Towards carbon neutral and sustainable development: UEH - ISCM actively connecting with local authorities, domestic and international partners
16 Jan, 2025
In 2024, the Institute for Smart Cities and Management - University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH - ISCM) has implemented various training and research activities in cooperation with local authorities, domestic and international partners on policy making, designing and developing smart and sustainable cities; at the same time, spreading knowledge to the community. These activities have affirmed the role of ISCM in particular and UEH in general in contributing to the goal of sustainable city and social development in Vietnam.
Glocal Partnership for Carbon Neutrality 2024 series
Organizing series of educational activities, research, seminars and so on by theme is one of the annual programs of the Institute of Smart Cities and Management. After the success of the 2023 event series with the theme of Carbon Neutrality, in 2024, ISCM continues to implement a series of international activities with the theme of Glocal Partnership for Carbon Neutrality. "Glocal" is the application and integration of interdisciplinary - transdisciplinary thinking, global solutions and the "Global Thinking - Local Action" approach into each specific local context, through cooperation and co-creation with domestic and foreign partners. In 2024, ISCM continued to carry out teaching, academic, extracurricular and research activities to propose solutions to contribute to realizing the goal of carbon neutrality, promoting and implementing green transformation and sustainable development in regions in Vietnam and the world, contributing to the country's goal of achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The 3rd International Design Competition: Reimagining Cities towards Carbon Neutrality - A place to gather creative proposals to turn Bac Phuoc Thang into a Carbon Neutral City
With the mission of nurturing and incubating solutions to build a smart and carbon-neutral city brand, the 3rd International Design Competition: Reimagining Cities towards Carbon Neutrality was held, creating an open international environment to encourage students from urban-related fields around the world to develop design and planning options for the Bac Phuoc Thang area to become a new, sustainable urban area and especially reduce carbon emissions.
The competition was announced and accepted for registration in April 2023, attracting more than 400 university students from the fields of Architecture, Design, Urban Planning and other fields globally. The success of this competition is largely because of the coordination of UEH, the People's Committee of Vung Tau, and its partners, including universities and international enterprises. Following this success, the 4th International Design Competition promises to become a highlight of the series in 2025 as it continues to be organized in coordination with local authorities.
Mr. Vu Hong Thuan - Vice Chairman of Vung Tau City People's Committee - visiting the exhibition with the TOP 15 contestants of the competition
Seminar on developing Vung Tau City into a high-quality and world-class tourism center
The seminar reported on the Project "Developing Vung Tau City into a high-quality and world-class tourism center" towards carbon neutrality, implemented by the UEH research team under an agreement with Vung Tau City People's Committee, with the aim of proposing a strategy and implementation roadmap for the city from the curent time until 2050. At the program, experts presented research results, as well as shared information on a variety of fields, ranging from Architecture, Design, Urban Planning, Landscape, Night Economy, and City Image Communication.
Leaders, representatives of departments, wards and communes along with professors and experts attending the workshop
“Khanh Hoi Port Renovation Project: Factors for Success” Workshop
On September 19, 2024, at UEH Campus B, the workshop: “Khanh Hoi Port Renovation Project: Factors for Success” was jointly organized by UEH - ISCM, ADEME under the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Regional Integration (France) and Terao Asia Company (Singapore). Khanh Hoi Port Renovation is one of the projects serving the needs and development orientation of the city, environment, trade, tourism heritage and port. This is also one of the six goals within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Department of Planning and Architecture of Ho Chi Minh City and ADEME, if which, Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee committed to redeveloping Khanh Hoi Port as part of the strategic development plans of the Saigon River corridor.
The workshop discussed and evaluated factors related to port development through presenting and analyzing technical, environmental, socio-economic, financial and policy factors related to the planning and development of port areas.
ISCM experts presenting at the workshop on Khanh Hoi Bridge renovation
International Summer Camp Beyond the Urban 2024 with the theme “Smart Access: Co-Creation Platform and Natural Solutions for Cam Lam, Khanh Hoa”
At the end of July 2024, ISCM cooperated with Handong Global University (Korea), Ngurah Rai University (Indonesia), KU Leuven University (Belgium), and University of Trieste (Italy), with the support of Cam Lam District People's Committee (Khanh Hoa), to organize the International Summer Camp Beyond the Urban (UBU) 2024 in Cam Lam - Khanh Hoa. This is a journey to find answers to preserve the existing green areas and green the gray areas in this potential area. The program has received the attention and commitment of nearly 30 young people from Vietnam, Korea and Indonesia, leaving marks on the journey of connecting knowledge between students from many countries around the world.
Overview of the final presentation of the summer camp with the participation of experts from Italy, Belgium, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cam Lam People's Committee
Spreading knowledge and researching for the community, UEH - ISCM continues to affirm their role in the field of smart city development
Throughout 2024, experts from the Institute of Smart Cities and Management have been invited to participate and to present research at scientific seminars and forums related to the design and development of smart and sustainable domestic and international cities. From urban planning and design solutions of a Vietnamese region to the direction of planning smart development policies, along with their own policies, ISCM in particular and UEH in general are proud of their continuous development and increasingly affirm their pioneering role in building and shaping the future of smart cities in Vietnam.
