On September 27th, 2019, as part of the the European Union Climate Diplomacy Week 2019, the European Union (EU) Delegation in partnership with Climate Change Working Group (CCWG) and the University of Da Nang organized the workshop on “Youth Action for Climate”.

250 participants attended the workshop, including representatives from several organizations working in climate change in Vietnam and 200 students from universities, high schools and international schools in Da Nang.The main objective of the workshop was to foster youth’s active and constructive engagement in climate action. The workshop not only provided an opportunity for youth representatives to engage in a frank and constructive exchange, but also to explore concrete and effective ways for engagement in youth’s everyday life to make the change possible.

    The Head of Cooperation Section of the European Union Delegation, Mr Koen Duchateau said: “The ‘youth for climate’ movement that is rapidly developing around the world is a sign of the growing awareness in our societies that climate change is a reality already today. The EU has been in the front line of climate action and is keen to promote a learning dialogue and build support for the change necessary for the transition to low-emission, climate-resilient societies.”

In the workshop, participants listened to presentations on sustainable energy transition in Vietnam, as well as on three climate change adaptation projects in Thua Thien - Hue with support from Lux-Development.

The audience also learnt on how Da Nang and five other cities of Vietnam actively participated in One Planet City Challenge, which is an initiative led by WWF, or a successful story in transforming into sustainable cultivation of Hoa Vang, an agriculture district of Da Nang.

The most captivating part of the workshop towards the students was when they were shared with relevant examples to helps them understand how their lifestyles could affect climate change. Their choices for consumption will leave a great impact on the future, as a result, attitude of the youth today will make an important role in changing the current mindset of the Vietnam society. Young students gain some best practices of a life with low carbon emission, how to make changes through daily consumption like how to choose food, reduce waste - reuse and recycle, how to choose power sources, saving electricity and water,…etc.

There were 15 minute open discussion sessions after each presentation, leaving an opportunity for the students to exchange directly with the speakers and express their ideas. Their enthusiasm in exchanging dialogues proved that the youth realized clearly that they could be the agents of change.