Environmental Governance in Vietnam: A Citizens’ Perspective

featuring
Dr. Chinh Tran, Lecturer, Faculty of Development Economics, VNU University of Economics and Business, and Center for Community Support and Development Studies

Environmental pollution and the quality of the environment has become a significant public concern in Vietnam as PAPI reports since 2015 have shown. To gauge local governments’ performance in responding to citizens’ growing demands for environmental protection, The Viet Nam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index has started to analyze a new dimension on environmental governance since 2018. This dimension looks into how citizens experience air and water quality in their residential areas and asks for their views on levels of compliance by investment projects with environmental protection requirements. The dimension sets baselines to assist local governments in understanding citizens’ environmental concerns over time. It also informs local governments about “hotspots” of environmental concern so that they can work towards addressing them. This talk discusses the look from Vietnamese citizens’ perspectives on environmental governance over time. 

Dr. Chinh Tran is from Hanoi, Vietnam. He is currently a is a lecturer at Faculty of Development Economics, VNU University of Economics & Business. He is also affiliated with the Center for Community Support Development Studies (CECODES). Chinh Tran got his PhD in the field of Natural Resources and Environmental Management at University of Hawai‘I at Mānoa. He was also a recipient of the East West Center-National Science Foundation doctoral fellowship and involved in the project “Coupled Natural-Human Systems and Emerging Infec-tious Diseases: Anthropogenic environmental change and avian influenza in Vietnam”. His research interest is on environmental governance, green growth, circular economy and sustainable development. Currently, he is one of the core team members to develop The Viet Nam Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI). The PAPI assesses three mutually reinforcing processes: policy making, policy implementation and the monitoring of public service delivery. The dimensions are specifically tailored to Viet Nam’s national and local level contexts. The philosophy behind PAPI’s innovative policy monitoring approach is that citizens are seen as “end-users of public administrative services” capable of assessing governance and public administration in their localities.

The views expressed are those of the speaker and do not necessarily reflect East-West Center policies or positions.