Our strategy

The Martha Organisation strategy

Agreed at the Martha Association annual general meeting on April 27, 2019

The Marthas’ mission statement

The Marthas are a home economics advisory organisation advocating for sustainable everyday life and wellbeing at home and for all families. The Marthas embody will to action. The Marthas’ activities build up skills for the future and promote lifelong learning. Joining in in our activities will enable anyone to discover and learn skills and to develop abilities that will enrich their everyday life. Wellbeing at home frees up human capacity and allows focusing on things that give added meaning to one’s life.

This strategy steers the Marthas into the 2030’s and ensures that we may celebrate our 130th anniversary in 2029 more influential and popular than ever. We will be active and dynamic throughout Finland, working to ensure that everyday skills are passed on from one generation to the next. We will be vocal in promoting sustainable and equitable practices in everyday life. We will advocate for equality and for equal rights in Finland and internationally.

In the Marthas, professionals and members, the marthas, work side by side. This strategy is shared and upheld by all marthas, Martha local clubs, Martha district associations, and the Martha Association. We cordially invite all our partners and everyone in Finland to join us in promoting these aims.

Changing world, evolving Marthas

The foundation of the Marthas’ strategy is predictive planning for the future, and all marthas and our partners are invited to join in in this work. The future cannot be foretold, but we can tool ourselves for it. Accordingly, our predictive planning focuses on the likeliest outcomes. The Marthas’ strategy considers the following future events:

  • Climate change and the ensuing extreme weather events and human displacement.
  • Fragmentation of democracy and the civil society, transformation of communality. Traditional ways of influencing and ways of cooperating can no longer be taken as read.
  • Diversification of the society due to aging population and increasing immigration.
  • Technological development and digitalisation. New technologies will shape the ways of connecting with one another.
  • Urbanisation and depopulation in 60 per cent of Finnish municipalities.

Aim:
Everyday wellbeing is possible for everyone.

Fundamental mission:
The Marthas promote workable and sustainable everyday practices for all households and families.

Values

Joy in working together

The Marthas are a courageous and strong community for doing and learning things together. The Marthas change the world by doing small things in a big way. Being a martha is fun!

Sustainable choices

The Marthas’ work is based on making sustainable environmental, economic, and health choices.

Openness

Anyone can be a martha. Our advice and know-how are available for all. We welcome everyone to join us.

Our promise: The Marthas act today, for tomorrow

Tomorrow’s everyday life is built on action we take today. We acknowledge the finite nature global resources and the necessity of sustainable consumption. We emphasise practical and influential choices in all our work. The Marthas work to effect change.

Strategic aim: The Marthas are an expert organisation for carbon neutral households, foods, and sustainable consumption. By 2045, living in Finland is carbon neutral.

Strategy:

  • Our knowledge and skills are sought after and utilised. We will build up our capacity further through recruitment, training, and knowledge gathering.
  • Carbon neutral households are made up of concrete and effective solutions for resource wisdom, energy saving, food, sorting and recycling, repairing, reusing, and sharing as well as for the use of new technologies.
  • Every martha serves as an ambassador for sustainable practical solutions and enables change in the realm of everyday choices.
  • The Marthas work in sustainable and resource wise ways at every organisational level.

Strategic aim:

  • The Martas provide capacity for preparedness for large-scale disruptions and extreme weather events. The Marthas act to contribute to societal resiliency and safety.

Strategy:

  • The Marthas will strengthen their contribution to societal resiliency, enhance their competency in everyday skills and in preparedness for disruptions and aberrant events.
  • The Marthas share information and provide training on preparedness and stockpiling.

Our promise: Marthas connect and enable connections

Connecting with people enables and supports the work of recognising the limits of our planet and promoting moderate consumption. The Marthas are a force for good for me, for us, for our community, and for our planet.

Strategic aim:

  • Increasing numbers of people act in line with the Marthas’ aims and values and for sustainable climate actions and moderation.

Strategy:

  • The Marthas facilitate diverse, impactful, and substance-led connections between people. There are many ways of being a martha. The local clubs provide the platform for outreach.
  • We will foster new, shorter, or longer-term, ways of acting alongside, and with, marthas. Spread across the country, the Marthas are near.

Our promise: To Marthas, all are equal

We will empower and support everyone to achieve everyday wellbeing. We will promote equality and parity.

Strategic aim:

  • We are a leading proponent of equitable everyday wellbeing for all.

Strategy:

  • With efficient advice and services provision, we will help especially those in need of assistance, and address social stratification.

Strategic aim:

  • The Marthas are for anyone and everyone.

Strategy:

  • We will promote equality and parity.
  • We will enable experiences of agency, of acting together, and of belonging to a community for anyone, regardless of their age, gender, or background.
  • For the Marthas, human agency is key. We will strengthen equality in our work and demonstrate this in our communications.