Healthy Air for Young Hanoians

Urban air is a vehicle for two significant threats: pollution and mosquito-borne diseases. In Hanoi, rapid development has seen substantial increases in PM2.5 air concentrations and mosquito habitats; the health-related implications of which pose a considerable threat to the city’s school children. We must mitigate for this. Central to mitigation is increasing the provision of data and raising awareness, thus encouraging people to change their attitude regarding the environment. Scientists and policymakers will also be better supplied with information. In support of this, CED proposes the implementation of “Healthy Air for Young Hanoians” citizen science clubs in the city’s urban secondary schools. Students will learn about air pollution and mosquito borne diseases, collect data and publish it online. This will increase the provision of information available and advocate for a healthier Hanoi. With additional funding, the project would be expanded across urban schools in other cities facing similar challenges.

Air pollution is one of the greatest environmental risks to health today; PM2.5 in particular presents a significant concern. They are capable of entering deep into the human respiratory system and passing through the body’s blood barrier. From there they cause a range of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. PM2.5 concentrations spike in urban environments and 95% of cities in Southeast Asia exceed globally set WHO targets for PM2.5. According to AQI’s 2018 annual report, Hanoi is the region’s second most polluted capital city. The city has over 5 million motorbikes and resides close to industrial activity, coal power plants and agricultural burning. 

Furthermore, mosquitoes spread vector-borne diseases such as Dengue and Zika in urban environments. This is a challenge for Hanoi, where rapid rural-urban migration, overcrowding and urbanization have led to poor sanitation and refuse management. This has facilitated mosquito breeding and fuelled increases in vector-borne illnesses across the city. For example, Vietnam saw around 40% more incidences of Dengue in 2017 compared to previous years, with Hanoi being the area hit hardest.

Young people are highly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution. Children breathe twice as quickly as adults and take in more air relative to their body weight. Furthermore, their respiratory tracts are more permeable, and their organs are still developing. Conditions caused by pollution and mosquito-borne diseases are also more likely to develop into acute cases in young people. As a result, school absenteeism may be higher and future opportunities reduced. With approximately 1.3 million children of school age in Hanoi, Vietnam’s capital city is home to 8% of the country’s total school children. Many of these students will attend school in an urban area and are therefore vulnerable to the city’s air pollution and mosquito-borne diseases. By monitoring these threats more closely, whilst simultaneously using this as an opportunity for education and engagement, we ensure the city’s urban young are both healthier and well-informed. In contrast to the current rigid approach to learning in Vietnam, introducing unsafe air monitoring via project-based learning allows students to link learning with the world around them. It also means that they directly participate in the solution. Ultimately this will help to improve education and support Hanoi to become a healthier city.

CED proposes a program centred on monitoring Hanoi’s PM2.5 air concentration and expanding the GLOBE mosquito habitat mapping program. This will take the form of “Healthy Air for Young Hanoians” citizen science clubs for secondary school students. 

Students will complete sessions on air pollution and monitoring to ensure participants are prepared for the club’s practical activities. We will then run “Air Walk” sessions where students use portable PM2.5 sensors and take readings around the school campus to map PM2.5 hotspots. Clubs can publish these readings online to Hanoi’s Capital Environment website and AQI’s data platform.

Clubs will also take part in GLOBE’s Mosquito Habitat Mapper program. GLOBE and CED are partner organizations, and this already established program maps the presence of mosquito habitats whilst educating students on mosquitoes. Students will complete introductory sessions on mosquitos, vector-borne diseases, measurement taking and mosquito traps before participating in mosquito habitat audit walks across their school campuses. As part of these walks, students will use a mosquito habitat mapper kit to record and eradicate potential habitats. Data will be published online as part of the activity, and CED will work with its network of universities and organizations to identify key data customers and ensure that they can access the information. 

Data can then be used by scientists and policymakers: in urban planning to predict disease outbreaks, in school planning to keep school children away from highly polluted areas on campus, or ensuring they are protected in areas of high mosquito prevalence. It can also be used to raise community awareness, for example via local radio broadcasts asking motorists to stop engine idling when near schools. As a culmination of the clubs’ activities, students will present their findings at school “Healthy Air” days that encourage the management and monitoring of pollution levels and mosquito habitats.

The project could be launched in 8 - 10 secondary schools in Hanoi. Each school could hold 1 - 2 clubs with approximately 30 students aged 16-18. CED will also provide training on air pollution monitoring and mosquito mapping to educators to support the running of clubs. CED proposes running the clubs as an extracurricular activity during the pilot phase.  Following successful uptake, CED could then look to expand club and training activities to Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Can Tho. CED will also then explore incorporating the activities into the core Vietnamese education curriculum.

