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Earlier this month, the ISET team, in collaboration with the Hue University of Economics, conducted a rapid assessment survey to examine the efficiency of storm-resilient houses to the resilience of households and communities. The assessment consisted of two focus group discussions (FGD), 15 participants per group, and six in-depth household interviews, focusing on two climate-exposed wards of Da Nang City, Vinh Trung and Hoa Minh, where the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) has supported poor households for their housing improvement through the Women’s Union channel. The FGDs saw the participation of a wide range of local stakeholders, from the ward people’s committee leadership board, cadastral (land) unit, and fatherland front committee, to women’s union, quarter heads, local builders and beneficiary households. Geographically, Hoa Minh belongs to Lien Chieu District and is next to the sea while Vinh Trung, belonging to Thanh Khe District, is located more inland and closer to the city center. Proportion of poor households in Hoa Minh is higher than in Vinh Trung and nearly 70 % land of Hoa Minh is used for relocation/resettlement purposes while most of residential land in Thanh Khe is the long-standing existing residential areas. Due to being located near the sea, many households in Hoa Minh are highly exposed to typhoon and storm surge and make housing of the poor in Hoa Minh, in general, more vulnerable to climate hazards compared to their counterparts in Vinh Trung. Above: Location of Hoa Minh Ward (left) and Vinh Trung Ward (right) in Da Nang City. Source: Google Maps It was found that there is a difference between the governmental and non-governmental housing projects in Da Nang in terms of building safe homes for the poor. In the governmental projects, it is usually not flexible in reusing old elements or materials for newly built houses. This makes the governmental housing projects not attractive to low income people even the amount of grant is higher than other projects such as the NDF project (50 million compared to 30 million VND). In the NDF project, people may reuse the old items (e.g. existing foundation blocks or roof frames) if they are still in good quality to reduce construction cost and minimize their cash contribution, an important aspect to enable and motivate poor households to improve their home. On the other side, if the house is required for new construction, all old materials and elements are not allowed to use in the new house. Therefore, as affirmed by FGD participants, regardless of the amount of grant/subsidy, the attractiveness of housing projects for the poor is also dependent on the flexibility in considering and reusing old materials/elements to reduce construction cost. The important point here is to identify which existing materials or elements can be reused. The FGD in Vinh Trung shows that there is a policy issued by the Thanh Khe district government in 2016 in which poor households are likely to receive free assistance from the district-level urban management department and ward-level cadastral (land) unit in preparing housing design drawing files for applying building permit. Cost of applying building permit may be also exempted for the poor if they are assessed to be extremely difficult without financial capacity, as said by the ward-level cadastral unit representative. It is a good policy to support the poor in improving their homes. However, this policy has been unknown to Women’s Union so that this resource was not mobilized in the NDF project where part of beneficiary households is the poor. Meanwhile, this policy has not been initiated in Lien Chieu District, as deduced from the FGD in Hoa Minh. Above: Focus group discussion in Vinh Trung Ward, Thanh Khe District, Da Nang. Source: ISET-Vietnam The above finding indicates that some districts in Da Nang have released good policies to support the poor in upgrading their homes and escaping from poverty. However, the issue of information exchange and sharing at the local levels, particularly amongst local administrative units, are not really effective so that such resources are unknown and, then, unused in recent low-income resilient housing projects. In cases that this resource was utilized, the cost of technical support per household would be reduced and, therefore, the project has more financial resource to invest in other necessary purposes, such as extending the grant size for household, adding more safety-related measures, or purchasing risk/damage insurance. This reduced cost is also significant to safe housing microfinance programs for the poor and low income if preferential credit schemes are initiated in combination with technical assistance. In previous housing projects for the poor, information/guidelines for housing design were usually disseminated to in-need households through quarter heads and local mass organizations such as Women’s Union. In most cases, safety-related measures are encouraged but not required to follow in housing construction. This makes housing of the poor in these two wards particularly and in Da Nang generally still at-risk to future climate hazards. As recommended by the FGD participants, there should be a requirement of using safety-related measures housing construction when financially supporting the poor to ensure that their rebuilt/renovated houses are resilient to the future climate. As said by the homeowners interviewed, there have been not many houses of the poor in their neighborhood built with the inclusion of safety-related measures (i.e. storm shelter inclusion, wall and roof consolidation elements). Explained by them, it is mainly because of lacking fixed technical requirements right from the beginning, lacking easy-to-understand and locally applicable technical guidelines, and lack of specific mechanisms for construction monitoring and quality control during the construction process. The NDF project is the only one project up to now requiring the compulsory use of safety-related standards in housing construction in Thanh Khe District. This is the feature that makes the NDF project different from previous housing projects for the poor within the district area. In previous housing programs, financial aspects were paid more attention than technical ones, even in the areas prone to climate hazards (i.e. typhoon, flood), as said by the district WU representative. In the six surveyed houses built by the NDF project for climate resilience, the most common technical principles used for these houses is (1) the construction of a ‘storm shelter’ by upgrading an existing room inside the house (figure 4), (2) the wall reinforcement by adding reinforced concrete posts and beams inside walls, and (3) the roof protection by anchoring roof frames to the walls underneath and roof covers to roof frames. Within the inclusion of these elements, it generally generates an