“Youth for Environment” project fosters creative connections

The project's closing activity for 2020-2021 summarised and evaluated the first year of implementation while honouring sponsors, the advisory board, and individuals/partners who have accompanied the project. It also shared some of the activities that will be implemented in the next phase.

The “ Youth for Environment” project has implemented activities to increase youth participation in environmental issues

The project was initiated and implemented by the For Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF) with financial and technical support from the Earth Journalism Network (EJN) and BAC A BANK.

According to figures from the General Statistics Office in 2015-2020, youth aged 16-30 make up about 23.2 per cent of Vietnam's population, with nearly 23 million people in 2020. They make great contributions to the development of the country in all fields, including the environment. The participation of young people will promote the formation of good environmental habits and promote the sustainable development of Vietnam.

The “Youth for Environment” project of the VSF is the only Vietnamese initiative among the 13 initiatives in the Asia-Pacific region in 2020 which received sponsorship from the EJN. Implemented from February 2020, the project has carried out activities to increase youth participation in environmental issues, as well as to promote positive changes in the environmental policies of the government and businesses towards sustainable development. After one year of implementation, the project has achieved some impressive results.

The project has organised 13 activities for young people with the support of 10 media agencies, including organising six trainings and talk shows, two field trips to write about the current environmental issues, launching “Initiatives for Environment” to create a series of environmental non-profit short films, and a workshop to assess its projects.

At the workshop, independent assessor Dr. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh presented the project's results after one year of implementation, highlighting unexpected positive impacts such as attracting more than 200 young people to actively participate in environmental communication, which brought the number of beneficiaries to 7,600 people in the first year. Additionally, in April, Green Eyes Fanpage – the main communication channel of the project – has reached 3,615 followers with nearly 372,000 engagements.

The project has also mobilised support and cooperation from many prestigious social organisations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), Live & Learn, and especially the participation and sponsorship of BAC A BANK.

In its very first year, VSF has become a member of the National Coordinating Committee of Vietnam Business for Environment (VB4E).

Journalist Do Doan Hoang from Dan Viet newspaper said, “After a series of investigative articles with the participation of Green Eyes group on the hunting, trafficking, and killing of migratory wild birds, the prime minister has directed the People’s Committee of the northern port city of Haiphong to investigate and penalise lawbreakers to protect wild birds in Vietnam. This is a great success because not all articles on wildlife protection reach the attention of the prime minister. Some Green Eyes members, beyond expectation, participated in the training programme of the WCS – the second-largest conservation organisation in the world thanks to these articles.”

The second stage of the project will continue providing an environmental information channel for young people with innovative communication forms and youthful approach.

Also, the project will continue organise training sessions on environmental communication, and facilitate young people to participate in field trips with experienced journalists.

In addition, many new activities are planned such as the Plastic Talk contest to find innovative environmental communication products; Media Tour on plastic waste at universities; a contest to sponsor youth initiatives to solve environmental problems; online and offline communication campaigns; and Environment Day – a contest for environment ideas and exhibition of environmentally friendly products by university students in Hanoi.

The representative of BAC A BANK, Vu Thu Hang said, “I would like to thank the project ‘Youth for Environment’ of the VSF, the advisory board, and all partners for spreading environmental messages. BAC A BANK is very proud of selecting a programme that is truly valuable and suitable for our five pillars of sustainable development. Hopefully we will continue to accompany the 'Youth for Environment' project and other projects of the VSF to spread good values ​​to the community."

Nguyen Ba Khai, one of the core members of Green Eyes group in the first phase also said, “The 'Youth for Environment' project not only provides us with knowledge and encourages young people to protect the environment, it also helps us raise awareness, create more opportunities for us to participate in programmes and projects related to communication and environment. We would like to thank the VSF for giving us the opportunity to take part in this meaningful project, as well as thank the advisory board for guiding and supporting us during the last year. The project is part of helping our youth become more meaningful.”

“In the new stage of Green Eyes group, we hope to create more interesting content, to access new media methods to bring the project closer to young people, as well as engage in practical activities towards the environment,” added Le Minh Quan, a core member of Green Eyes group in the second phase.