[sustran] Re: Quo vadis Sustran

[Lize Jennings]

Hello from South Africa 

 

I've been part of this discussion group for the last three years since
starting work in the field of sustainable transport (coming from an
environmental background rather than a transport background).  I've enjoyed
the discussion from other parts of the world and the experiences from other
developing countries and seeing how we can gain from what other cities have
done.  I must admit that I have been quiet about my experiences in SA, but
will endeavor to share more stories from South Africa, in particularly Cape
Town where I am based over time in increase the African voice on this group.


 

Regards

Lize 

 

Lize Jennings

Project Manager

Sustainable Energy Africa

Tel: 021 702 3622

Fax: 021 702 3625

Cell: 083 414 7384

E-mail:  <mailto:Lize at sustainable.org.za> Lize at sustainable.org.za

SEA Website:  <http://www.sustainable.org.za/> www.sustainable.org.za

Tran:SIT Website :  <http://www.sustainable.org.za/transit>
www.sustainable.org.za/transit

 

 

 

From: sustran-discuss-bounces+lize=sustainable.org.za at list.jca.apc.org
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+lize=sustainable.org.za at list.jca.apc.org] On
Behalf Of Eric Britton
Sent: 19 June 2009 12:08 PM
To: Sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
Subject: [sustran] Quo vadis Sustran

 

Dear Sustran Friends,

 

In my enthusiasm for keeping focus on the original Sustran region for the
reasons we have discussed, I decided to post a little poll to World Streets
at www.worldstreets.org , the result of which I can now report to you.  

 

Visitors were invited to indicate their preference for either (a)
Asia/Pacific (the original Sustran focus), (b) Asia only, or (c) Asia
+Africa + Latin America + Middle East. 

 

I was inwardly confident that (a) was going to win the day.

 

Wrong! Fatally wrong. We had 26 of our number who expressed their
preferences, 20 (76%) voted for (c), 5 for my favorite pony, and a grand
total of one to make us into an Asia only forum.  Blow me down.   One thing
about democracy is that it surprises. 

 

So the ayes have it, but let me have a last shot at sharing my views with
you on this. If there were one part of the world in which I would like to
focus my own networking efforts it would be Africa. But I have yet to figure
to how to do this usefully. The attached map of recent visitors coming in
today reveals a familiar pattern for the New Mobility Agenda website. The EU
area and North America are networking just fine, and while you can't see it
here, Latin America (entirely driven by Spanish and Portuguese) is
increasingly well networking as the result of some hard work by a few people
over the last several year. But poor Africa is out of touch, and not only in
this map. 

 

Here is what I think is going to happen next. The actual bulk of the
discussions will continue to focus on the original Sustran region de facto.
What we need however is to increase the level of discourse and exchange
which incidentally in the last weeks has picked up nicely. But we do need to
extend the group, and somehow need to figure out how to make that
Sustran/China handshake work. We will hear episodically from Latin America,
Europe and North America, but the main course will continue to be
Asia/Pacific.  Here by the way is the chart showing the number of postings
per month over the last decade., from 3 to 150, a fair range and a message
in itself.

 



 

To close out this note announcing my crushing defeat at your collective
hands, a word on the social quality of our Sustran family. Like all of you I
have been around a fair number of these groups, of wildly varying quality
and sociability. But Sustran is certainly the most genteel, the most gentle
of them all.

 

May we continue to get together with our ideas, news  and suggestions in
this wonderful spirit.

 

Eric

 

 

Eric Britton | World Streets  <http://www.worldstreets.org/> | The New
Mobility Agenda  <http://www.newmobility.org/>  | Paris  | +331 4326 1323 |
Skype ericbritton  

 

 

 



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