SUMERNET 4 All Communications Strategy

The Sustainable Mekong Research Network (SUMERNET) is a long-term programme and regional research network to inform and influence policy development over the long-term on sustainable development in the Mekong Region. The goal of SUMERNET is to achieve sustainable development in the Mekong Region by strengthening knowledge-based policy processes.

The SUMERNET network is guided by SUMERNET Network Members (SNMs), who collectively deliberate on strategic issues that have implications for the whole network. The SNMs delegate their authority in taking strategic decisions to SUMERNET Steering Committee (SSC). The SUMERNET Secretariat, hosted at Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), provides the day-to-day management, coordination and technical support to the network under the direction of the SSC.

Towards the end of its third phase, the SSC decided to embark on a new fourth phase (2018–2023) of the SUMERNET Programme, with a strategic focus on “reducing water insecurity for all, in particular for the poor, marginalized and socially vulnerable groups of women and men in the Mekong Region”, referred to as “SUMERNET 4 All” (S4A).

Through its unique participatory approach, SUMERNET addresses the need for integrative, regional-level and transboundary analyses that compare or aggregate evidence and experiences, and feeds these directly into the policy development process. High-quality regional studies require extensive collaboration across countries. SUMERNET addresses this need by bringing together researchers with links to policy, planning and practice across the Mekong Region.

Multi-stakeholder engagement is central to all of SUMERNET’s activities. Each research project includes strategic partners and audiences, referred to as boundary partners, comprising knowledge producers, policy influencers—such as think tanks, non-governmental groups, media and advocacy groups—and policy developers and practitioners. All of these stakeholders help shape policies and development choices.

This document serves as the strategy, informing how SUMERNET will carry out its research for policy and practice and engage with policy and a wide group of stakeholders to fulfil the mission set under SUMERNET 4 All.