Publications

The Geopolitics of Cambodia’s Funan Techo Canal

With its potential to foster Chinese-backed economic enclaves and military installations, the canal poses a foreseeable challenge to Vietnam’s national security…

The Intensifying Impacts of Upstream Dams on the Mekong

The Mekong Delta of Vietnam stands to be most in danger in the time of accelerating and intersecting impacts from climate change and hydropower…

Why adaptation falters: principles for climate change adaptation policy assessment in Vietnam

Nguyen Minh Quang*, Nozomi Kawarazuka, Thien Ngoc Nguyen Pham**, Thu Hoai Nguyen**, Hieu Minh Le**, Tho Thi Minh Tran**, Thoa Thi Ngoc Huynh** , 02 February 2024
International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management – UK Emerald
Issue Vol. 16 No. 1
DOI: 10.1108/IJCCSM-05-2023-0063
* Co-founder of MEF
** MEF Research Assistant

Recognition that not every climate adaptation policy is a good one has shifted attention to new tools and methods to measure the adequacy and effectiveness of adaptation policies. This study aims to propose and apply and applies an innovative adaptation policy assessment framework to identify the extent to which climate adaptation policies in Vietnam exhibit conditions that are likely to ensure a sufficient, credible and effective adaptation…

Factors affecting fieldwork security and success of students at Can Tho University

Nguyen Minh Quang*, Quach Thi Lan Phuong, Le Minh Hieu**, Nguyen Pham Ngoc Thien**, 15 November 2023
Vietnam Journal of Educational Sciences
DOI: 10.15625/2615-8957/12311112
* Co-founder of MEF
** MEF Research Assistant

Fieldwork, a critical part of curricula, matters for enhancing professional skills and global competency that UNESCO defines for 21stcentury citizens. However, participation and performance in field studies are believed to be different and disproportionate among students. Using surveys of 204 undergraduate students specializing in different disciplines at Can Tho University, this paper seeks to understand this problem by exploring the determinants influencing students’ fieldwork activities…

Determinants of farmers’ adoption of adaptation measures in carbon-intensive agricultural areas: A case study in An Giang province, Vietnam

Nguyen Minh Quang*, Nguyen Pham Ngoc Thien**, Nguyen Hoai Thu**, Huynh Thi Ngoc Thoa**, Tran Thi Minh Tho**, Le Minh Hieu**, Dang Quang Thinh, 30 September 2023
Cogent Social Sciences
Issue Vol. 9(2)
DOI:10.1080/23311886.2023.2262769
* Co-founder of MEF
** MEF Research Assistant

This paper seeks to address this gap by scrutinizing critical determinants of farmers’ adaptation action in agriculturally rich An Giang province, where climate change impacts are generally less evident. Intense crop cultivation in the province involves the liberal use of fertilizers, crop-residue burning, frequent tilling, and other harmful farming practices that release carbon…

Citizen science matters: theorizing citizen science and exploring its promises for addressing Mekong environmental problems

Nguyen Minh Quang*, 20 April 2022
The VMOST Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities
Issue Vol. 64 No. 1
DOI: 10.31276/VMOSTJOSSH.64(1).25-35
* Co-founder of MEF

Starting with the view that the emergence of citizen science initiatives proves the fullest potential to address environmental problems and promote sustainability from the ground up, this conceptual paper aims to explore why citizen science matters for a low-carbon future in the Mekong region. Based on a literature review and semi-structured expert interviews, this paper highlights the importance and unique impacts of citizen science in science, policy, and sustainability education spheres. These impacts are reflected in case studies of United States and Belgium. Results from empirical data also reveal that citizen science is transforming research, educating and informing the public, and decentralizing and informing policy. The results further provide promises for addressing environmental problems in Mekong countries where environmental degradation seems to be getting murkier. The paper concludes with a discussion as to how citizen science should be embedded in local environmental governance as it revolutionizes our understanding of the environmental challenges and promotes evidence-informed policy making.

