Group photo in front of DONRE Danang, 10 April 2013
Following last year trainings and workshops to support the integrated coastal management (ICM) process in Soc Trang, from 8 to 10 April 2013, a study tour to Danang has been organised for representatives of local authorities from three coastal districts and members of the Interdisciplinary Planning Team. Aim of this study tour is for the participants to learn from practical experiences of Danang’s good practice on ICM application.
Before dinner on Monday 8 March, the vice director of Danang DONRE welcomed the delegation from Soc Trang and presented briefly about Danang’s achievements. On Tuesday 9 March, we visited Khanh Son landfill, Hoa Cuong wastewater treatment plant in the morning and some developments, tourist sites along the beach of Son Tra peninsula, climbing up to Marble mountain in the afternoon. On Wednesday 10 March, we listened to presentations about the ICM implementation in Danang and the ECUD GIZ project at Danang DONRE in the morning and visited the sustainable community model in Tho Quang ward in the afternoon and then flying back to Saigon.
Danang’s achievements
Danang is a new established city as it has just been separated from Quang Nam Da Nang province in 1997 to become an independent first-class city (central controlled). In 2000, Danang was selected as one of the national demonstration sites for integrated coastal management (ICM) in the framework of the regional program on Building Partnerships in Environmental Management for the Seas of East Asia (PEMSEA). Since then, Danang has consistently implemented the ICM framework and process and has had a comprehensive boom. Marketing and educational campaigns on sea and environment have been conducted. Data about the sea has been collected. Resources from the seas are used to improve coastal communities. High value of the sea has become its trademark with regulation for environmental protection. Environmental protection is considered as a crucial factor to the sustainable development of the city. Danang has refused 2 big steel and paper production projects because of their potential pollution to environment. Drainage system, wastewater treatment and solid waste management have been improved. All wastewater is collected and treated before going to the sea. Danang has developed the strategy of environmental protection for Danang up to 2010, and has conducted the project of “Danang – towards Environmental City” up to 2020. In 2011, Danang gained the “ASEAN Environmentally Sustainable City” Award and the National Environmental Prize.
The economy has grown fast with its structure shifting step-by-step towards service-industry and reduction in agricultural sector. Its macro policy has recognised the sea as a valuable front door of the city. From beginning of the renovation process, the city has applied land use planning and successfully relocated hundred thousands of households with reasonable compensation based on the fund from land auction for development projects[1]. As an international sea harbour, having both the sea and the mountains, the Cham museum, Danang has taken advantage of its unique condition to promote tourism, particularly with spiritual tourism in Kuan Yin pagoda, Ba Na pagoda. Nowaday, Danang has been famous as the most livable city in Vietnam. It is also the host for some international events such as the yearly fireworks festival. The city is also proud of its beautiful bridges, the unique rotatable Quay bridge, the dragon bridge, etc. which serve not only for transport but also for decoration.
The city has successfully implemented its ambitious “5 NO” campaign: no hungry households, no illiteracy, no beggars, no drug addicts, no murder/robbery. Danang has no longer hungry households under poverty line. Danang is the only city in the country without wanderers for begging. The city has been continuing the campaign with “3 YES”: housing, jobs and urban cultural & civilized lifestyles. More apartments/condominiums and 60 new residential areas have been built to provide more housing. More job trainings have been conducted. Education is considered as an important pillar for development. Poor students get tuition remission. There is a gifted high school for excellent students with scholarships. On the other hand, there are policies, endowment to attract talents to work in Danang.
Khanh Son landfill
Khanh Son landfill had been built from 2004 – 2006 with funding from World Bank and has been in use since 2007. Its designed lifespan is for 12 years (up to 2020). We can easily observe the informal waste separation right at the site. The landfill has 5 cells in total. Two cells had been used up so far and the 3rd cell is currently in use. The leachate is collected and then goes through wastewater treatment system. The effluent meets Vietnamese standard (except color parameter). The odor treatment is good there (using some kind of biochemist enzyme). Operational cost of the landfill is about 6 billion VND per year. The collected fee is 29,000 VND per tonne of municipal waste. It is planned to build here additionally the sludge treatment system.
