The Finale of the Competition “Pioneering Initiatives in Climate Change Adaptation 2025”

SLO – On the morning of Saturday, 13 September 2025, the grand finale of the contest “Pioneering Initiatives in Climate Change Adaptation 2025” will take place from 8:00 to 11:30 at Room C21, 51 Quoc Huong Street, An Khanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City. The event will be held in a hybrid format, with both in-person and online participation via Zoom, as part of a research programme funded by the Wellcome Trust (https://climate-health-vietnam.org/) in collaboration with the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), United Kingdom.

SocialLife

Seeking solutions for outdoor workers

In the context of an increasingly harsh climate change – with extreme heat, erratic storms and worsening air pollution – outdoor workers are facing severe health risks, including heatstroke, exhaustion and a higher incidence of workplace accidents. These challenges directly threaten their livelihoods and wellbeing, and have provided the driving force behind the contest, which seeks to encourage initiatives from communities, experts and workers themselves to generate feasible solutions that safeguard health and improve workplace safety.

This year’s competition has attracted a wide range of impressive ideas. After a rigorous selection and evaluation process by the expert panel, five outstanding teams will compete in the final round. The highlight of the finale lies in the presentation and debate sessions. Each team is given ten minutes to present its idea, followed by ten minutes of direct dialogue with the judges. Though brief, this format requires contestants to demonstrate the creativity, feasibility and potential impact of their solutions. More than a skills contest, it offers an opportunity for community-led innovations to be tested against multiple professional perspectives – reaffirming strengths while identifying areas for refinement before real-world application. The debates are expected to generate a lively atmosphere, as ideas from workers and communities are brought into direct exchange with experts.

SocialLife

A prestigious, multi-disciplinary judging panel with scientific and fair criteria

The judging panel this year brings together a wealth of expertise. It includes Dr Vu Ngoc Anh, Director of Research at the National Centre for Social Research (United Kingdom) and Principal Investigator of the Wellcome Trust–funded project on the impacts of climate change on the health of outdoor workers in Vietnamese cities; Dr Nguyen Hong Tay, Deputy Head of the Representative Office of the Ministry of Home Affairs in the South; Dr Nguyen Minh Nhut, Deputy Head of the Culture and Society Committee of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Council; MSc Tran Duc Su, Deputy Director of the Centre for Innovation and Technology Transfer at Ton Duc Thang University; and Dr Nguyen Thi Anh Nguyet, Head of Social Work at the University Medical Centre, Ho Chi Minh City.

Importantly, the panel is not limited to researchers, climate change specialists, public health professionals and urban planners, but also includes representatives from trade unions, social organisations and outdoor workers from diverse occupational groups. This diversity ensures that evaluations are comprehensive and balanced, weighing both scientific rigour and practical realities.

According to the competition’s rules, entries are assessed across six main criteria with varying weightings. Effectiveness is the most significant, accounting for 25 per cent of the score, measuring how successfully a solution has been applied in practice or its potential for development. Creativity and practicality each account for 20 per cent, with creativity rewarding originality and fresh approaches, and practicality emphasising low-cost, easily implemented solutions. Scalability makes up 15 per cent, assessing how well ideas can be applied across wider communities. The final two criteria, Sustainability and Inclusiveness, carry 10 per cent each, focusing respectively on whether solutions can be maintained in the long term without heavy external support, and whether they are suitable for different genders, age groups and vulnerable populations.

With the participation of so many innovative ideas, the presentation and debate process promises to deliver rich, multi-dimensional perspectives. It is here that communities and experts come together to transform initiatives into viable, real-world solutions. The “Pioneering Climate Change Adaptation 2025” contest is not only an intellectual arena where ideas converge and compete, but also a practical step towards protecting the health, safety and livelihoods of millions of outdoor workers as the impacts of climate change intensify.

SocialLife