3-day Sustainability Workshop in Hanoi: 9.3. to 11.3.2023
We are still overwhelmed from our kick-off 3-day workshop from March 9 to 11 in Hanoi with students from the Academy for Journalism and Communication (AJC). The workshop addressed the topics of fair play, sustainability and gender equality. Using different non-frontal and interactive education methods like football, theatre and speed-dating, the participants were empowered to discuss the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climate change in Vietnam. Step by step, they developed ideas on how we all can live life more sustainably and in harmony with the planet. During a FairPlay football session one student noted: “The Ball is like the earth. So we need to protect The Ball like we need to look after the earth”. The workshop concluded with a public event, attended by dignitaries, and a pledge wall where individual climate pledges were recorded.
On the first day, we talked about climate change in Vietnam. Students had noticed changes in weather conditions influenced by climate change. One of the participants, from Football for All in Hue, talked about increased levels of flooding and extreme temperatures. A major climate talking point was the intense smog and pollution in Hanoi, which all of the participants have noticed and been affected by. Our team found the traffic congestion and pollution to be particularly intense. Hanoi used to be a city of bikes and now it is overflowing with mopeds and cars, hardly a bike to be seen.
Hui, a workshop participant, commented:
If we don’t address this now, one day we’ll look back and ask ourselves, why didn’t we act?
Our project aimed for students to develop concrete ideas to make their communities stronger. Some of their ideas were: RePLay, which focused on awareness raising and also recycling used materials in cities to make fashionable and cool products from recycled materials; and Move Together Green in collaboration with the Youth Union of Vietnam to help communities to become greener through networking and advocacy.
A big THANK YOU to all our participants, who supported us so greatly at this event. We were inspired by your creativity, commitment and by how you eagerly applied yourselves in a foreign language. We hope that you can become environmental advocates in the future. Thank you to the Academy for Journalism and Communication in Hanoi. We felt so welcomed and had a great time with the teachers and students of your academy. Thank you too for inviting us for lunch. We and The Ball enjoyed the food very much.
Thank you also to Michael Arends, Head of CSR at Werder Bremen, who gave a live input on Werder Bremen’s sustainability strategy. Indeed, all of the participants were also very excited to receive and wear their recycled bracelets made from recycled fishing nets from Bremen Harbour. It was great to see that a Bundesliga Club is taking sustainability so seriously.
And last but not least, thank you so much to the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Vietnam Office for supporting our program in Hanoi. Thank you to Julia, Nga, Thao and Chang for organising and planning and welcoming us so warmly in Hanoi. We hope to collaborate with you in the future too.
The Ball meets a legend of Vietnamese football
The event was headlined by Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet, who won the Golden Ball trophy in 2015 for being elected Vietnam’s most outstanding player. At the end of the festival, a friendly game with FairPlay football rules was played, which she refereed. Minh Nguyệt told us how she always dreamt of being a footballer, but that her mother didn’t want for her to go down that path. Despite all of the many obstacles that were put in front of her, she remained dedicated to her goal. She has become an incredible role-model for young women in Vietnam and is somewhat of a revered national treasure.
Nguyen Thi Minh Nguyet:
Just as we love The Ball, we also love the earth.