increase of 15-25% of total construction cost, as stated by the interviewed homeowners. Affirmed by them, these technical principles are easy to understand by local masons and, thus, easy to be incorporated in housing construction if they are trained and advised how to apply in practice. Above: Outside and inside of one surveyed house. Source: ISET-Vietnam It was also found that there is a portion of poor population in Da Nang who has no formal land document, locally known as the red book (sổ đỏ). This will affect the work of building permit application before undertaking housing construction or renovation. In regulation, building permit is only granted to the land that have the red book. However, there is a flexibility in the building permit granting process to help the poor households without red book be able to get building permit. Specifically, the ward cadastral unit will check the legality of their land, whether its location is conformed to the city/district’s current planning, and grant a written agreement letter to confirm the residential status of the land for reporting to the district urban management department, the body granting building permit. This department will base on this letter to grant building permit for the poor households who have no red book. The support from local governments for the poor is also spreading to other works relating to construction activities. Housing of the poor living in the central business districts such as Thanh Khe is usually located in densely constructed areas with narrow lanes/alleys and the transportation of materials to the site is quite difficult and easy to disturb neighboring households. In some cases, the ward urban rule team, locally called “đội quy tắc đô thị”, will check construction activities and if the transportation of materials affects the public, the household will be fined or, more heavily, stop the construction. However, for the poor groups, the local authority had worked with these urban rule teams to ask their assistance in allowing the construction of poor people’s houses. In addition, the ward fatherland front committee also works with local material shops (e.g. steel, cement, brick sellers)[1] to ask them to offer a cheaper cost for poor people’s housing construction. In most cases, local material shops are willing to offer a lower price than the market price for this group, as said by one ward authority representative. Also, if any poor households want to develop economy alongside housing improvement, the ward authority will work with the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies to ask them to offer preferential loans for people’s livelihood/economic development. The fundamental motto in helping the poor is “to provide them with the fishing-rod rather than fish-product”, as highlighted by Dr Phong Tran, Technical Lead of ISET. Above: Household interview in Hoa Minh Ward, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang on April 4, 2018. Source: ISET-Vietnam The household interviews saw the strong engagement of family members, family’s relatives, and friends in housing construction work. 5 out of 6 houses visited received a ‘free’ labor contribution from the owners’ brothers, sons and relatives and, thus, help reduce the labor cost significantly. All the surveyed households feel more secure in next rainy and stormy seasons since they have a safer home to live and protect their family. Thanks to having a better/more durable accommodation, the family members (e.g. sons, daughters) who have worked in other cities/provinces have sent money back to support their parents in purchasing more valuable items such as TV, computer, fridge, or kitchen appliances. It can be claimed that the overall target of housing support for the poor is not only the provision of the house itself but also the facilitation/enabling of other forms of assistance to fully help the family escape from poverty, improve living conditions and reach a sustainable development. In short, this assessment survey has indicated that, helping the poor in housing improvement is a multi-dimensional approach in which financial support should be incorporated with technical and institutional assistances to fully support them in building climate-resilient houses and, more importantly, sustaining their savings/investment for other wellbeing/development purposes of the family. [1] These shops have been known by the ward fatherland front committee in the previous housing programs with similar helps.

Above: Training session at community level in Da Nang city Da Nang is one of the cities that is most affected by climate change in Vietnam because of storm surges and typhoons that take place almost every year. For the past month, ISET and the city of Da Nang organized 11 training sessions on housing design and construction in typhoon-affected areas to explore pathways for scaling up a storm-resilient housing model to the whole city. The trainings took place in 7 districts of Da Nang and are part of the feasibility study project funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with participation from 347 people representing both governmental and non-governmental sectors. At the community level, there were 8 technical training sessions within different wards and communes whose local houses are seriously unsafe to storms. A number of these unsafe homes will be rebuilt and retrofitted in the coming months under the Nordic Development Fund (NDF) project. The community-level training sessions received active participation from community members, particularly the local builders who are directly involved in low-income housing construction in most cases. It was found from the trainings that local builders in some wards have much experience in strengthening the house, and how to reinforce parts of the house for storm resistance. However, most of them are not fully aware of the demand of comprehensive reinforcement, in which all building parts and elements are required to be securely built and connected to achieve a so-called “storm-resilient house”. In addition, there was a lack of knowledge and limited awareness in safe housing construction from a portion of vulnerable households. Many of them still underestimated the importance of safe housing in vulnerability reduction and poverty alleviation. In sum, the training has, firstly, alerted groups and communities at the grassroots levels about the necessity of safe housing in strengthening household and community resilience and, secondly, reminded local builders of some additional points they need to consider to ensure a storm-resilient construction practice. The training sessions at the community level also received high appreciation from the ward and commune authorities. These people are involved in equipping their communities with basic and advanced knowledge on storm-resilient housing along with the delivery of clean and clear technical manuals for different groups of local stakeholders.

