By Oanh Truong Thi Kim

June 18-21, 2020, the UKRI GCRF Living Deltas Hub project team together with the students from Service-Learning – Building Green Community course, students major in Natural Resources and Environment Management participated in data collection  in Ba Tri and Thanh Phu Districts, Ben Tre Province. It aims to collect relevant information on the impact of climate change on the livelihoods and health of the households.

This is an essential activity of the Work Package 3 in 2020. After a long freeze period due to COVID-19 pandemic, lately, data collection activities have been successfully undertaken.

Hoa Sen University’s research team and students surveyed 260 households in My Nhon Commune and An Binh Tay Commune (Ba Tri District), and My Hung Commune (Thanh Phu District), Ben Tre Province on the (1) perception, coping and adaptation of the local people to climate change, (2) impacts of climate change on the households’ finance and health conditions, (3) people’s access to information about climate change, (4) water uses: consumption, sanitation, quality and quantity, (5) implementation of policies and initiatives, and (6) citizen science.

The Mekong Delta dweller’s willingness and cooperation to the survey activities provided a realistic view of saline intrusion, drought, and the impact of climate change on the household’s livelihoods. Moreover, interviews with households and the local administration helped to learn more about the livelihood models and the support programs locally. The data collected from this activity is the baseline for further research activities towards developing indicators of delta health index. The lesson learned from this activity will be also translated to developing an appropriate citizen-science data collection approach.

With Service-Learning integrated approach, Hoa Sen University is proud to be one of the partners that offer students real-world learning experience with the community. In September 2020, the project team expects to organize the second data collection to Soc Trang Province, another site located downstream Mekong rive