On September 11th 2015, the Forum “Proactive Youth in Climate Change Response in the Red River Delta” was held in the Nam Dinh Student Centre for Cinema, in Nam Dinh city. This was the official launch of the Project “Youth Innovation and Synergies for Enhancing Climate Change Adaptation in the Red River Delta” (READY).
Funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the project will run for a period of 3 years from July 2015 to May 2018 under the coordination of the Center for Marine life Conservation and Community Development (MCD), Asian Management and Development Institute (AMDI) and the Research Centre for Environment and Community (CECR)
The Forum drew attendance from:
- Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union
- Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change – Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment
- Provincial People’s Committee of Nam Dinh and Thai Binh provinces
- Nam Dinh Youth Union
- Sub-department of Natural resources and environment and Sub-department of Agriculture and Rural development in 4 provinces: Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh and Hai Phong
- District People’s Committee and District Youth Union in 4 districts: Giao Thuy (Nam Dinh), Tien Hai (Thai Binh), Kim Son (Ninh Binh) and Cat Hai (Hai Phong)
- Xuan Thuy National Park, Tien Hai Natural Reserve and Cat Ba National Park.
- Ambassador of the United State to Vietnam, US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science, as well as staff from US Embassy and USAID.
Mr. Ted Osius, US Ambassador to Vietnam is making a speech
The forum was divided into three parts: "Lighting the Fire", "Shining" and "Spreading". The forum was opened by Ms Nguyen Thu Hue, MCD CEO. Dr. Le Minh Nhat from Department of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change then presented on the serious climate change challenges in Vietnam. With recognition of youth’s critical role in CCA in the future, READY was launched to encourage innovation in the Red River Delta through capacity building, promoting youth’s creativity and enhancing their participation in decision-making process and CCA action. These ideas all appeared in the presentation by Ms. Tran Thi Hoa – CC Coordinator from MCD.
Souvenir photograph of the attendees
In the second section, attendants enjoyed a captivating play about CC threats to livelihoods of coastal residents. The play was an smooth introduction to information about READY project in an attempt to response to CC. The play was followed by speeches by Mr. Bach Ngoc Chien - Vice Chairman of Nam Dinh Provincial People’s Committee, and by Ms. Judy Garber - US Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans, Environment and Science. These speeches expressed enthusiastic political support from the Vietnam Government and the US Government to the project. The commitment of provincial governments and local youth as well as the strong experience of AMDI, MCD and CECR are key ingredients to the project’s success.
The captivating play about CC threats to livelihoods of coastal residents performed by Nam Dinh Youth Union
In the last part of the program, representatives from MCD (Ms. Ho Thi Yen Thu), AMDI (Mr Ngo Cong Chinh) and CECR (Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Ly) presented the project approach which puts youth at the centre. The youth will be the core stakeholder in CC responses. Prior to interventions in communities, AMDI will conduct a baseline survey which will be the basis for effective planning and implementation of project activities.The proposed approach to work with young people is to share knowledge, "to plan specific initiatives to address specific issues" together and to support local people in implementing such initiatives to resolve problems caused by CC.
The last activity ended with a roundtable discussion "Innovation in mobilizing the youth to participate in environment protection and CC response" which drew the participation of representatives of youth included in the project. They shared their experiences in mobilizing young people in environmental protection activities in localities and expressed a strong commitment to the project. help improve the attraction of Hanoi’s towards overseas Vietnamese.