Da Nang is the third largest city and one of the three largest ports in Vietnam, and the economic hub of the central region. Hoi An, 30 km to the south in Quang Nam province, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the major tourist destinations in Asia. The Vu Gia – Thu Bon river basin is shared by Da Nang and Quang Nam provinces and drains to the ocean through the cities of Da Nang and Hoi An. Rapid urbanization and population densification along the rivers and in the coastal floodplains of both provinces are intensifying flooding issues in the basin, and particularly in the cities of Da Nang and Hoi An. Because of the proximity of the two cities, flood control measures taken to address flooding in one city will impact the other unless actions are carefully coordinated. Above: The city of Da Nang, originally from Google Maps, Feb. 2017. Above: Quang Nam Province and the city of Hoi An, originally from Google Maps, Feb. 2017. Above: Da Nang/Quang Nam area marked with a red pin, within Vietnam and South East Asia. Photo originally from Google Maps, Feb. 2017. ISET, through a grant from the Global Resilience Partnership, is piloting the creation of a participatory platform and co-production of an integrated hydrologic model for flood risk management across the two provinces. Based on our previous experience in Da Nang, our hypothesis is that the production of a modeling tool will provide both the focused purpose and the information needed to underpin an effective collaborative platform in the basin. Past effort to create participatory platforms for river basin management in Vietnam have largely failed because there was a lack of clear purpose. The integrated model for flood risk management will not only be a powerful tool but will also provide a sense of purpose for the two jurisdictions to collaborate on. Above: Expanding urbanization has reduced natural flood buffers in Da Nang. ISET has been working with the city of Da Nang since 2009 on urban climate change resilience, initially through the Rockefeller Foundation funded Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network, and more recently with funding from USAID, CDKN, the Asian Development Bank, The Asia Foundation, and 100 Resilient Cities. Elements of the work have included creating multi-stakeholder steering committees and working groups for projects, building capacity across multiple departments, and working with city stakeholders and local technical experts to build and apply several different hydrologic decision support tools. Based on this engagement, it has become increasingly clear to both ISET and Da Nang stakeholders that many of the issues Da Nang faces are basin-wide and require coordination with Quang Nam province. Developing formal mechanisms for interregional river basin planning, enhancing capacity for natural disaster forecasting and warning, and investing in hydro-meteorology monitoring and early warning for floods, flash floods and reservoir releases were all identified as priority actions in Da Nang’s Resilience Strategy, released through 100 Resilient Cities in September 2016. Addressing any of these requires collaboration with Quang Nam, as the bulk of the basin lies within this province. Therefore, hydro-met monitoring, early warning monitoring and communication, and reservoir operations oversight all fall under the control of Quang Nam. Even before publication of their resilience strategy, Da Nang began developing the agreement needed to establish integrated basin management. This is the first such intre-provincal resource management agreement in Vietnam that is driven by the local stakeholders. One of the key elements of this collaboration will be to meaningfully engage with vulnerable communities within both provinces. ISET will work with the organization CARE to engage local stakeholders and participants from poor and vulnerable communities. Flood resilience relies on the ability of people at the household and community levels to understand and make informed decisions when faced with flood-risk. It is therefore vital that communities participate in the learning process and have their concerns voiced, both to empower them and to ensure their concerns are understood and addressed. This project plans not only to engage local communities but also to inspire national policy makers. The government of Vietnam is working towards distributing water management in the country into six water management units, but they have no prior experience on which to base guidance about how to implement this change. Consequently, the Quang Nam-Da Nang River Basin Organization is the focus of a great deal of national attention. Success in this project is likely to be incorporated into national policy. Blog based on technical report by Karen MacClune

Vanuatu ranks 4th in the Happy Planet Index and every year thousands of tourists visit the beaches and coral reefs. It is a tropical archipelago composed of more than 80 islands and a country where over 100 languages are spoken. Though Vanuatu enjoys beautiful scenery and weather, the people of this island-cluster have much to overcome, for the archipelago is a very risky place – in fact, it ranked highest in the WorldRiskIndex in 2015. Exposure and susceptibility to extreme weather events, lack of coping capacities, and lack of adaptive capacities all contribute to Vanuatu’s risk level. Sea level rise poses a particular threat, as the majority of the country’s infrastructure is located only a few meters above sea level. As climate change alters the risk landscape to both intensify old risks and create new ones, climate change resilience will be crucial for Vanuatu. Researchers at ISET are embarking on a new community resilience project in the country, and are excited to be working with the Red Cross to develop easy-to-understand, accessible community resilience training tools for community leaders and local governments. The focus of this project is to improve resilience training tools at the community level. Our team understands that, while national and city-wide resilience efforts are extremely important, one must zoom in further — to the community level — to learn about the challenges of the most vulnerable people. Moreover, focusing on the community level allows researchers to learn about existing capacities and identify resilience-building opportunities of a local community, which is very valuable. Several ISET associates will be traveling early in 2017 to pilot methodologies and training materials in Vanuatu. The project is funded by the Global Disaster Preparedness Center and hosted by the Red Cross. Our work will focus not only in Vanuatu but also in two Indonesian cities, Semarang and Ternate.

Participants join in the discussion during the technical training. Photo credit: Anh Tran, ISET-Vietnam Within the project “Undertaking feasibility study for scaling-up the model of storm resistant housing for a resilient Da Nang City” funded by Asia Development Bank (ADB), ISET in collaboration with Da Nang Department of Foreign Affairs (DOFA) has conducted a series of technical training on how to apply technical guidelines in the design and construction of low-income housing in the typhoon-affected areas of Da Nang. The training was organized from 9 to 19 March, 2017 in different places of Da Nang to disseminate the technical handbooks developed by the project to a wide range of local stakeholders, from the city- and district- to the ward/commune and community levels. Training participants include governmental staffs currently involved in housing construction in Da Nang, representatives from the City’s Association of Architects, Architecture Universities in Da Nang, Da Nang Women’s Union, Da Nang Red Cross, Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee in Da Nang, ​Districts’ Unit of Construction, Ward/Commune’s Land Department, local builders, village/quarter’s heads, and vulnerable households. The training received high appreciation from most participants towards the understandability, suitability and applicability of the technical handbooks in the vulnerable areas of Da Nang. Specifically, the coming housing project in Da Nang funded by the Nordic Climate Fund (NCF) has agreed to use these technical handbooks in assisting the design and construction of over 100 storm-resistant houses in next two years (2017-2018). The key points of these handbooks are the proposal of universal technical principles/demands that all houses, regardless of different forms, sizes, and functionally spatial layouts, can apply in construction to enhance storm resilience. The training also received some useful feedback and suggestions from the participants in revising and improving the technical handbooks before printing large quantity to share with various stakeholders in Da Nang city. The “Undertaking feasibility study for scaling-up the model of storm resistant housing for a resilient Da Nang City” project aims to formulate recommendations for scaling up the implementation of the disaster resilient housing project in Da Nang City called “Storm Resistant Housing for a Resilient Da Nang City”. This project was implemented by ISET and Women’s Union of Da Nang city from 2011, funded by the Rockefeller Foundation under the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) program.

