The initiate for the joint EPFL and CTU collaboration research objectives begun with our workshop titled, “Nature-based Solutions and Science Policy Transfer in the Mekong Delta,” which was held at Can Tho University (CTU) on June 17th, 2024. The session was organized by the Dragon Mekong Institute and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) with the support of the Swiss State Secretariat Economic Affairs (SECO) and implemented by the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). The workshop was introduced by Prof. Van Pham Dang Tri followed by Prof. Paola Vigano and Dr. Sylvie T. Nguyen. Discussants with expertise in landscape, urbanism, engineering and science presented their project experience and expertise regarding the topics for the morning and afternoon round table discussions: “Climate Change challenges and resilience based on Nature Based Solution approaches in the Mekong Delta,” and “Knowledge transfer from scientific research findings to inform policy making in the Mekong Delta,” followed by two round table discussions surrounding these topics.
EPFL and CTU Joint Research Project
The purpose of this EPFL-CTU Joint Research Project collaboration was to explore the opportunities and constraints of the application of Water Sensitive Urban Design in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta in the future, with a focus on employing Nature Based Solutions, as a mediator between the Delta’s natural water ecosystems and the currently engineered hydraulic water management systems. Climate change and anthropogenic processes have impacted water management, which are felt across the Delta’s urban and peri-urban territorial environments. The research project builds on evidence of this impact through the research methodology of the Transect across Long Xuyen’s urban-rural territory, as a research-by-design tool for analyzing the Delta’s different ecosystems—to offer an ecological perspective of existing and possible ecosystems in the Delta. The aim was to generate a hypothesis for how to promote future resilience in the Mekong Delta through scenarios built upon Urban Design frameworks in Nature Based Solutions.
Joint publication output: Explorations in Nature-Based Solutions across the Vietnamese Mekong Delta’s Three distinct Ecosystems Regions
The Joint Research Publication was the result of a multi-disciplinary collaboration team including urbanists, planners, landscape, and environment principally EPFL and CTU. The paper (to be published) explored the role of Nature-Based Solutions in addressing climate change and anthropogenic impacts in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. By framing NbS as mediators between natural ecosystems and hydraulic infrastructures, we explored design strategies that integrate ecological restoration with engineered systems across three regions of the Delta: upper, central, and coastal. Using a Transect methodology to analyze five case study areas, we examined land-use patterns, recent land use transitions, climate risks, and water management challenges. Our research informed NbS strategies for enhancing ecological resilience and sustainable water ecosystems, concluding with the proposal of three NbS directions to drive future adaptation: NbS as mediators, drivers of land diversification, and bridges across scales.