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The Viet Nam National Committee for the DESD
has also supported many workshops and training
activities to enhance knowledge surrounding ESD and
share experiences from other countries to Vietnamese
educational institutions. A youth forum, Youth and
Sustainable Development 2010, has been organized
by a local non-profit organization to promote the
pioneering role of younger generations in sustainable
development.
However, the first five years of ESD have also faced
many challenges from the education system. Despite the
progress in education, the system is still burdened with
problems such as dated teaching methods and heavy
content. Integration of ESD and environmental educa-
tion content into school curriculum has proved to be
difficult due to the overloaded curricula. ESD content
brings in new knowledge but awareness and behav-
ioural changes have been slow to come. The lack of a
clear roadmap for integration creates difficulties when
integrating ESD into education programmes.
The second National Action Plan for ESD
Based on the experience in the first five years of ESD in
Viet Nam, the Bonn Declaration on ESD and Viet Nam
Agenda 21, a new National Action Plan for ESD in Viet
Nam (2010-2014) has been formulated. The overall
task is to accelerate ESD initiatives and programmes,
mobilizing resources to initiate the transformation
in lifestyles. The main components of the new action
plan are teaching and learning for a sustainable future
through coordination and cooperation; capacity-build-
ing and training; research and innovation; and ICT and
monitoring.
The new action plan aims to: improve the recogni-
tion of ESD as a basis for sustainable development;
transform sustainable awareness into concrete actions;
integrate sustainability into certain aspects of educa-
tion for a sustainable, equitable and civilized society;
enhance the coordination and cooperation between
partners for ESD, and link ESD and Education For All,
the Millennium Development Goals, Learning Society
and Vocational Education For All.
The new actions to be taken in the coming years
include:
• Integration of ESD into formal and non-formal
education programmes
• Capacity-building and training activities
• Propaganda for raising awareness about ESD for all
individuals, organizations and agencies
• Improving non-formal education
• Mobilizing the participation of social organizations
and businesses
• Improving local and international coordination and
cooperation.
One of the focuses of ESD in the years to come will
be climate change and its impact on Viet Nam, as
it has been recognized that Viet Nam will be one of
the countries that will be hardest hit by potential
Minister. This is a step towards enhancing specialized capa-
bilities for sustainable development. The National Sustainable
Development Council was reorganized in 2009 to cover ESD as
a permanent part of its activities.
6
The former Viet Nam National
Committee for the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development (DESD) was designated as one of the four special
committees assisting the National Sustainable Development
Council. The members of the Viet Nam National Committee for
the DESD include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry
of Education and Training, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and
Tourism, the Ministry of Information and Communication, the
Ministry of Resources and Environment, the Viet Nam Academy
of Social Sciences, the Viet Nam Academy of Sciences and
Technologies and the Viet Nam National UNESCO Commission.
ESD in Viet Nam
The first National Action Plan for ESD
In line with the United Nations initiative on the DESD, a Viet Nam
National Committee for the DESD has been established.
7
Under the
umbrella of this national committee, the National Action Plan for
the DESD (2005-2014) has been prepared. It focuses on orientation
and vision development; contribution and mastering; coordination
and cooperation; capacity-building and training; research and inno-
vation; ICT; and monitoring and evaluation.
In the first five years, the main activities were the raising of
awareness, piloting of initiatives and projects for new linkages. The
capacity of the participating agencies and organizations has been
improved and ESD has been introduced into many non-formal
educational activities throughout the country and has now become
part of the Education For All campaign in Viet Nam.
School education programmes have been enriched with elements
of ESD. National policies and actions have been introduced into
school curriculum such as gender equity, children’s rights, HIV/
AIDS, environmental protection and livelihood development. At
national level, the research cooperation and capacity-building
network has been expanded, providing the required knowledge
and qualified manpower to agencies and organizations working
on ESD, as well as environmental protection. At a local level,
diverse educational activities in and out of school have brought in
the necessary knowledge and skills to solve socio-economic local
issues. ESD has actively helped to solve developmental issues and
contributed to the goals of education.
Under the framework of the first National Action Plan, many
activities have been carried out, such as cooperation between Viet
Nam Man and Biosphere and the Viet Nam Agenda 21 Office in
devising sustainable development models for the development of
biosphere reserves in Viet Nam and funding agreements with the
private sector for sustainable development and ESD activities.
In collaboration with UNESCO, a forum for partners in ESD
has been established as a vehicle to share information among
ESD partners. The UNESCO guide on teaching and learning
about sustainable development is being translated and adapted
to Vietnamese conditions as a supporting material for teacher
training. Many of the teacher trainers have been sent to work-
shops to enhance their knowledge and skills in ESD. High-level
educational managers are also placed in orientation workshops
to learn about ESD, from which awareness about integration of
ESD into educational programmes will be eased and facilitated
for these managers.