The 12th World Urban Forum in Cairo, Egypt with the theme "Home is where it starts: Local action for sustainable cities and communities"
From November 4-8, 2024, UEH - ISCM participated in the series of the 12th World Urban Forum (WUF12) held in Cairo, Egypt. WUF is the largest international event on urbanism, bringing together leaders, experts and stakeholders from around the world to discuss urban issues, including rapid urbanization and its impact on communities, cities, economies, or climate change policies.
UEH representatives in the discussion session on megacity planning in the digital age
Participating in the forum, Dr. Trinh Tu Anh - Dean of the Institute of Smart Cities and Management - together with experts, representatives of agencies and non-governmental organizations from Turkey, Egypt, Korea, Belgium, Mexico and Nepal were invited to attend two discussion sessions: “Local actions towards sustainable urban development” and “Megacity planning in the digital age”. In the first session, UEH shared its views on the role of planning in improving the quality of life and protecting the environment, emphasizing the importance of the co-creation platform and the need for multi-sectoral cooperation and supporting policies to build a sustainable living environment. In addition, UEH shared the strategy for economic development - tourism - community art in Tam Thanh Commune, Quang Nam Province, an activity within the framework of the program “Strengthening institutions and capacity building for urban development in Vietnam”. In the second session, UEH proposed initiatives and shared experiences in applying practical technology to enhance and to promote smart city development in Vietnam.
Vietnam Urban Forum 2024 with Sustainable Planning Solutions for Tam Thanh, Tam Ky
In response to World Urbanization Day and towards the theme of the 12th Session of the World Urban Forum taking place in Cairo - Egypt, on November 8, the representative of the design team of the Institute for Smart Cities and Management (ISCM) - Mr. Dang The Hien - was involved in one presentation at the Vietnam Urban Forum 2024 organized by the Ministry of Construction on the topic "Incorporating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into local planning: The case of a planning process with the participation of Tam Thanh commune, Tam Ky city." This is a joint project between ISCM and UN-Habitat, the government and the people of Tam Ky City, under the sponsorship of the Swiss Confederation.
ISCM representative’s report
Scientific Workshop on “Solutions to promote digital transformation in smart urban construction”
On the afternoon of October 23, 2024, UEH - ISCM representative, Dr. Trinh Tu Anh - Dean - presented a paper on the topic “Digital transformation in smart city construction in Ho Chi Minh City” at the Scientific Workshop on “Solutions to promote digital transformation in smart city construction” organized by the Center for Youth Science and Technology Development in collaboration with the Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City, with the support of the Department of Science and Technology of Ho Chi Minh City, the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City and the Young Scientists Club of Ho Chi Minh City. The presentation provides an analysis of the fundamental concepts of Digital Transformation, the strategy for sustainable smart city development in the era of Industry 4.0. From the experience of successful countries in the world and the current context of Ho Chi Minh City, Dr. Trinh Tu Anh and the research team have proposed specific solutions for the city's future development strategy.
Dr. Trinh Tu Anh - Dean of the Institute of Smart Cities and Management, University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City - presenting the topic "Digital Transformation and Smart City Construction in Ho Chi Minh City: Current Situation and Solutions"
In addition, other events that can be mentioned include the International Workshop Towards a Sustainable Transport Community in Southeast Asia (organized by Thammasat University Thailand, Trisakti University Indonesia) with the participation of Mr. Pham Nguyen Hoai, Discussion session on the topic "Passive Architecture - Reconnecting People and Nature" (organized by The Too Blue Scientist and Hoa Minh Club) with the participation of Dr. Huynh Van Khang, and the participation of Ms. Tran Thi Quynh Mai and Mr. Pham Nguyen Hoai at the Eco-cultural Tourism for Local Activation Course organized by UN-Habitat and the National Center for Urban Training.
In education, ISCM also actively cooperates with local and international partners and incorporates carbon neutrality into projects and courses. This includes the course on Urban Visit for K48 of the Smart City Architecture and Design program with the theme Cities on the pioneering path: Innovative steps towards Carbon Neutrality, which is an opportunity for students to visit public works built with carbon neutrality assurance, or the Self-healing Landscape Design Project of K47 and K48, which aims to research and find solutions to restructure the inappropriate forms of the landscape system in Ho Chi Minh City.
ISCM students visiting the Institute for Research and Development of Digital Knowledge, within the framework of the Urban Visit 2024
Resilient landscape design of K47 and K48
2024 is a journey in which UEH - ISCM has continuously developed, connected and cooperated with local authorities, domestic and international businesses and educational institutions towards sustainable and carbon-neutral development. 2025, marking the 5-year journey of ISCM, promises to be a year to continue promoting these connections, forming a united block towards a sustainable city in the future.
New, photos: Institute for Smart Cities and Management
