Community‐based environmental management in Vietnam: the challenge of sharing power in a politically guided society

Abstract

The article presents the challenges of introducing a ‘shared‐power’ community‐based management approach in the socialist society of Vietnam. The Portland State University (PSU)'s Oregon Environmental Management Alliance partnered with Vietnamese organisations in a shared‐power pilot project aimed at strengthening stakeholder participation in environmental improvements in two communities along the Tan Hoa‐Lo Gom (THLG) canal in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). The Oregon Solutions model, a community‐based environmental management (CBEM) approach, was adapted for the shared‐power project. This article analyses three core ingredients of the shared‐power CBEM approach: multiple stakeholder structure, dispersed authority arrangements and diverse policy instruments. Critical reflections are offered on the meaning and appropriateness of these shared‐power ingredients when they are reinvented in Vietnam's politically guided governance system. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Towards Local Government Strategic Planning in Vietnam: Systemic Governance Interventions for Sustainability

“…This research contributes to the literatures (Ingle and Halimi 2007;UNDP 2006;World Bank, 2005) about the positive progress of the Vietnamese government on strengthening the local democracy and public involvement in terms of policies and regulations, in other words in theory; but existing institutional barriers exist to constrain participation by citizens. For example, according to Ingle and Halimi (2007), there are three institutional barriers: (i) a lack of local awareness about existing and new policies, laws and regulations; (ii) reliance on mass organizations such as the Women's and Youth Unions; (iii) a lack of tools that facilitate participation along with useful detailed guidelines on when, where and how to apply the tools (p.97).…”

“…For example, according to Ingle and Halimi (2007), there are three institutional barriers: (i) a lack of local awareness about existing and new policies, laws and regulations; (ii) reliance on mass organizations such as the Women's and Youth Unions; (iii) a lack of tools that facilitate participation along with useful detailed guidelines on when, where and how to apply the tools (p.97). However, the findings identified by Vu (2008 forthcoming, Chapter 5) show that these are insufficient barriers and not the root of the lack of or without undertaking citizen participation in the planning process.…”

Community Involvement in Urban Watershed Management

“…This toolkit has proved, to a certain extent, to be useful in gathering different groups of people in Ho Chi Minh City to work in a collaborative and consensus approach. However, Ingle & Halimi (2006) argue that the Community-based Environmental Management model and toolkit should be further modified to improve its appropriateness for the Vietnamese context. Therefore, it is recommended that the Community-based Environmental Management model and toolkit should be modified and applied as a starting point for the community involvement model in Ho Chi Minh City.…”