We aim to innovate via directly combining air quality and mosquito habitat with project-based learning. This is radical in Vietnam, where state education is more rigid and has not progressed beyond a single set of textbooks, rote learning and frequent examinations. By introducing a project-based learning approach to tackle air pollution and vector-borne diseases, we can truly engage students with the issues of unsafe air and vector-borne diseases. At the same time, our activities produce data that is made publicly available, meaning scientific and political communities are better equipped to grapple with these issues, reduce NCDs and vector-borne diseases and make Hanoi’s air safer. Furthermore, this approach is not only applicable to the city of Hanoi and could be deployed in other locations facing similar issues across education and development in the future.

Our solution uses PM2.5 monitors, mosquito habitat monitoring equipment within an educational context, and posts the data generated by students online. Students will use portable pollution monitoring sensors to capture readings and generate data on PM2.5 concentrations on school campuses. We can then work to leverage online data platforms – the Air Quality Index (AQI) data framework and Hanoi’s Capital Environment website – to make these readings publicly available. AQI’s well-established platform links to desktop and mobile applications, and raw data is also available through an API in support of app development. Readings will be available alongside those from other pollution monitors in Hanoi, of which there are relatively few, increasing the granularity of available data. Students could also support the AQI team in developing their online platform, subject to approval. Hanoi’s Capital Environment website also shows readings from other stationary pollution sensors across the city. Including our readings here will further boost data resolution.

A similar approach will be used for the expansion of GLOBE mosquito habitat mapping program. After mapping the location and details of mosquito habitats using habitat kits, students will post their locations and attributes online. These will be made available via GLOBE’s existing data visualization system, whilst the raw data can be accessed via the program’s Advanced Data Access Tool. When overlaying this data with other information such as temperature and land use maps, political and scientific communities will be better informed to tackle vector-borne diseases around Hanoi’s urban schools.

To tackle high PM2.5 concentrations and vector-borne diseases, we first need to achieve two things: adequate monitoring and raising awareness. However, pollution in Hanoi may not be well measured across the city, and in particular it is severely lacking across the environments where vulnerable young people spend a high proportion of their time - urban school campuses. In addition, both educators and young people may not be fully aware of the issues of unsafe air and vector-borne diseases.

Via the twin pronged approach of project-based learning and measurement publication, we hope to make Vietnam’s leaders, educators and actors tomorrow more aware of these issues. Furthermore, by publishing students’ particulate measurements online, we provide data and increase the granularity at which evidence is available. This gives scientific and political communities a stronger information base on which to develop policy and action. It also provides education and administration staff with the information to effect change in the shorter term, for example via keeping children away from pollution hotspots on school campus and ensuring that they are protected in areas of high mosquito prevalence. Furthermore, activities that are part of the GLOBE habitat mapper expansion remove the habitats themselves, helping to directly address the issue of vector-borne diseases in Hanoi.

With the successful implementation of the pilot, we expect to directly serve approximately 600 students across Hanoi’s urban schools, that is, they will participate in the “Healthy Air for Young Hanoians” program and join an extracurricular club. In addition, we would expect that all children within their respective schools feel the benefits of the program, for example by being shielded from pollution hotspots on school campuses and due to a reduction in the number of mosquito habitats in the area. Following a successful pilot within the first year, and after seeking subsequent funding, CED would then look to expand activities into schools across other cities in Vietnam and directly engage at least another 2,400 students, though ideally more. 

Within the next 5 years, CED would begin work to integrate the proposed extra-curricular activities into Vietnam’s core secondary school curriculum and reach all of the country’s (approximately) 2.5 million secondary school children. We would also work with our network of partners and advisors to explore the potential of expanding the program to other countries beyond Vietnam. Laos and Cambodia may be high priority candidates for this.

CED’s goal within the next year is to launch the proposed pilot program across 8 to 10 schools in Hanoi, reaching approximately 600 students directly via engaging them in extra-curricular clubs and benefitting many more via the data and insight activities will generate. Following a successful pilot in Hanoi, and after securing additional funding, CED will aim to scope and plan an expansion of the project in other cities across Vietnam.

Within 5 years, CED’s goal is to integrate the proposed activities into the Vietnamese secondary school curriculum. This would contribute to moving away from a rigid, textbook and examination-based approach and encourage citizen science and project-based learning. Working with our network of partner organizations, we would also scope out expanding the project beyond Vietnam to other countries that face similar issues of unhealthy air, vector-borne diseases and rigid education systems.

A central barrier within the next year is securing domestic funding in the face of declining international donations. As Vietnam continues to develop as a lower-middle income country, international donors are beginning to withdraw their support and funding must increasingly be sought from domestic sources. This requires a shift in perspective across Vietnamese businesses and organizations in the near future so that they become aware of the value of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and philanthropic activity.

In the longer term, a barrier to accomplishing the goals of this project will be changing the status quo in education and moving the Vietnamese education system away from its current rigid approach. Though there is already an appetite to address this, implementing project learning based activities into a curriculum where rote learning and examinations are the norm may challenging and will likely take time to change.