The first UCR-CoP periodic sharing event of 2017 entitled Update Efforts and Share Experiences on Building Urban Resilience in Viet Nam was successfully held on March 2 in Hanoi. More than 42 participants from international and Vietnamese organizations, government institutions, private sectors, and universities such as ISET, TAF, GIZ, ARC, BTC, UNDP, Oxfam, UDA, SECO, VIUP, IMHEN, etc. gathered at the workshop to update their efforts and share experiences on building urban resilience. Particularly, representatives from the 100 Resilient City (100RC) and Climate Change Coordination Office of Da Nang (CCCO Da Nang), and a key member of Can Tho city also attended and shared at the workshop. The workshop was organized by The Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET) on behalf of the UCR-CoP secretariat, and partly supported by 100RC. At the workshop, Mr. Amit Prothi, the 100RC representative in Vietnam provided participants with an overview of 100RC which was pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) to help cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges. Participants were also walked through the 100RC’s City Resilience Framework (CRF) with four key dimensions including Leadership and Strategy, Health and Well-being, Economy and Society, Infrastructure and Environment, and 12 drivers, and sub-drivers that resolving around the four dimensions, determining the city’s ability to withstand a wide range of shocks and stresses. Mr. Dinh Quang Cuong, Chief Resilience Officer (CRO) of Da Nang city—one of the first CRO appointed during the first round, shared with participants the Da Nang Resilience Strategy which was released in 2016. City Resilience Strategy, one of four types of support that member cities get from 100RC program to address its problems, will serve as a roadmap for the city to initiate implementation activities in their efforts to build and become resilience. Da Nang’s experience sharing would be a useful lesson learnt for Can Tho city, the second Vietnamese city selected to 100RC in mid 2016, which is in the process of selecting a CRO and initiating the preparation of the Resilience Strategy. Above: Resilience Assessment exercise Discussion after the Resilience assessment exercise The workshop participants also had an opportunity to involve in an interesting group exercise where they applied the CRF to understand and make an overall evaluation of the resilience of cities in Vietnam. Participants were also asked to match the specific technical areas that they or their institutions are working on with the specific areas (drivers/sub-drivers) of the four dimensions in the CRF circle. This activity serves to foster understanding of donor or development agency engagement in urban resilience for post event follow-up. Above: Stakeholder Mapping exercise Active and constructive participation of all UCR-CoP participant members has always been a major factor contributing to the success of this UCR-CoP sharing event and the many to come. ISET -Vietnam, a member of UCR-CoP facilitators Originally posted on UCR-CoP website.

City and local government officials shared lessons from their experience building resilience to climate change with an audience including national Ministries, city leaders, local champions, international agencies, NGOs and expert practitioners as part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN). Hanoi, November 24, 2016 – Vietnamese cities are leading the response to climate change by adopting measures to reduce the risk of future climate disasters. This was the message shared in the international workshop “Sustaining Urban Resilience in Vietnam – Lessons from 7 years of ACCCRN” organized in Hanoi by the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET), the Country Coordinator of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) program in Vietnam. Vietnam is one of the five countries in the world most vulnerable to climate change impacts, because of its long coastline and low-lying coastal and delta areas. Climate change will probably bring more extreme precipitation, storms, floods and droughts to Vietnamese cities, which are expanding rapidly, especially in coastal areas, exposing more and more of their population, infrastructure and economic investment to these risks. In 2008, the Government of Vietnam approved the National Target Program on Climate Change (NTPRCC), which identified climate impacts as a threat to the country’s social and economic development and promoted adaptation actions to respond to these. In 2009, the Rockefeller Foundation selected 3 Vietnamese cities of Can Tho, Da Nang, Quy Nhon to become part of its regional ACCCRN program, joining 7 other cities in Thailand, India, and Indonesia. This program provided technical support and capacity building to enable city governments to plan for greater resilience to climate change, and then supported implementation and learning activities. The Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET), was selected to lead the ACCCRN program in Vietnam. After 7 years of the ACCCRN program implementation, the three cities of Can Tho, Da Nang and Quy Nhon have seen considerable improvements in areas of climate change adaptation, and urban climate resilience. Particularly, under ACCCRN, in each of three cities, a new Climate Change Coordination Office was established, to be the first local agency responsible for coordination of resilience planning and interventions with other technical departments of the provincial governments, as well as for climate data collection and analysis. With support from ISET and from the Rockefeller Foundation, the three Vietnamese cities have developed flood management projects, early warning systems, riverbank erosion control, stormproof housing and many other initiatives to reduce their vulnerability to climate change impacts according to careful evidence-based planning and priority-setting. A challenge in building climate resilience in Binh Dinh city is to “harmonize between immediate and long term objectives for sustainable development” said Mr. Phan Cao Thang, Vice chairman of People’s committee of Binh Dinh Province. Dr. Michael Digregorio, Representative from The Asia Foundation said “At the city level and provincial level, they tend to rely on the central government because they don’t have the