11. December 2019
In the project “Review and assessment of applicability of international best practices for air quality management in Vietnam”, UfU organised a one-week study tour for Vietnamese officials on the topic of air quality management in collaboration with Ecologic Institute and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).
The Vietnamese government is currently revising the Vietnamese Law of Environmental Protection (LEP). The revised version of the law is to include a separate chapter on air quality management. For the support of the drafting process of that chapter, the Vietnamese decision-makers seek exchange with experts in the field of air quality management. The participants on the study tour are directly involved in the legislative process and were curious to learn about both successes and challenges in the German experience.
The agenda of the study tour has been developed in close coordination with the participants of the study tour with a view to their primary interests and needs. The programme comprised visits to both scientific institutions (e.g. German Advisory Council on the Environment, German Environment Agency, UfU, Ecologic Institute) and political bodies (e.g. Federal Ministry for the Environment, Berlin Senate Administration, German Parliament) on both federal and state level. This allowed the participants to gain a broad understanding of air quality management in Germany. The speakers did not only present sucessful measured but also explained challenges and difficulties. The experts were happy to share their contact details to allow the participants of the delegation to raise more specific questions that might arise at a later point.
The participants followed the presentations closely and engaged in lively discussions afterwards. The Vietnamese officials showed high interest in the Germans regulations and institutions but also critically reflected the instruments and considered their transferability to the Vietnamese system. As the different experts covered a wide range of topics, many questions could be answered and the discussions stimulated new ideas.
The week was concluded with a workshop to concentrate the knowledge gained during the week and to reflect in what way the findings could be used in the legislative process. The participants also identified the areas in which they would like to deepen their knowledge. UfU, Ecologic Institute and GIZ handed over to the delegation the best practice analysis “Review and assessment of applicability of international best practices for air quality management in Vietnam“ that had previously been conducted as a part of this project. The participants were very happy witht he results of the study tour and declared to have gained important insights for their own legislative project.