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UNESCO Office in Ha Noi, 15.03.2013
15 March, Ha Noi - Today, the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), UNESCO and Samsung held a launching ceremony for an Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) initiative to be implemented in Viet Nam. The initiative is part of a global agreement between UNESCO and Samsung that aims to enhance education system responses to contemporary challenges to sustainable development. Viet Nam is the first country to benefit from the agreement.
The overall objective of the project is to support Viet Nam to shape a more resilient and sustainable learning society by: (i) creating an enabling environment for ESD through raising awareness of community, media, authorities, parents and school principals on the challenges of climate change, disasters and biodiversity loss and empowering them to respond to these challenges through community action plans supported by media communication to the wider public; (ii) developing and implementing e-learning teacher training courses to strengthen teachers’ understanding of ESD and enhance their capacities to integrate it into classroom activities for primary students’ benefit and to lead the school community to develop disaster preparedness plans; and (iii) developing disaster risk reduction strategies for incorporation into Viet Nam’s heritage sites’ management plans.
At the ceremony, the Deputy Director-General of MOET’s Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Ass. Prof. Le Trong Hung and the UNESCO Representative to Viet Nam, Ms. Katherine Muller-Marin, jointly delivered a presentation on the project activities, highlighting the initiative’s significance at national and international levels, noting that the courses and materials produced will be made available nationwide and the experience will be shared globally. Thua Thien-Hue Province, which is vulnerable to flooding and the adverse effects of climate change, and which has a vision to become ‘a municipality of urban ecology, heritage, culture and a friendly environment’, will benefit from the joint efforts between scientists, authorities, local communities, schools and media.
Wonhwan Shim, head of Samsung Electronics Vietnam Complex, discussed the experience of Korea and the importance of education in addressing inequalities amongst peoples and countries. “We would like to set up a ladder of Hope for children who never stop dreaming in harsh conditions such as natural disasters and climate change. South Korea went through hard times ourselves. It is time for us to share experience and what we have learned through the long and tough journey. We are now truly ready to change from given to giving”.
In his remarks, Vice Minister of Education and Training, Nguyen Vinh Hien, stressed that addressing climate change, disasters and biodiversity loss requires efforts of the whole political system and the entire society, undertaken with “high consensus and determination from local, regional, national and global levels”.
For more information, please contact Vu Chien Thang, Assistant to the UNESCO Representative to Viet Nam, at vc.thang(at)unesco.org.
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