judgement or authority to go outside the standard and they don’t have enough study to support them”. As the Country Coordinator of ACCCRN program in Vietnam, ISET has worked closely with provincial partners, coordinating urban climate resilience efforts with national ministries, research institutions, international agencies, NGOs, and other active practitioners in the field to support cities to tackle these challenges. This workshop, which hosts this diverse group of actors, was an important opportunity for extensive peer-to-peer exchange as well as local and national policy learning. “A key part of ISET’s approach in designing the ACCCRN program in Vietnam is a focus on local engagement and capacity building through involvement of local partner —or ‘learning by doing’—so that ACCCRN impacts can extend well beyond its timeline and funding to inspire local and national actions and support future policies. This is especially important in the uncertain context of climate change and urban development in Vietnam”, emphasized Ms. Ngo Thi Le Mai, the Country Coordinator of ISET in Vietnam. “The ACCCRN funding program in Vietnam is completed, but its work and influence is still expanding in these three cities and beyond.” Panel discussion on Building Climate Resilience in Vietnam. Các thành phố Việt Nam áp dụng các biện pháp xây dựng khả năng chống chịu với Biến đổi khí hậu Cán bộ chính quyền các địa phương đã chia sẻ bài học kinh nghiệm về xây dựng khả năng chống chịu với BĐKH tại một hội thảo có sự tham dự của các bộ ngành, chính quyền các thành phố, những tổ chức tiên phong tại các địa phương, tổ chức quốc tế, tổ chức phi chính phủ và các chuyên gia, trong khuôn khổ chương trình Các thành phố Châu Á có Khả năng Chống chịu với Biến đổi Khí hậu (ACCCRN). Hà Nội ngày 24/11/2016 – Các thành phố của Việt Nam đang đi tiên phong trong công tác ứng phó với BĐKH, thực hiện một loại các biện pháp nhằm giảm thiểu các rủi ro thiên tai trong tương lai do BĐKH gây ra. Đây là thông điệp được chia sẻ trong một hội thảo quốc tế tại Hà Nội, do Viện Chuyển đổi Môi Trường và Xã hội (ISET), đơn vị điều phối cấp quốc gia của Chương trình Mạng lưới các Thành phố Châu Á có Khả năng Chống chịu với BĐKH (ACCCRN) tại Việt Nam tổ chức. Việt Nam là một trong năm quốc gia dễ bị tổn thương nhất trên thế giới trước các tác động của BĐKH, do có đường bờ biển dài và nhiều khu vực đồng bằng duyên hải và châu thổ trũng thấp. BĐKH sẽ có thể gây ra nhiều hiện tượng cực đoan hơn liên quan đến lượng mưa, bão lũ và hạn hán ở các thành phố của Việt Nam. Đặc biệt là ở các khu vực ven biển, các đô thị Việt Nam đang phát triển và mở rộng nhanh chóng, khiến cho càng nhiều người dân, cơ sở hạ tầng và đầu tư kinh tế phải đối mặt với những rủi ro tác động của các hiện tượng cực đoan này. Năm 2008, Chính phủ Việt Nam phê duyệt Chương trình Mục tiêu Quốc gia về BĐKH (NTPRCC), xác định các tác động của BĐKH là một nguy cơ đối với quá trình phát triển kinh tế – xã hội của đất nước, và đưa ra các hành động thích ứng nhằm ứng phó với các tác động này. Năm 2009, Quỹ Rockefeller đã chọn ra ba thành phố của Việt Nam là Cần Thơ, Đà Nẵng và Quy Nhơn để tham gia chương trình ACCCRN, cùng với 7 thành phố khác ở Thái Lan, Ấn Độ, và Indonesia. Chương trình cung cấp các hỗ trợ kỹ thuật và xây dựng năng lực nhằm giúp chính quyền các thành phố lập kế hoạch tăng cường khả năng chống chịu với BĐKH, cùng các hỗ trợ trong thực hiện hành động và các hoạt động nghiên cứu, học hỏi. Viện Chuyển đổi Môi trường và Xã hội (ISET) được chọn để phụ trách thực hiện chương trình ACCCRN tại Việt Nam. Sau bảy năm thực hiện chương trình ACCCRN, ba thành phố Cần Thơ, Đà Nẵng và Quy Nhơn đã ghi nhận những thành tựu đáng kể trong lĩnh vực thích ứng và chống chịu với BĐKH ở đô thị. Đặc biệt, trong khuôn khổ chương trình ACCCRN, một văn phòng Điều phối về BĐKH đã được thành lập ở mỗi thành phố, trở thành đơn vị đầu tiên ở địa phương chịu trách nhiệm điều phối công tác lập kế hoạch chống chịu và các can thiệp với các sở ngành chuyên môn khác của chính quyền địa phương, cũng như việc thu thập và phân tích các số liệu về BĐKH. Với sự hỗ trợ của ISET và tài trợ của Quỹ Rockefeller, ba thành phố này đã xây dựng các dự án về quản lý ngập lụt, hệ thống cảnh báo sớm, quản lý sạt lở bờ sông, nhà ở chống chịu với bão lũ, và nhiều sáng kiến khác nhằm giảm thiểu tình trạng dễ bị tổn thương trước các tác động của BĐKH, rút ra từ một quá trình lập kế hoạch và xác định ưu tiên được thực hiện một cách kỹ lưỡng dựa trên đòi hỏi của thực tiễn. Theo ông Phan Cao Thắng, Phó chủ tịch UBND tỉnh Bình Định tại hội thảo, một thách thức trong việc chống chịu với BĐKH ở tỉnh Bình Định là “giải quyết hài hoà giữa các phát triển trước mắt và lâu dài để vì mục tiêu phát triển bền vững”. TS. Michael DiGregorio, Trưởng Đại diện Quỹ Châu Á tại Việt Nam cũng nhận định: “Các tỉnh và thành phố thường phải dựa vào trung ương và thường không thể đưa ra nhận định hay có thẩm quyền làm khác với các tiêu chuẩn đã định, cũng không có đủ các nghiên cứu hỗ trợ.” Là đơn vị điều phối cấp quốc gia của chương trình ACCCRN tại Việt Nam, ISET đã phối hợp chặt chẽ với các đối tác ở cấp tỉnh/thành phố, điều phối các nỗ lực về chống chịu với BĐKH với các bộ ngành, viện nghiên cứu, tổ chức quốc tế, tổ chức phi chính phủ, và các các nhân và tổ chức khác nhằm đối phó với những thách thức kể trên. Với sự tham gia của đại diện các đơn vị và cá nhân này, hội thảo là một cơ hội giúp các bên tăng cường trao đổi học hỏi lẫn nhau, và góp phần thúc đẩy các quá trình xây dựng chính sách ở quốc gia và địa phương. Bà Ngô Thị Lệ Mai, Điều phối viên Quốc gia của ISET tại Việt Nam đã nhấn mạnh: “Một yếu tố quan trọng trong phương pháp của ISET khi thiết kế chương trình ACCCRN tại Việt Nam là việc tập trung huy động sự tham gia và xây dựng năng lực cho địa phương thông qua quá trình trực tiếp tham gia của các đối tác ở địa phương—hay quá trình ‘học hỏi thông qua thực hành’—nhờ đó các tác động của ACCCRN sẽ không bị hạn chế bởi khung thời gian hay ngân sách, tạo đà cho các hành động ở cấp địa phương và quốc gia, và hỗ trợ quá trình xây dựng các chính sách trong tương lai. Điều này là đặc biệt quan trọng trong bối cảnh bất định của BĐKH và phát triển đô thị ở Việt Nam. Tuy nguồn tài trợ đã kết thúc, nhưng những công việc và tầm ảnh hưởng của chương trình ACCCRN ở Việt Nam sẽ tiếp tục lan tỏa ở ba thành phố ACCCRN và xa hơn nữa.”

