emplement! Empowering urban regions for cooperative, synergistic and practical implementation of sustainability and resilience strategies considering the urban-rural nexus
The emplement! project develops methods and tools that are suitable for supporting relevant actors in urban regions in efficiently translating their sustainability and resilience strategies into appropriate implementation measures.
In Vietnam, as in almost all countries in Asia, rapid urban growth poses major challenges to cities and their surrounding regions. The aim of emplement! was to develop transferable concepts, practical methods, and suitable tools. In addition, the project sought to develop the necessary capacities for implementation and application, enabling the relevant actors to adequately address these challenges and translate their sustainability and resilience strategies into practical and synergistic measures. The focus was on the Da Nang City region and the neighboring province of Quang Nam in central Vietnam, which were not considered separately but examined with particular attention to their systemic interdependencies. The emplement! approach integrated spatial-, actor-, policy-, technology-, and process-related components – an approach that is becoming increasingly important for future planning, following the 2025 administrative reform, which merged the two local authorities into a single administrative unit.
Intensive cooperation in the urban-rural-regional context made a significant contribution to anchoring the aspects of sustainability and climate protection in urban regions and strengthening their ecological, social, and economic resilience.
One of the central elements of the research and development phase (R&D phase, 2021–2025) of the emplement! project was the development of a community-based ecotourism concept (CBET) for the Cu De River Valley in the north of Da Nang. This concept combines sustainable agriculture, forestry, waste and sanitation management with the promotion of ecologically sensitive, culturally appropriate tourism. The aim was to create new income opportunities for residents, improve the quality of life for the population, and build a resilient, environmentally friendly infrastructure.
The implementation took place in a participatory process in which local communities, administrations, non-governmental organizations, universities, and other stakeholders were actively involved. The project identified the resources and potential of the communities, strengthened knowledge and skills in a targeted manner, and not only developed technical solutions – such as a decentralized wastewater treatment plant and sustainable energy systems – but also designed, built, and tested them in practice. With the help of the emplement! methodology for analyzing and supporting implementation processes, the social, legal, and political framework conditions were also reviewed and evaluated. This actively promotes the integration of the developed concepts into local strategies.
The emplement! CBET concept also initiated the founding of the Hoa Bac Ecological Agriculture and Community Tourism Cooperative – an example of how community-based development approaches can lead to sustainable economic, ecological, and social progress.
In order to disseminate and consolidate the approaches, concepts, and solutions developed in the R&D phase for other municipalities as well, a regional network for sustainable tourism was established to enable and promote the exchange of knowledge, experience, and best practices among stakeholders in the region. The first successful ideas and proposed solutions have already been transferred to other municipalities in the region via this network.
Project lead:
Oliver Assmann / Dieter Steinbach
AT-Verband
Waldburgstraße 96
D-70563 Stuttgart
Phone: +49 711-7355282
E-Mail: info@at-verband.de
Project partners:
- Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences
- University of Hohenheim
- Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences
- University of Tübingen
- Da Nang University of Science & Technology
- Quang Nam University
- Danang Institute for Socio-Economic Development
- People's Committee of Quang Nam
- UN-Habitat Vietnam
- Da Nang University of Architecture
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