Education to increase climate change adaptation for a Vietnamese community's coastal members

Abstract

Climate change is a global environmental phenomenon which many countries throughout the world have been trying to address. Climate change has affected almost all economies and societies as well as creating environmental problems worldwide. Over recent decades, numerous regions have suffered from dangerous disasters, such as heavy storms and floods, severe heatwaves and droughts, as well as adverse weather conditions which have caused loss and damage to both human life and property. Vietnam, the focus of this research, is highly affected by climate change impacts and natural hazards, especially in coastal zones. In acknowledging climate change, the Vietnamese government has planned for and employed National Climate Change Adaptation Programs in order to adapt to its threats. However, these National programs seem to focus on finding solutions relating to infrastructure, livelihoods, migration and so on, while efforts to change individuals' behaviour towards the environment are not seriously considered. Education to improve the awareness and adaptive capacity of Vietnamese coastal community residents to address climate change has been identified as a priority which was unresolved in the study site. This research aims to help bridge the gap by designing and implementing a climate change education program for a specific Vietnamese coastal community in order to enhance knowledge about and perceptions of climate change, and actions to adapt to it. To best achieve the main goal of the study, it was developed in three phases: a data gathering phase, an intervention phase, and finally an evaluation phase. Mixed methods were employed to address the research objectives, involving questionnaires, observations and interviews. Preliminary results from a sample of 108 Vietnamese coastal participants and qualitative analyses of interviews and observations in Phase One revealed a low level of climate change knowledge, especially among school students and farmers. However, residents were very concerned about climate change and predicted with a high level of accuracy a range of negative future effects of climate change. They also agreed that a climate change education program is necessary for the Thinh Loc community. Phase Two implemented a climate change education program to 98 participants. They were divided into three classes, comprising 58 school students, 10 teachers, 17 farmers, and 13 local government staff members. The educational intervention was designed from the results from the baseline data obtained in Phase One and using guidelines from climate change education programs found in the literature review. Constructivist teaching methods were applied to encourage students to actively engage in a variety of learning activities to build understanding, skills and the ability to critically analyse and discuss climate change knowledge, mitigation and adaptation strategies. Phase Three involved a post-intervention evaluation phase that measured the effectiveness and impact of the intervention on the participants. Analysis of 88 survey recipients, interview transcripts, and field observations demonstrated changes in awareness, perception and attitudes towards climate change, as well as the application of strategies to mitigate and adapt to climate change 6 months after the intervention. It was concluded that the climate change education program was effective in enhancing awareness and adaptive capacity to cope with climate change in this specific Vietnamese coastal community, with the potential to become a model that could be duplicated in other communities in Vietnamese coastal regions. Thereby, this research helps to contribute to developing climate change adaptation theory and practice.