Dear Friends and Colleagues, In collaboration with the Zurich Flood Resilience Alliance and Aon Benfield, we are excited to share with you our post-event review of the October 2015 South Carolina Floods. While hazards are physical, disasters are not; they occur due to a combination of physical, social, political, and economic factors. Focusing on two distinct urban areas – Columbia and Charleston – the report reviews what happened, why the disaster occurred, and the challenges faced and successes achieved in disaster risk reduction, preparedness, response, and recovery. The analysis points to opportunities to build resilience at local, regional and national levels. We believe the insights from this study can be applied not only to Columbia and Charleston, but also to contexts globally. Zurich Insurance Group has also published a shorter version of the report, which can be found here. Best Regards, The ISET-International Team

Hot weather is recognized as detrimental to human health and labor productivity when temperatures and humidity exceed physiological thresholds. Occupational extreme heat exposure can lead to a number of detrimental heat-health impacts on workers. Excessive night-time temperatures following hot days do not allow for workers to recover and can compound work heat-health impacts. Climate change is projected to increase the number of hot days and nights, extend the length of the hot season and lead to a greater number of heat waves in many urban areas throughout Asia. As part of the Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN) initiative, the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET) worked with the Centre for Community Health and Education (COHED) to see how climate change might change heat stress and stroke risk on the job in Da Nang, Vietnam. Healthy people can begin experiencing negative health impacts at ambient temperatures of 27°C and a relative humidity of 40%, but workers in jobs like construction, manufacturing, agriculture or mining can be exposed to even higher temperatures or physically demanding conditions at work. Despite the health risks, COHED found that few companies they interviewed knew of heat exposure risks or had protective measures in place. Increasing awareness and helping companies develop heat exposure measures is particularly important. The Ministry of Health specifies that workplace protective measures need to be taken for workers engaged in heavy labor when temperature and humidity conditions create a heat index of 28°C, and 32°C for workers sitting at desks. ISET calculated the heat index – a combination of temperature and humidity – in Da Nang and the number of days and nights between 1970-1999 that exceeded certain temperature limits. Using a number of climate models, ISET then investigated how many days and nights in the future (2020-2049) might exceed the limits because of climate change. By 2050, the daytime heat index exceeds the 32°C threshold nearly continuously between April and October. The number of nights exceeding 28°C is also expected to increase significantly, and workers without air conditioning at home may not be able to recover from the heat exposure while they sleep. COHED is using this information as part of their workplace heat-health campaign with enterprises in Da Nang. COHED tested the heat index on three companies for ease of use to notify health and safety officers when unsafe heat exposure limits were being reached, and knowing when to trigger safety measures. The campaign is now being expanded to other enterprises throughout Da Nang.

Climate change alongside shortcomings in urban planning, construction and development have adverse impacts on flooding and waterlogging in Quy Nhon city and the peripheral areas. At the “Flooding risk management in urban development in Quy Nhon city and the peripheral areas” workshop organized by the Department of Construction, scientists and researchers analyzed, identified causes and recommended solutions out of the problems… Flooding not just due to climate change Climate change has exacerbated flooding and waterlogging in the lower Kon and Ha Thanh rivers with increased flooding levels and prolonged waterlogging, said MA. Huynh Cao Van, Climate Change Coordinating Office of Binh Dinh province (Binh Dinh CCCO). In the severe flood event of September 2009, in Nhon Phu ward (Quy Nhon city) alone, there were appropriately 4,500 houses damaged, causing 80 billion dong in loss, while that of Nhon Binh ward was 200 billion dong… One of the main reasons leading to serious flooding and waterlogging in Quy Nhon city and the peripheral areas are shortcomings in urban planning, construction and development. Construction works such as schools, industrial clusters have been developed without sufficient attention paid to flood water drainage, thus, causing flood water blockage. In addition, the majority of flood water drainage systems have been constructed not meeting technical standards, with a significant number of flood water drainage systems blocked by waste and parts of the rivers filled in with soils for house building. Dr. Tran Van Giai Phong, the Institute for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET), provided an insight in the flooding situation in Quy Nhon city. In his opinion, flooding issues in Quy Nhon are caused by construction works being located in the flood water drainage and floodplain areas during the urbanization process, elevated and newly-built roads blocking flood currents, and improper bridge spans of new bridges restricting flood water to drain. Besides, new traffic routes, apartment buildings, and industrial zones have been constructed without flood water drainage systems being renovated at the same time, leading to exacerbated waterlogging in the lower and central areas of the city. Meanwhile, the city has not developed flooding maps in the lower areas, making it passive in flood warning and response. In case of