Khanh Son landfill
The incinerators
Medical waste and other hazardous industrial waste are treated separately in the 2 incinerators next to the landfill. These two incinerators are made in Vietnam and the construction cost in total about 3 billion VND. The collected fees are 10,000 VND/kg and 6,000 VND/kg correspondingly; which means 10 million VND per tonne for medical waste and 6 million VND per tonne for other hazardous industrial waste. The cost is much higher in these cases because of the fuel used. The incinerators consume about 350 litres of diesel per tonne of these wastes. Normally, 1.4 tonnes of these hazardous wastes are burnt every two days in 7 hours. The incinerator has 2 chambers, one for burning waste into ash (which then is compressed into bricks and then will be buried carefully) and the other chamber is for burning smoke. The fuel is used mostly to burn the smoke completely therefore no smoke escape from the system.
Hoa Cuong wastewater treatment plant
Danang has 4 municipal wastewater treatment plants (Hoa Cuong, Phu Loc, Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son) using anaerobic technology for both domestic and industrial wastewater and 1 specific wastewater treatment plant (Tho Quang) using combining aerobic and anaerobic technology for wastewater from aquaculture.
Hoa Cuong wastewater treatment plant has been operated since 2007 and received domestic wastewater from Hai Chau, Cam Le and Hoa Vang districts. The plant’s capacity is 110,799 m3 and the flow is about 30,000 m3/day. There are 2 parallel anaerobic ponds. To ensure anaerobic condition, the ponds are covered with HPDE geotextile layer.
Operation is simple since the water flow by gravity. The wastewater is collected by the system along Han river with pumping stations. There is a primary settlement for sand and big size waste removal. Then the wastewater flows through 4 channels into 2 parallel anaerobic ponds. The anaerobic pond comprises 2 chambers. The first chamber is smaller but deeper and it is where substrates such as sludge from septic tank are added regularly to provide microorganism for the anaerobic treatment process. After flowing through the first chamber, wastewater is separated into liquid and solid phases. The water (liquid phase) continues to flow through the second chamber and the sludge (solid phase) remains at the first chamber. The wastewater stays in the ponds totally for 3 days (retention time) and then the treated effluent goes to Cam Le river. The effluent meets level B of Vietnamese standard.
The advantages of this anaerobic technology are simple design, high capacity, low cost for both operation and maintenance. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this anaerobic technology is odor because of H2S, NH3 generated. However, considering the high volume and the low level of pollution concentration of municipal wastewater, this simple technology is okay and practical.
Hoa Cuong wastewater treatment plant
Development and tourism along Son Tra peninsula
After lunch on Tuesday, 9 March 2013, we had chance to see some development and tourist sites along Son Tra peninsula. It was more like a sight-seeing tour. We visited the Kuan Yin (The Goddess of Mercy) pagoda which has just been built in 2010. People said that since then, no more heavy storm reaches Danang or even if there is storm, it changes direction and thus Danang is safe. Then, we visited the Ocean Villas, a real estate project of luxury residential area by the Vinacapital Cooperate. This is an example of turning unused and bare land into high value residential area. End of the excursion day, we had a short trip to Marble mountain.
Kuan Yin pagoda
Ocean Villas
Marble mountain
ICM implementation in Danang – Experiences and lessons learned
Mrs. Pham Thi Chin presenting about Danang’s ICM process
At the beginning, through MONRE, PEMSEA[2] approached several nominated coastal provinces including Nghe An, Khanh Hoa (Nha Trang), Danang to introduce about ICM as a tool to achieve sustainable development. PEMSEA saw the higher motivation, interest and willingness from Danang local authorities among others. Then in 2000, Danang has been chosen as the national demonstration site for ICM (2000 – 2004). Agreement was signed between PEMSEA and Danang in which PEMSEA committed to contribute 450,000 USD and Danang contributed 907,000 USD as counterpart fund. These fund was mostly be used for capacity building and integrating interdisciplinary approach in management, not for infrastructure investment.
In the preparation step, the project office, project coordination unit, management board, monitoring program were established. Stakeholders were identified. Core staff got trainings from PEMSEA. Then data of all sectors were collected. Workshops were organized for consultation to identify environmental issues and setting priority. Environmental profile for Danang was compiled. Vision for Danang in 50 years has been built. Based on the vision, strategy and 44 action programs have been developed. Danang has assigned DONRE to lead the city on the way towards becoming one of the top 10 low-carbon-development cities in the region. The action programs are regularly revised and adjusted. In recent year, climate change concern has been added into the strategy.