To overcome the identified short-term barrier, CED will leverage both its experience and network of partner organizations. We have significant experience in stimulating corporate philanthropy and CSR and will use this to our advantage within the proposed project. The results of our past work means Vietnamese businesses are now more willing to engage, to work with us and to donate resources. We can capitalize upon this in order to stimulate domestic funding for our SOLVE project.

In relation to the longer-term barrier, one of CED’s core activity areas is to design, test and implement new approaches to education in Vietnam based on the best performing countries around the world. We will use the network of education partners and advisors that we have built up from this to continue supporting long-term educational reform in Vietnam, to ensure stakeholder voices are heard and to help maintain momentum around improving the country's curricula and teaching systems. Furthermore, educational reform is a national priority in Vietnam. The 5th session of the 14th Vietnam National Assembly recently concluded and as part of the agenda several supplements and changes were tabled relating to Vietnam’s Law on Education. Given this, it may be more likely that funding will become available in the future for projects relating to educational reform and that national organizations will be more receptive to change across Vietnam’s education system. Together, these two factors will help to overcome the identified longer term barrier.

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Two full-time staff from CED will drive this solution forward. In addition, we will utilize a number of volunteers, external partners and advisors from our network of contacts, as required.

CED is a dynamic group of experienced scientists, training specialists, educators, and development specialists committed to education and development causes in Vietnam. With projects in two interrelated, mutually reinforcing program areas - education and development - we work to develop innovative solutions and initiatives with a wide range of partners in the public and private sectors in Vietnam.

CED develops and implements educational programs for elementary and secondary school students to test new ways of teaching and learning in schools. We achieve this with the proactive involvement of related agencies outside of the education sector. Specifically, we develop creative education and science education programs attached to the content of the national curriculum for primary and secondary students. 

CED’s development programs focus on topics including promoting civil society participation, biodiversity conservation, climate change, environmental management, disaster risk reduction, community philanthropy and corporate social responsibility (CSR). CED also leverages its network of experts in this area. With a range of partners from the public, private, and non-profit sectors, CED designs and implements initiatives to deal with social and environmental issues affecting communities.

Given our experience across both education and development, we feel CED is well placed to deliver the proposed project.

In relation to this project, CED currently partners with the GLOBE organization to facilitate the Mosquito Habitat Mapping Program in Vietnam. We engage with schools and provide training to staff on the GLOBE program and the GLOBE Observer Habitat Mapper software.  By doing so, we help to introduce citizen science and project-based learning into the classrooms of Vietnam, raise awareness of vector-borne diseases, and increase the provision of publicly available data on mosquitoes and their habitats.

CED has created a social enterprise - CED Link - to provide education services for all. CED Link’s mission is to inspire stakeholders, improve their capacity, social responsibility and ability to contribute to the development of Vietnam’s education system.

CED Link’s values are: social responsibility, reliability and professionalism. Our key customers are pupils, teachers and managers in the education and private sectors of Vietnam.  Our products and services include educational training documentation, materials, courses and programs spanning science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), “soft” skills, citizenship, project-based learning and other wider educational requirements. We deliver these directly in education settings, via online learning platforms, and via developing training materials and programs for teachers and educators who then transfer these to their school environments.

To pave a path towards financial sustainability, CED is beginning to monetize its activities in line with the social enterprise approach. This includes: transferring programs to subscribable online learning platforms, collecting evaluation fees from registered schools, and developing chargeable training materials and courses for teachers who then transfer these to their school environments.

In addition to this, educational reform is a long term national priority for Vietnam, as evidenced by its inclusion on the agenda of the recently concluded 5th session of the 14th Vietnam National Assembly. With the government engaged in reforming education and the national curriculum, we expect state funding to become available to organizations who are already actively supporting change and implementing progressive educational programs. CED and CED Link are well placed regarding this, as we have already launched creative programs that are well-aligned to the Vietnam Ministry of Education’s creative curriculum. Through the above activities, we are on the path to stimulating sustainable revenue streams for our activities, including the proposed project.

CED is applying to SOLVE in order to increase the exposure and funding our proposed project would receive. We want to improve air quality, reduce vector-borne diseases and improve education for young people not just in Hanoi, but across other cities facing similar issues. With the support of SOLVE, we hope to reach as many young people as possible, engage with the media as widely as possible, utilise technology to the best effect, and also use this opportunity as a springboard to stimulate additional funding. We are confident that SOLVE’s dedicated support and access to its cross-sector community will help us to achieve this.

CED would like to partner and work with other education-focussed organizations to help fund and deliver our solution across both Vietnam and beyond. This could include, but is not limited to, other non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations and education-focussed non-profit organizations.

In addition to the organizations mentioned above, we would be keen to connect with organizations who could boost the technological capacity of our solution, provide additional funding and revenue models, and trigger media opportunities to increase our exposure.

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