a similar flood to the 2009, the situation and damages to Quy Nhon city will be more serious. Architect Pham Thi Nham, Deputy Director of Vietnam Institute for Urban and Rural Planning (Ministry of Construction) said that while the risks of climate change do not manifest obviously in Quy Nhon city, the impacts of urbanization on flooding situation are evident, particularly in low-lying areas. In addition, despite existing urban planning, licensing for construction works that encroach into flood drainage and floodplain areas are still in place. It is obvious that Binh Dinh province is lacking not just flooding risk management solutions but also tools and legal corridor for management of urban planning and development. Solutions for flooding risk management At the “Flooding risk management in urban development in Quy Nhon city and the peripheral areas” workshop, scientists and researchers recommended a number of practical solutions to reduce flood damage to Quy Nhon city and the peripheral areas. According to Dr. Tran Van Giai Phong, ISET, Quy Nhon city and the peripheral areas should strengthen protection and renovation of spaces for water; utilize online flooding management and projection tools that help forecast flood water levels, and flood water drainage capacity; provide earlier and more accurate warnings in the flood-prone areas; make more effective emergency response plans; and analyze water storage capacity of reservoirs in the lower areas… At the same time, spaces for water and prevention of constructions/projects encroaching into spaces for water should be included in urban planning and development. Furthermore, the local governments need to pay more aattention to site selection management for urban construction and development; manage construction density; and have measures to prevent flooding in low-lying areas. Above: A multi-functional flood shelter constructed by CCCO Binh Dinh in Nhon Phu ward MA.Huynh Cao Van, CCCO Binh Dinh, recommended that Quy Nhon city and the peripheral areas should comply with the Government’s approved planning in their urban construction and planning. Specifically, the Area 2 of Nhon Binh ward and Nhon Phu ward are included in the planning of a new and dynamic center and oriented to develop towards decreased construction density, increased green tree areas, and safe water fdrainage corridor development in Ha Thanh river branches; creating ecological urban areas, and urban cultural-recreational service centers with landscape in harmony with natural context; construction works nearby estuary flowing into Thi Nai lagoon being warned to take safety measures before and during flood. According to Architect Pham Thi Nham, Quy Nhon city should develop towards becoming a multi-center city with interlinked transport systems utilized. The adjacent areas of Quy Nhon Bay should promote development of tourism, administrative services, and high-grade commercial services while the plain areas of Tuy Phuoc and Thi Nai lagoon should not promote urban development and should leave minimum 50-meter distances from road sides for flood water drainage corridor. Rural residential areas in Tuy Phuoc should restrict concentration of construction works but disperse them in sub-regions, placing towards East-West. Regarding transportation, Tuy Phuoc needs to avoid making transport routes become dykes but to ensure under-lying drainage systems to facilitate flood water drainage. Binh Dinh province should develop legal corridor that engage multi sectors, particularly for issues relating to urban planning, construction, development, and transportation, etc. (Translated and reposted from the website of BinhDinh Newspaper Online) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tìm “cẩm nang” cho Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận Tác động của biến đổi khí hậu (BĐKH) cũng như những hạn chế, bất cập trong quy hoạch, xây dựng và phát triển đô thị đã ảnh hưởng đến tình hình ngập lụt ở TP Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận. Tại Hội thảo “Quản lý rủi ro ngập lụt trong phát triển đô thị ở TP Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận”, do Sở Xây dựng vừa tổ chức, các nhà khoa học, nhà nghiên cứu đã phân tích, làm rõ nguyên nhân và đề xuất nhiều giải pháp khắc phục… Ngập lụt: Đâu chỉ do BĐKH Theo Th.S Huỳnh Cao Vân – đại diện nhóm nghiên cứu (NNC) thuộc Văn phòng Điều phối về BĐKH tỉnh Bình Định – do tác động của BĐKH, tình hình lũ lụt, ngập úng vùng hạ lưu sông Côn và sông Hà Thanh ngày càng nghiêm trọng, mức độ ngập lụt ngày càng tăng, thời gian ngập úng kéo dài. Tiêu biểu như đợt mưa lũ xảy ra vào tháng 11.2009, riêng địa bàn phường Nhơn Phú (TP Quy Nhơn) đã có gần 4.500 nhà bị hư hại, thiệt hại khoảng 80 tỉ đồng; phường Nhơn Bình thiệt hại trên 200 tỉ đồng… Một trong những nguyên nhân chủ yếu dẫn đến tình trạng ngập lụt ở TP Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận là do những hạn chế, bất cập trong công tác quy hoạch, xây dựng, phát triển đô thị. Đó là việc xây dựng các công trình trường học, cụm công nghiệp, trong khi chưa quan tâm đúng mức đến vấn đề tiêu úng thoát lũ, làm cản trở dòng chảy. Bên cạnh đó, hầu hết các công trình tiêu úng thoát lũ xây dựng không đạt tiêu chuẩn kỹ thuật; nhiều trục tiêu úng thoát lũ bị đổ phế thải gây bồi lấp, nhiều đoạn sông còn bị người dân đổ đất cơi nới nhà cửa. KTS Phạm Thị Nhâm, Phó Viện trưởng Viện Quy hoạch đô thị và nông thôn Quốc gia (Bộ Xây dựng), cũng cho rằng: Dù những rủi ro từ BĐKH chưa có biểu hiện rõ ràng nhưng tác động của đô thị hóa ở TP Quy Nhơn đến tình hình lũ lụt thì rất rõ, nhất là những khu vực trũng thấp. Bên cạnh đó, dù đã được quy hoạch, song trên địa bàn thành phố vẫn còn xảy ra tình trạng cấp phép các công trình xây dựng lấn vào không gian thoát lũ, lấn chiếm không gian trữ nước. Có thể thấy, tỉnh Bình Định không chỉ thiếu những giải pháp quản lý rủi ro ngập lụt, mà còn thiếu các công cụ và hành lang pháp lý trong việc thực thi công tác quy