Field trip to Tam Dao National Park May 10 2014.

To support environmental protection and sustainable development, in the last decade Vietnam has promoted public environmental awareness campaigns for the entire population, focusing especially on young people. At the moment, however, education about environmental awareness and conservation has still not been paid much attention in the schools. Most educational levels do not consider environmental conservation a subject, with the exception of some universities and colleges which have specialized courses in the environment.

Raising awareness and knowledge about environmental justice, and overcoming existing weaknesses, will require a long and continuous commitment across multiple generations and a dedicated investment of enthusiasm, effort and money.

Our ultimate goal will be to build and implement pilot programs and plan to coordinate and integrate education and environmental protection practices in schools to enhance the direct impact on students’ attitudes and behaviour toward the environment. Through these efforts, we will gain practical experience in the integration of environmental justice with the official school curriculum.

To address the ecological and health concerns of Hanoi and the surrounding communities of Ba Vi and Tam Dao National parks, CED trains school children and youth from Hanoi environmental conservation, restoration, and horticulture through introducing concept of environmental justice and field-based programs. Our programs combine education sessions with hands-on and independent-exploration activities, drawing concrete linkages between human health, the environment, and urban quality of life. In one year, we plan to host about 500 school-kids at Ba Vi and Tam Dao national parks for free site-based education programs that link science curricula to real-life environmental health and justice issues.