Discovery Phase paves the ways for collective impact and collaboration to reduce pollution in Vietnam

Vietnam's rapid social and economic development has led to significant environmental pollution challenges, including poor urban air quality, contamination of surface water and groundwater, and ocean plastic pollution. The people of Vietnam are increasingly concerned about their local air and water quality. In response, the Government of Vietnam (GVN) passed the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and accompanying National Action Plans to address air quality, water conservation, and plastic waste pollution. Given the complexity of these issues, broad cooperation between the GVN, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), scientists, and community groups is required to address environmental pollution challenges.

The USAID Reducing Pollution Activity, a five-year effort implemented by Winrock International, is supporting locally driven initiatives to reduce environmental pollution in Vietnam through a collective impact approach. To empower local organizations working on innovative solutions to reduce pollution, the Activity provides grants to local NGOs to lead a series of initiatives bringing together diverse stakeholders to achieve collective impact. As part of this approach, the Activity began with a unique Discovery Phase, which provided a valuable opportunity to connect with, learn from, and engage this key range of stakeholders. This case study explores how the Activity used the Discovery Phase to collaboratively plan and learn from relevant organizations working on pollution issues in Vietnam.