Vietnam Innovation Day 2005 - General Information

This year’s Country Innovation Day on the theme “Environmental Action” will be held during June 15-16, 2005. It consists of two parts:

1. Innovation Competition - an open competition whereby start-up funds are awarded to organizations proposing innovative ideas about achieving environmental improvements in Vietnam, and
2. Knowledge Forum - leaders in the development community will come together to share their experiences around the theme of Environmental Action.

The event is co-organized by AusAID, Canada Fund, Danish Embassy, ENV, ERM, Mercedes-Benz Vietnam, Royal Netherlands Embassy, NZAID, SIDA, SDC, VietnamNet and the World Bank, Vietnam Office.

The topic for this year’s competition is “Environmental Action’’. Vietnam is facing a number of serious environmental problems, related to industrialization, urbanization, and exploitation of natural resources. Grants will be provided for projects in three areas, with special attention to increased NGO and community involvement. 

• Managing solid waste
• Sustainable uses of natural resources, and
• Community involvement in monitoring pollution

Managing Solid Waste. Vietnam produces over 15 million tons of waste each year from households, industries, commercial enterprises, and hospitals and the amount will increase rapidly over the next decade. Managing this waste is a big challenge, both because of its substantial cost and its large potential benefits to public health and the quality of life. 

This sub-theme will support innovative ideas by NGOs, community groups, and pubic and private enterprises to minimize solid waste by promoting solid waste recycling, reuse, and composting and other recovery activities, and which generate incomes and contribute to sustainable communities.

Sustainable uses of natural resources. Vietnam’s possesses abundant natural resources (land, agriculture, water, and forests), but the productivity of these resources is being degraded as a result of overuse and mismanagement. In the last 5 decades, natural forest cover has shrunk from 43 to 29 percent of the land area, and the country is facing an acute shortage of arable land. Habitat loss has led to a rise in the number of threatened species. Sedimentation, and point and non-point sources of pollution are threatening the health of rivers. Over-fishing and destruction of coral reefs and mangroves have reduced fishing yields and damaged coastal ecosystems. The rural poor will be affected most by continuing declines in productivity.

This sub-theme will support initiatives by Vietnamese rural communities, NGOs, and individuals, to empower them to undertake activities that improve management of natural resources and protect biodiversity. Creative ideas could include community forestry, non-timber forest products, reducing the illegal trade in wildlife, and establishment of eco-villages.

Community involvement in monitoring environmental problems. Vietnam has been achieving results with community based monitoring of pollution, bringing social pressure on polluters to comply with laws and providing enterprises with incentives for improving pollution control.

This sub-theme would support innovative ideas for improving environmental performance of enterprises and government agencies responsible for the environment. Projects could be based on public disclosure and community and NGO involvement in monitoring, behavior-changing awareness campaigns, exchange of environmental information and improving responsibility for environmental protection.

Timeline:

Proposals must be received by the World Bank Vietnam office by 5:00 pm on May 4, 2005. All documents should be in Vietnamese and, if possible, English, and should follow the format outlined in the application form. Short-listed groups will be notified in early June and invited to participate in the VID presentation in mid-June in Hanoi. If selected for funding, the winning group will be asked to follow additional steps to receive financial awards.

Eligibility Criteria:

The VID is seeking proposals from all Vietnamese individuals and groups, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), local governments, and public and private development enterprises. International organizations may only apply in partnership with a local agency. Participating organizations must meet the following requirements:

• Plan to complete the project within one year;
• Have acceptance within the community for the project or plan to obtain and maintain ownership by the beneficiaries; 
• Include innovative ideas, approaches or solutions; 
• Contribute to the national efforts in improving environmental protection, addressing environmental problems in solid waste management, natural resources management, and community involvement in monitoring pollution and other forms of environmental degradation; 
• Co-financing (can be in-kind)
• Have an ability to implement the proposed project.

Evaluation criteria:

Funding will be awarded to proposals that directly address the above themes and meet our criteria for being innovative. Our definition of innovation is the introduction of new formulation concept, services or new ways of doing things by successfully applying new ideas.  Evaluation will be based on, but not limited to, whether the project meets the following criteria:

• Addresses well an issue within the specified themes and present a feasible solution for the issue;
• Is innovative; 
• Has acceptability within the community or a persuasive plan to obtain and maintain ownership by the beneficiaries;
• Has feasible results 
• Is different from what has been done or is currently being done;
• Has the potential to be replicated or expanded within the community or elsewhere.
• Sustainability

It is planned that at least 30 grants will be awarded through an open competition. The maximum award size is expected to be about US$10,000. Final awarded amount may vary in size and will be determined based on the needs of the proposals selected.

For further details, please contact:

Ms. Bui Thi Thu Trang
World Bank Vietnam Office, 8th Floor, 63 Ly Thai To St., Hanoi
Tel: (04) 934-6600 Ext. 335; Fax: (04) 934-6597
Email: vietnam@worldbank.org