After the project finished, the project office has become VASI’s office in Danang and they still keep contact with PEMSEA and PEMSEA continues giving technical advice. The ICM project has been an important initiative for Danang towards sustainable development. It has strengthened Danang’s coastal governance through[3]:
§ Creating a multi-disciplinary co-ordination mechanism for coastal resource and environmental management
Most of the programs and development plans for the city, which are related to coastal resources and the environment, have been prepared in consultation with all relevant departments and districts. Community awareness-raising, as well as capacity building for local staff, contributed remarkably to the success of ICM in Danang. The multi-disciplinary co-ordination mechanism helps investment projects to fit in with the city’s coastal strategy (which considers risk management, recovery and protection of habitat, waste management, prevention and mitigation of pollution), and action plans for coastal resource and environmental protection have been implemented synchronously and harmoniously. Such as action plans include: waste separation at source, public awareness-raising on beach cleaning, environmental monitoring, investigation of marine resources, and project planning for the coral reef protection zone in the Southern part of Son Tra peninsula.
Danang’s ICM co-ordination mechanism
§ Creating technical tools to support integrated coastal resource and environmental management
Based on the ICM strategy approved in 2001, Danang’s Peoples’ Committee issued regulations for the management and protection of coral reefs and ecosystems related to the coastal areas from Chao islet to Nam Hai Van and the Son Tra peninsula.
Zonation planning for Danang’s coastal use includes categorization of coastal spatial uses, regulations on coastal use, a coastal use zoning plan and an institutional framework for implementation. This zoning plan has had a big impact on the achievement of reasonable coastal use and the mitigation of conflict.
The Integrated Environmental Monitoring program was approved by Danang’s People’s Committee on May 4, 2006 with 47 monitoring points for water (covering rivers, the sea, lakes and groundwater), sedimentation, soil, and air quality. Since then, DONRE has co-ordinated with other related departments to conduct regular monitoring, as well as irregular monitoring, in order to evaluate environmental quality in the whole city, and to assess the state of the coast.
The Integrated Information Management System (IIMS) has been established as a socio-economic, resource and environmental database system for Danang for risk management, developing strategies, environmental monitoring, and coastal use zoning, as well as other related activities supporting state management.
§ The integrated coastal resource and environmental management model has been widely applied by organizations, faculties, and authorities, as well as communities
Components of the environmental protection model, such as waste separation at source, planting trees, etc., have been implemented by many social organizations and unions. The movement, Green-Clean-Beautiful Sunday, has spread all over the city. The model of the “Community club of coastal sustainable economic development” developed by the Farmer Association of Tho Quang ward, has been a typical model which would be replicated in other places in the city.
§ Organizing inspections and conducting checks on the implementation of regulations and coastal resource and environmental protection
In recent years, inspections, and conducting checks on the implementation of regulations on ICM have been actively conducted, particularly in Son Tra and Ngu Hanh Son districts.
Limitations and lessons learned
Since ICM is a new management approach, knowledge and experience on ICM of local staff is still limited. There is a lack of information related to resource values, as well as a lack of human resources. Moreover, there is lack of experts in new areas such as zonation of coastal uses and institutional arrangements. Following are the lessons learned from the implementation of ICM in Danang.
(1) Ensuring capacity for project operation, management and implementation
The establishment of the Project Co-ordination Board, with the Board’s Chairman being the Vice-president of Danang’s People’s Committee, and with members being heads of relevant departments and districts, has created a synchronous and united management and co-ordination system for Danang. This has helped to mobilize the active participation of all stakeholders in the planning and implementation of the project. The Project Office was also founded with the selection of qualified personnel to advise and assist the Project Co-ordination Board.
(2) Organizing public awareness-raising activities as soon as possible
Awareness-raising activities on ICM have been organized and developed quickly for staff of local authorities as well as for the community, in order to build a consensus of appreciation of the importance and values of the coasts for the city’s sustainable development. This helps to create a high level of commitment and agreement from all stakeholders in the application of ICM.
(3) Building consensus among stakeholders
The support of stakeholders is essential for the success of the project. The commitment and active direction of Danang’s Peoples’ Committee shows a high level of determination and support for the project. This creates favourable conditions for ICM implementation, as well as mobilizing the interests and participation of stakeholders. Support from individuals and the community is a prerequisite for sustaining project activities. The active participation of departments, faculties, local authorities and communities helps the project to identify possible challenges in its implementation, and thereby be able to recommend solutions for problem-solving.
(4) Role of experts
The expert group plays an important role in providing technical advice. Danang has organized a multi-disciplinary expert group, which includes scientists, engineers and managers. Throughout the project, from building strategies to implementation of sub-projects, the advice of the multi-disciplinary group has been listened-to and considered as part of an integrated approach to complete the project’s products and to ensure their feasibility.
(5) Information collection
Right from beginning, Danang started collecting relevant information for the project. All information on environmental resources, and economic, social, cultural, and historical aspects have been collected and analyzed for building the database. This database is vital for the ICM implementation.
