires many voices.

Kind regards
Trevor