Overview
Through national policy that highlights raising awareness and responsibility for environmental protection, Vietnam integrates environmental education into all levels of its formal education system. The national government facilitates workshops for senior education managers to strengthen awareness and foster support for integrating EE and education for sustainable development into education policies and programs at provincial and national levels. The national mandate focuses primarily on engaging youth and teens in conservation issues, motivating public participation in environmental behaviors, and encouraging inclusive participation of political and social institutions, civil society organizations, and mass media in conservation initiatives. At the forefront of Vietnam’s current goals to increase the scope and span of environmental education throughout the country is an effort to build an online hub of environmental education experts, organizations, resources, and data to benefit researchers, practitioners, and students and disseminate Vietnam’s environmental education materials and initiatives to broader audiences.
Policy & Practice
National Legislation
Nationally, environmental education has been emphasized in important environmental legislation documents. These include Vietnam’s Law on Environmental Protection and Directive 36-CT/TW on “Strengthening Environmental Protection in the Period of Industrialization and Modernization of the Country”. The Government of Vietnam issued Resolution No. 41-NQ/TW on environmental protection in 2004. It highlights the importance of: 1) Raising awareness and responsibility for environmental protection, especially in youth and teens; 2) Developing mass participation in the movement for environmental protection; 3) Enhancing accountability and developing effective participation of political and social institutions, civil society, and mass media in environmental protection activities; 4) Detecting, expanding, developing, and disseminating advanced eco-models.
EE in K-12 Education
On December 21, 2001, the Prime Minister issued Decision No.1363/QD-TTg on “The Inclusion of Environmental Protection Contents into the Program of the National Education System”. More recently, resources and curriculum documents have been developed to support teachers in integrating environmental issues, including climate change, into their teaching. Some of these documents can be found at: http://esd.ehou.edu.vn/
Professional Development
The National Institute for Education Management (NIEM) has led orientation workshops for senior education managers from 38 provincial Departments of Education and Training. The goal of the workshops is to strengthen awareness and advocacy for integration of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) into policies and programs at national and provincial levels.
Leadership
Professional Associations
Vietnam is a member of the ASEAN Working Group on Environmental Education. The group was formed by the ASEAN Secretariat for all ASEAN Member States to annually discuss and share best practices on environmental education initiatives. The group has established EE programs for all member countries such as the ASEAN Environmental Education Action Plan, Eco-school Awards, and a Sustainable Film Festival.
EE in the National Government
The Centre for Environmental Training and Communications coordinates initiatives and programs on informal environmental education and extracurricular activities related to environmental protection for students and teens.
National EE Campaigns and Funding
EE initiatives in Vietnam are funded by government grants, fundraising from public and private sectors, and non-governmental organizations.