1. Building Resilience to Climate Change
Youth
Building Resilience to Climate Change
In Vietnam

2. Population: 95 Million (50 % are females; 30-40 % youth
VIETNAM-Key facts:
Population: 95 Million (50 % are females; % youth
Income per capita: 1,900 USD/year
Life Expectancy: 76
Climate Change:
Extreme weather events increased
Higher frequency of floods, typhoons and storms, and droughts
Sea Level Rise
Higher temperature
Changing rainfalls
Challenge to Change

3. .
Youth are the
primary stakeholders of the medium-term
(5 to 50-year) future, the period when climate change will have its greatest impact.

4. But Youth are marginalized from current decisions to deal with the future impacts of climate change.
In the 1970s, development practitioners like Robert Chambers learned the importance of including main stakeholders in planning and decision-making regardless of their social, political or economic status.
These ideas became known as ‘participatory approaches’ – PRA, PLA, PME etc.
The same participatory approaches of including the main stakeholders – Youth – in climate change plans and decisions, must now be applied.

5. Youth are the best Change Agents, because:
They are motivated by strong ideals
They are willing to take risks
They have a lot of energy
They are trend-setters for others
And they are highly communicative.
But they lack power, opportunities, technical knowledge, and material resources.

6. In 2012 to 2014, the Rockefeller Foundation provided funding to an NGO, ‘Challenge to Change’, to support Youth adaptation to climate change, in three Vietnamese cities: Quy Nhon, Da Nang and Can Tho.
The programme enabled Youth aged 16 to 25 to implement their own climate change adaptation initiatives.
About 20 Youth Groups were supported to implement 12 initiatives of value up to USD 5,000 each.

7. Youth initiatives are:
Support to a vulnerable neighbourhood or community, to analyse their vulnerabilities and elaborate solutions
Research into existing ways people are adapting to climate change
Support to enhance existing community-based adaptation
Support to new adaptation/resilience initiatives
Adding value to existing government or ACCCRN climate change initiatives
Documentation of a climate issue in the city
Start-up of a longer term cooperation, network or service for urban climate change resilience

8. The programme encouraged active collaboration between government agencies and Youth Groups in the three cities.
This enabled Youth to learn about climate change initiatives, and enabled government agencies to see climate change from a new angle.

9. Here is a short video showing one of the Youth activities: research into food security of vulnerable households during flood season.
A group of students from Quy Nhon University, in the central region of Vietnam, supporting farmers to find solutions to food shortages by analysing adaptive agricultural models for growing crops during flood periods. The project collected seeds for experimentation, and selected the two to five most effective seeds for application in local flood conditions, depending on the soil, weather and flood conditions.  The project worked at several pilot areas. For example, the group identified a ‘water-fern’ which is able to grow easily in floating boxes during flood season and can be harvested in 2 to 3 days.  Successful methodologies were shared with farmers to improve their disaster management.

10. Challenge to Change

11. Youth Unions made video-documentation of their climate change initiatives. The programme provided each city Youth Union with a video camera, and provided digital film editing training.
The programme took advantage of Youth characteristics as good Change Agents and trend-setters who are highly communicative.
In this way Youth communicated their ideas and values, and other stakeholders saw climate change resilience through their eyes.

12. Key Outcomes of the programme were:
The enhancement of Youth rights to address climate change, (Rights-Based Approach), and the emergence of Youth climate champions
An understanding of climate change resilience (UCCR) through the eyes of Youth
The spread of climate change awareness through existing Youth networks using multiple media, creating conditions for community-based adaptation.

13. Youth Engagement Approach
Enhancing youth strengths
Mentoring process along the way by youth
Youth Groups and youth networks (informal and formal ones)
Team work and working skills with local people including men, women, children, elderly
Training support of write-up, problem analysis, finance/grant management, leadership, gender, advocacy and networking, CC, DRR
Engagement with scientists, politicians, NGOs, Government officers and other professional for know-how and solutions
Using media and youth communication channels
Providing finance resources for experiements
Challenge to Change

14. A new online forum for young people from around the world to share their climate change and other environmental or planet-saving projects is
Youth can add their own projects online, and the website sorts and showcases them, enabling youth to network and learn from each other.

15. Thank You
Phuong Dang
DRR/CC Consultant