The workshop was deployed in two locations, Son La City and Hanoi City, during the period from April 1 to April 18, 2022, with the goal of proposing the construction and improvement of the project, creating and developing areas for water surface spaces and drainage canal systems in the city area associated with hydrological factors. Today's final session is to summarize and share experiences from a long series of acacia activities from April 1-18, 2022.

Overview of the workshop

As part of the development goal of "Safety - Friendly - Rich in identity", Son La city has given specific orientations in terms of planning in the stage of upgrading and developing the drainage and sewerage infrastructure system, water surface system. This adjustment is made to solve urgent problems in the drainage regulation system as well as to serve the needs of developing public green parks and water surfaces in urban areas. However, the impacts in the planning process have made urban development become heterogeneous and encroached on residential areas and urban areas more seriously, affecting the value of living space as well as the water surface area of ​​the region. These factors are directly related to the ecological and climatic environment of the city, placing urgent requirements on the protection, upgrading and development of the landscape at the sites where there are natural water surfaces and drainage system.

The field approach of this technical workshop is to identify and promote existing indigenous values ​​through surveying the current situation, drawing and analyzing to propose landscape architecture design ideas that are practical and highly feasible to solve the problems of climate change. The drawing and sketching of local identities, cultural values ​​and landscapes and exhibitions in Son La and Hanoi are an important outcome of the Workshop in recognizing the indigenous values ​​of Son La to the community.

Mr. Olivier Gillard, Hydrologist, Project Leader of AFD, shared that he believes this activity is a good opportunity for young people to come up with new creative ideas and participate in a dialogue about disaster risk management and water resource management.

 “The impact on the water factor is the impact on climate change, because climate change and hydrological factors are not separate but have a close relationship. Managing rivers or affecting water resources is the way to adapt to climate change. However, risks of natural disasters and floods will still be there, very difficult to completely eliminate. We can only adapt and mitigate climate change. Stakeholders include managers, technical experts, and even residents… do not ignore this important factor in city planning”, emphasized Mr. Olivier.

The group of instructors and students participating in this Workshop were accompanied by lecturers from Hanoi University of Architecture, Toulouse National University of Landscape Architecture (France),  Normandie School of Architecture (France) and Hanoi National University. In addition, the group of students participating in the project included 40 selected students with the majors of Architecture, Fine Arts, Communication, Economics from those universities and Son La City Youth Union.

Field working group in Son La province

Sharing before the event, Mr. Conan Herve, Director of the French Development Agency (AFD) said: “The goal of Hanoi University of Architecture students' participation in the Son La City Resilience Development Project is to complement the engineering studies conducted as part of the project, with analyzes performed in a different form. We hope that this type of workshop will generate new and creative ideas, allowing the People's Committee of Son La province and the people to have different views not only of the city and their vicinity, but also about different approaches to development that enhance the potential of the city. The workshop will be successful if the graduate students come up with interesting and workable solutions to the planning problems. And if architecture practitioners can elicit new ideas for the Son La Provincial People's Committee about city planning that AFD and the Commission have not thought of before, that could lead the project in a positive direction. new".

Mr. Pr. Dominique LAFFLY, Attaché for Scientific and University Cooperation, French Embassy in Vietnam said that he was sure that the participation of students of Hanoi University of Architecture and students of the university in the project's activities is a creative idea and can spark even more creative ideas, because they have a new perspective on city management that is closely linked to real challenges for a sustainable city. And, with the Hanoi University of Architecture, there's also a very interesting artistic side.

The University of Architecture is a perfect example of a long-standing partnership with French universities and architecture schools. Today we can observe the results of this collaboration through the faculty of the Hanoi University of Architecture who were previously doctoral students in France. They supported and developed very strong research activities and those are the real keys to envisioning a sustainable future in the context of global warming.

The method used in this workshop involves “participatory” research in which all actors and citizens participated to think together to find the answer to the question. This leading «positive science» approach is important because citizens are seen as a real part of the system. And so they are willing to do the best. Hanoi Architectural University leads in that methodology in Vietnam because some associate professors have actually done their doctoral theses in France! – Mr. Pr. Dominique LAFFLY shared.

Overview of the workshop in Son La Province

Duong Van Khanh, last year student of Landscape architecture in French language shared: My group is about the park system. Therefore, instead of staying in one location like other groups, my group traveled to many different places to find potential spaces to build new parks for Son La to cope with climate change and offer solutions to build cities from a green, fast and sustainable point of view. It is easier for my group to work together because we have similar age and factors. Other groups have more differences in terms of age and nationality, so they have more and stronger arguments.

In addition to focusing on our expertise, we do a number of side activities together. Stay up all night together, go to the streams, experience the local culinary culture, etc. and join the bonfire in the last night. However, the most interesting thing was the field trip going on small and difficult village roads. We once lost our way, and then met with Thai ethnic people who don't understand Viet language so we talked in English, Khanh said. 
The impression left from this program is the love for trees, the city, and the landscape. Son La is a friendly, hospitable city with lots of natural beauty. 

Whistle, Tran The Dai, a graduate student, class of  Design Urban Area, commented that the workshop is organized methodically, individuals have a high sense of responsibility and work together.  But he wants to have more time to rest because studying and working at the same time the schedule is a bit tight. We looking forward to more similar activities. Replace traditional project work with hands-on activities like these, he said.