On 9-10 August 2019, the Mekong Environment Forum (MEF) in collaboration with Can Tho University (CTU) organized the 2nd training workshop themed “Data visualization and data-driven story-telling skills”. The 2-day event brought together 33 participants who are students in Journalism, Sociology, Geography, and Foreign Languages from Ho Chi Minh City and CTU, and 6 senior experts from London, Thailand, Penn State University, Open Development Vietnam (ODV), and CTU.
The event aimed to provide understanding and updates about Mekong’s “green politics,” and to educate students on field research skills and data-driven storytelling skills. ODV experts also introduced new data visualization skills and tools to the participants.
This workshop is part of the Mekong Environmental Security Atlas Project that is financially and technically supported by Internews EJN, Takagi Fund, and Open Development Mekong Initiative.
On behalf of CTU, Assoc. Prof. Nguyen Van No, Dean of the School of Education, emphasized that the contribution of the Project and the research findings and datasets produced by the Project contributors appear significant to raising environmental justice and improving the understanding of environmental issues in the Mekong Delta.
After the workshop, 5 field research and dataset proposals were approved for implementation in August and September 2019. Each group, consisting of 3-5 members from different disciplines, received a small grant ($300 – $500) to advance their fieldwork. They are expected to submit their research results by the end of September when there will be a seminar to examine the quality of their works before they are uploaded to the MESA tool and ODV platform.