ACCCRN Vietnam - I-S-E-T.org

The first global initiative to support urban areas in building climate resilience.

The Program

2008 – 2018

Geographic scope:

Can Tho, Vietnam
Da Nang, Vietnam
Quy Nhon, Vietnam

Partners: Rockefeller Foundation, ARUP, Challenge to Change, Vietnam National Institute for Science and Technology Policy

Funder: The Rockefeller Foundation

Monitoring, Evaluation + Learning (MEL)

Program Design + Implementation

Resilience Tools + Frameworks

Applied Research

Technical Consultancies

Overview

The Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) program in Vietnam introduced the concept of climate change resilience to city and provincial Vietnamese governments and developed practical tools and methods that integrated resilience concepts into local planning.

In addition to oversight and coordination of multiple city-level ACCCRN projects, the ISET Vietnam office collaborated with several key national ministries — including the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment — to build their awareness of and capacity for resilience thinking and influence the national DRR and CCA policy landscape. ISET-Vietnam’s policy work built on local-level innovations to promote best practices in urban resilience planning, and to strengthen national policies for climate action planning, urban infrastructure planning, and disaster risk reduction.

Over the 11 year lifespan of the project, ISET delivered over 15 million dollars of resilience projects, providing both financial oversight and technical support.

What we delivered

Technical support for urban climate vulnerability assessments, the development of climate action plans and priority climate resilience intervention projects, and the implementation of resilience and risk reduction projects.
Training on urban vulnerability and risk assessment, economic analysis of climate adaptation investment, scenario planning, shared learning dialogues, and climate action planning and integration.
Evidence-based policy addressing urban planning for resilience and sustainability, integrated planning for climate action, disaster risk management, and cross-boundary water management.
Research and tools for addressing urban climate resilience, cost-benefit analysis of climate adaptation and risk reduction, water resource planning, and disaster risk reduction in urban contexts.

Key outcomes/results

Working with the Da Nang Women’s Union, established a revolving loan fund for strengthening or constructing storm resistant houses for poor and near-poor households. This included technical support and training on climate change, urban DRR, credit management, financial monitoring, and construction techniques. The technical robustness of the housing designs was tested by typhoon Nari in 2013, which left all 244 of the project homes undamaged. This project won a Lighthouse Award from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) for innovation in climate resilience in 2014.
Established a Vietnam Community of Practice for Urban Climate Resilience (UCR-COP), supported operations, and facilitated convenings for seven years, from 2011 to 2018. The UCR-COP offered a forum for urban practitioners to share and learn, promoted urban resilience practice, and supported the integration of resilience thinking into national policies. At its peak, the COP was a 400 strong community with a quarterly newsletter, four in-person events a year, and an established website.
Professional training for urban planners and architects to build a national cadre of informed professionals who can integrate climate adaptation into their work. Trainings were developed and conducted in collaboration with the Vietnam Urban Planning and Development Association and delivered to young and future urban planners and architects at six different universities. Most of the universities subsequently incorporated modules and related training materials from the project into their standard curriculum.
Hydrological modeling and urban flood analysis in Da Nang and Binh Dinh. In 2013, partly as a result of these studies, both Da Nang city and Binh Dinh province modified their urban master plans to widen floodway channels and adjust development plans in floodplains to reduce future flood risk.
Climate change related dengue research and prevention in Can Tho. The project established a clear link between climate-change driven increases in humidity and precipitation and increased dengue risk, and established health clubs to monitor preventive action at the household level and provide a link between households and health officials for preventing dengue fever outbreaks. Cases of dengue fever were reduced in the target wards in 2014 and 2015, following project activities.