Eco-city and climate friendly urban development project (ECUD, GIZ Danang)
Ms. Dinh Le Quan presenting about the GIZ ECUD project at Danang DONRE
The GIZ ECUD project in Danang started in July 2011 and will end by March 2014. Its commissioning party is BMZ – the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and its implementing partners are DPI, DONRE and Department of Construction (DOC). The project aims to support Danang to effectively implement target programs on environment and climate change through interdisciplinary co-ordination mechanism. The project consists of 4 components: Environmental development strategy (1), Environmental monitoring, assessment and report (2), Environmental friendly master planning (3), Pilot studies on climate change mitigation and adaptation (4).
Danang has decided to become environmental friendly city in 2020, however the objectives have been just limited mostly to satisfy national standards on clean air and water rather than broader theme related to sustainable development, green growth and resources conservation. There is also lack of basic indicators and strategy to achieve the objectives. Therefore, the ECUD project aims to provide consultancy to support policy identification, building route for action plans and developing general strategy for environmental and climate friendly urban development.
For environmental monitoring and assessment (2nd components), activities of the ECUD project are building inventory of emission sources, including detail information, emission map; causes & effects modeling of environmental state in Danang and roles of polluters (polluters pay principles); developing emission reduction plan and action plan; revising impacts of suggested action plans by life cycle assessment.
Danang University of Technology with funding from the Rockefeller developed flooding model. On the other hand, CDM Smith consultant company with funding from World Bank developed the urban drainage model for Danang. None of these models has been used in policy analysis. The master plan and infrastructure decisions have been made without support of modeling. Therefore, the ECUD project aims to combine these flooding and urban drainage models into one integrated model, developing respectively scenarios to analyse policies for recommendation on development strategy and master planning of the city.
The ECUD project also conducts pilot studies on composting, climate-resilient house for replication in Danang and other cities in Vietnam.
The GIZ project Environmentally and Climate-friendly Urban Development (ECUD) in Da Nang has received a certificate of merit by the People’s Committee of Da Nang City in January 2013. The honorary certificate is awarded annually to groups and individuals in recognition of their contribution to Da Nang’s socio-economic development.
Sustainable development community in Tho Quang ward
The club for sustainable development community in Tho Quang ward, Son Tra district has been established in 2010. It serves as the pilot model for later replication into other places in the city. Goals of the model are raising legal awareness on coastal environmental and resources protection and management, improving coastal environment through mobilizing public participation, sustainable use of resources and economic development at Son Tra peninsula.
The club has 37 members and they have meetings quarterly. The regulation on coastal environmental protection has been developed and agreed among the club’s members. This core group then has mobilized a larger number of people in the community to sustainably use the coastal resources and to protect the environment. The club has taken care of the environment along 2.5 km coastline in Tho Quang ward. They have detected and timely prevented 2 incidents of illegal seaweed collecting in the forbidden zone along Son Tra peninsula.
With support from the ICM project, since October 2010, three trainings, workshops have been organized for farmers and fishermen in the area to raise public awareness on community role in integrated coastal management and environmental protection. The club has distributed 1000 flyers on roles of farmers in building environmental friendly city. Together with the Farmer Association, the club has mobilized people to participate in 12 environmental events of “Green, Beautiful, Clean Sunday”. Moreover, 25 members of the club have joined the rehearsal on responding to environmental risks organized by the city.
The club has encouraged members and other aquaculture/fishermen households in the coastal area to apply alternative livelihoods; so far, 5 households have shifted from aquaculture to tourist services. Three small capacity vessels have been converted into tourist boats, creating jobs for 14 people, including 5 club members.
Mr. Dinh, head of the club mentioned that they want to support more and more households’ livelihood, but the most difficult thing is the limited funding. It was recommended from the discussion that they can focus more on the task of raising community’s awareness because supporting alternative livelihoods for people there would be beyond their capacity and that can be taken care by other bigger projects.
[1] From Danang’s perspective, this initiative of land auction policy is a successful tool to create fund for the city’s urban development. On the other hand, from the state perspective, there is some legal violation related (see the link below). In my opinion, Danang has taken innovative policies and they have their reasons.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/government/69035/conclusions-about-da-nang-s-land-related-violations-have--legal-basis-.html
[2] PEMSEA members including China, Japan and 10 Southeast Asian countries
[3] Some old notes from the ICAM training in June 2012 are put additionally in this session.
Nice post. It was a good post for all the information provided by you are useful for all. Good one.
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