A Method for Measuring Women Climate Vulnerability: A Case Study in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Nguyen Minh Quang*, 25 February 2022
International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management – UK Emerald
Issue Vol. 14 No. 2
DOI: 10.1108/IJCCSM-05-2021-0047
* Co-founder of MEF

This paper builds on the literature to identify 12 risk categories across physical, economic and political sectors that affect rural women. These categories and attendant 51 risk indicators form the WCV index. A case study in Ben Tre Province (Vietnam) was used to demonstrate the application of the WCV methodology to rural contexts. The authors combined empirical, survey and secondary data from different sources to form data on the indicators. Structured expert judgment was used to address data gaps. Empirical and expert data were combined using a few weighting steps and a comprehensive coding system was developed to ensure objective evaluation…

Ecocide on the Mekong: Downstream Impacts of Chinese Dams and the Growing Response from Citizen Science in the Lower Mekong Delta

Nguyen Minh Quang* and James Borton*, 9 October 2020
Asian Perspective
Johns Hopkins University Press
Issue Vol. 44, Number 4, Fall 2020
DOI: 10.1353/apr.2020.0032
* Co-founder of MEF

In this commentary we discuss the geopolitics over China’s Mekong dams to provide an understanding of the challenging downstream impacts of its hydropower dams. When it comes to downstream countries struggling to secure their national water security while sustaining economic and diplomatic ties with Beijing, Beijing’s actions reflect a huge mismatch between words and deeds. The relationship between Mekong riparian countries and their giant upstream neighbor is a complicated push-and-pull dynamic in which local voices and biodiversity conservation are often excluded. The growing citizen science–led collective grassroots initiatives in the Lower Mekong provide an opportunity for the downstream governments to broaden their response strategies. By analyzing the impacts of public participation in local environmental decision making and policy arenas, the article provides insights into the role of citizen science in networking science and grassroots movements to oppose ill-conceived projects in constructive and peaceful manners. It concludes with a discussion on how citizen science–led grassroots environmental movements can be translated into participatory diplomacy.

Transformative learning and grassroots climate adaptation: case studies in Vietnam’s Mekong delta

Nguyen Minh Quang* and Joop de Wit, 4 May 2020
Nature Conservation
Issue Vol. 39
DOI: 10.3897/natureconservation.39.29551
* Co-founder of MEF

This paper aims to understand how T-learning helps communities achieve better sustainability outcomes. On the basis of an intensive literature review and field research conducted in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, the paper proposes a substantial linkage between T-learning and sustainability. It first outlines the environmental changes in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, which appear to serve as “disorienting dilemmas” that force local people to learn and gradually shift their farming practices to align with a climate-resilient development. The paper relies on the outcomes of household surveys, field observations and focus group discussions to explore the impacts of T-learning on building adaptive capacity and sustainability transition in two community-based projects in Can Tho City and Ca Mau province in the Mekong Delta. Our findings reveal that T-learning enables experts and practitioners to introduce new ideas and accordingly mobilize local people to make changes without inciting doubt, dismay or concern. In an ideal T-learning approach, small-scale farmers learn from being under the supervision of experts in “field-based schools” that offer real-life experience and encourage learners to shift their livelihoods to eco-friendly agricultural practices. The paper sheds new light on how a critical approach to education for sustainable development through T-learning can be, under specific conditions, one strategy. It concludes that T-learning should be acknowledged as a potentially important part of the broader approach to climate-resilient development in vulnerable grassroots communities.

Transformative Learning as a Ground-up Approach to Sustainable Development: Narratives from Vietnam’s Mekong Delta

Nguyen Minh Quang*, Le Van Nhuong, Ho Thi Thu Ho, Le Van Hieu, Trinh Chi Tham and Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuc, 01 December 2019
Asian Journal of Agriculture and Development
Issue Vol. 16(2)
DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.298427
* Co-founder of MEF

As the Vietnamese government continues to seek appropriate actions to move the national action on climate change forward, the emergence of grassroots sustainability initiatives has the potential to promote sustainability from the ground up. This paper reviews the current concepts of transformative learning (T-learning) and its importance through which some substantial linkages between T-learning and sustainability can be identified. It outlines the environmental changes in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, which appear to serve as “disorienting dilemmas” that force the local people to learn and gradually transform their behaviors and lifestyle choices to align with a low carbon and sustainable development. In an ideal T-learning approach, the major beneficiaries are the small-scale farmers, women, and ethnic groups (learners). They learn by doing under the supervision of educators (experts) in field-based schools that offer real-life experience and encourage learners to shift from traditional farming practices to modern, eco-friendly agricultural models that promote local economic self-reliance and biodiversity conservation. The paper sheds new light on how a critical approach to education for sustainable development through T-learning is an appropriate form and why T-learning should be acknowledged as an important part of the broader approach to self-help, climate resilient development in vulnerable communities.