Background:  

I am from Vietnam, my home town is Hanoi capital city. I got a Bachelor of Engineering in 1995 at Architectural University, Hanoi, Vietnam. I continued my study by conducting Master of Science on Urban Environmental Management at Asian Instutite of Technology, Bankok, Thailand (1997-1999). Currently, I am PhD student at School of NRSM, the University of Queensland, Australia.

Study Area: Rural Communities for the Future

Project Title: Exploring the role of community participation on solid waste management in Vietnam

Project outline: This research is focused on solid waste management in Vietnam. Solid waste management in Vietnam has traditionally not been a major problem, because there has been very little waste generated. However, since a change in economic policy in 1986, there has been rapid growth in both population and economic output. As a result, existing infrastructure and systems for managing solid waste are now inadequate in many communities apart from the more densely populated inner city areas. Many communities have a primary household collection service, but few have a secondary collection and disposal facility, and there are relatively few sanitary landfill sites in the country. In sub-urban and rural areas, solid waste is usually dumped in open fields and water courses, leading to various direct and indirect health risks and contamination of surface and ground water. Some community-based waste management schemes are in operation, but long term success is not common. The principal researcher has been involved in a foreign sponsor-funded project of this type, which although apparently successful at the time, lasted only as long as the external support, with rapid reversion to traditional behaviours following completion of the project. It is apparent that this project was not able to create the context for sustainable change in behaviour and attitudes of community members. However, since most local authorities lack resources to implement effective waste management services, the communities themselves need to be able to address the serious and growing problems of waste management. 

 This research study will explore the role of community participation in solid waste management in Vietnam by seeking to understand the problem through the perceptions of local people and authorities on waste management. Developing appropriate solid waste management solutions for two particular study areas and implication for other areas with similar circumstance are the main aims of this study. The focus will be on two areas, one in sub-urban area of Hanoi capital city and the other in rural area of Bac Ninh province.

Advisors:

Principal: Dr Donald Cameron
Other: Dr Iean Russel and Dr Christine King

Publications:

• A paper on Community participation on solid waste management, published in Proceeding of International Conference on Integrated Solid Waste Management in Siem Riep, Cambodia, 2005.

Contact Details:

• Phone: 0411706531
• E-mail: s4111184@student.uq.edu.au
• Postal: 4/44 Brighton Road, Highgate Hill, 4101, Brisbane, Australia.