hoạch phát triển đô thị.Tuy nhiên, theo TS Trần Văn Giải Phóng, Viện Chuyển đổi Môi trường và Xã hội (ISET), tình trạng ngập lụt ở TP Quy Nhơn là do trong quá trình đô thị hóa, nhiều công trình xây dựng nằm trong vùng thoát lũ, trữ lũ; đường bộ thì nâng cao, xây mới làm cản trở dòng lũ; các cầu mới không đủ khẩu độ để thoát lũ. Bên cạnh đó, việc xây dựng mới các tuyến đường giao thông, các khu đô thị, khu công nghiệp chưa đồng bộ với việc tiêu thoát lũ, càng làm trầm trọng hơn vấn đề ngập úng ở hạ du và trung du. Trong khi đó, thành phố chưa xây dựng bản đồ ngập lụt ở vùng hạ du nên còn bị động trong cảnh báo, ứng phó. Thậm chí, nếu một trận lũ giống như năm 2009 xảy ra, tình trạng ngập lụt và mức độ thiệt hại đối với TP Quy Nhơn sẽ còn nặng nề hơn. Giải pháp để quản lý rủi ro Tại Hội thảo “Quản lý rủi ro ngập lụt trong phát triển đô thị ở TP Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận”, các nhà khoa học, nhà nghiên cứu đã đề xuất nhiều giải pháp thiết thực nhằm hạn chế tác hại của lũ lụt đối với TP Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận. Theo TS Trần Văn Giải Phóng, TP Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận cần tăng cường bảo vệ, tái tạo không gian dành cho nước; sử dụng công cụ quản lý và dự báo lũ lụt trực tuyến giúp dự báo mực nước, khả năng tiêu thoát nước; đưa ra các cảnh báo sớm và chính xác hơn ở các vùng dễ bị ngập; lập kế hoạch hành động ứng phó khẩn cấp hiệu quả hơn; phân tích khả năng trữ nước ở các hồ chứa và vùng hạ du… Đồng thời, trong quy hoạch phát triển đô thị, cần có không gian dành cho nước và hạn chế các công trình, dự án lấn chiếm không gian của nước. Ngoài ra, địa phương cũng cần quan tâm quản lý việc chọn địa điểm xây dựng, phát triển đô thị; quản lý mật độ xây dựng và có biện pháp ngăn lũ lụt ở những vùng trũng, thấp. Nhà đa năng phòng tránh lũ lụt được Văn Phòng Công tác về BĐKH tỉnh Bình Định xây dựng tại phường Nhơn Phú Ý kiến của Th.S Huỳnh Cao Vân là TP Quy Nhơn và vùng phụ cận cần xây dựng, phát triển đô thị theo đúng quy hoạch đã được Chính phủ phê duyệt. Cụ thể, khu vực 2 phường Nhơn Bình, Nhơn Phú nằm trong quy hoạch khu trung tâm động lực mới và được xác định phát triển theo hướng giảm mật độ xây dựng, tăng diện tích cây xanh, tạo hành lang thoát nước an toàn trên các nhánh sông Hà Thanh; hình thành đô thị sinh thái, trung tâm dịch vụ đô thị, văn hóa – giải trí có cảnh quan phù hợp với khung cảnh thiên nhiên; khuyến cáo các khu xây dựng tại vị trí cửa sông ra đầm Thị Nại phải thực hiện các biện pháp an toàn khi có lũ… Theo KTS Phạm Thị Nhâm, TP Quy Nhơn cần phát triển theo hướng đa trung tâm và sử dụng hệ thống giao thông kết nối các trung tâm. Vùng giáp vịnh Quy Nhơn nên phát triển du lịch, dịch vụ hành chính, thương mại cao cấp; còn vùng đồng bằng Tuy Phước và đầm Thị Nại không nên phát triển đô thị và phải có khoảng cách tối thiểu 50 m ở mỗi bên đường giao thông để duy trì hành lang thoát lũ. Các vùng dân cư nông thôn ở Tuy Phước nên hạn chế mật độ xây dựng tập trung mà cần phân tán ra các phân khu nhỏ lẻ, bố trí theo hướng Đông – Tây. Về giao thông, Tuy Phước không nên biến các tuyến đường trở thành các con đê mà cần đảm bảo thoát nước ở bên dưới, nhằm tăng cường thoát lũ. Tỉnh Bình Định cần xây dựng hành lang pháp lý theo hướng đa ngành, nhất là với các vấn đề liên quan đến công tác quy hoạch, xây dựng, phát triển đô thị, giao thông… (Đăng lại từ website Baobinhdinh online)

ISET projects to deliver an early warning system for floods, riverbank erosion control measures and reducing the prevalence of dengue fever, all have something in common; successful collaboration between the community and government. In Quy Nhon, local communities, with training and capacity building, developed their own flood-response plans including the identification of vulnerable individuals and evacuation routes. While local government authorities helped local officials to see how the project would help them to better serve and protect vulnerable local residents. In Can Tho the co-management of riverbank erosion control was achieved through institutional mechanisms that combined community initiative and oversight the government providing technical and financial support. And dengue fever prevention has been enhanced through community based monitoring, awareness-raising and prevention practices while ward leaders have organised Ward Health Clubs. For further information about these projects check out these publications: Case Study: Community Engagement in Flood Early Warning and Risk Reduction in Quy Nhon Case Study: Climate Change Complicates Dengue Fever Prevention in Can Tho, Vietnam Case Study: Co-management of riverbank erosion control in Can Tho, Vietnam

Urbanization in Can Tho has negatively affected rivers and drainage channels through drainage systems. As a result there has been an increased incidence of riverbank erosion, tidal floods, and poor drainage during storms. Drainage system problems are also projected to intensify in the future as a result of climate change. The project “Community-Based Urban Flood and Erosion Management for Can Tho City” developed new institutional mechanisms that combine community initiative and oversight with government technical and financial support. Under this project, the construction of the biological erosion control measures took only two months and was completed by September 30th 2014, thanks to the community involvement in planning, decision-making, construction and project oversight, together with government authorities. The communities along both sides of Cai Son also developed a collective regulation for riverbank management that was approved by An Binh ward. This video was created by ISET-Internationa and Can Tho Climate Change Coordination Office (CCCO Can Tho). Please contact us if you want to use any footage of the video at infovn@i-s-e-t.org. For more information, please visit this project page: Community-Based Urban Flood and Erosion Management for Can Tho City