Why have a blog?
Because open discussion is the path to progress!
This blog fits in with the various consensus initiatives we take throughout the year, and provides even more open space for discussion and debate.
The initiative was first launched some 10 years ago with the set-up of a Standing Committee of 25 independent experts, Foresight Advisory Council (FAC), which brings together researchers, academics, senior officials, business managers, lawyers, members of non-governmental organisations, local authorities, and international institutions. The committee has helped us expand our field of vision and skills, understand and anticipate the expectations and needs of the local authorities and industries with which we work, but also those of civil society as a whole. Above all, it has assisted us in our decision-making based on the lessons learnt from our 15 years of work in emerging countries. The issue of consensus has been central to many discussions over the last 10 years and talks in general with a wider selection of players involved in the subject.
In an attempt to reconsider the nature of governance in our sector, and because we are conscious that the players in water services (private companies, NGOs, local authorities) are interdependent, we have invited all those who were interested to take part in debate sessions designed to reach consensus on issues or criticisms concerning us. Since 2007, these sessions have regularly brought together more than a hundred stakeholders and have enabled us to develop our view and our models of intervention.
The breakthroughs we shall be reporting on at the World Water Forum – in particular in the field of our social responsibility concerning access to water – are mainly based on this process of consensus. We hope that the Forum will enable us to make further headway in our analyses, provide greater focus for our projects and identify new progress pointers, because despite the advances that have been made, a certain number of issues still remain outstanding…
New work sessions with our stakeholders are scheduled after the forum in order to launch a new consensus cycle. Over and above the players present in Istanbul, we hope that this blog will provide an additional area for discussion, recommendations and proposals.
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