emplement!
The research project emplement!, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), is now sponsored for its research & development phase 2021-2025, after having been sponsored for the definition phase 2019-2021.
The project is developed in cooperation with AT-Verband – Verband zur Förderung angepasster, sozial und umweltverträglicher Technologien e.V., Stuttgart (coordinator), IZES gGmbH – Institut für ZukunftsEnergieSysteme, Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences, University of Hohenheim, University of Tübingen and UN-Habitat as well as several local partners in Vietnam.
In the research & development phase Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences is responsible for subproject 4 “Regional Networks and Spatial Development Concepts”.
Project Description
With regards to the rapid urbanization, cities and their surrounding regions cannot be developed separately anymore, but only in an adequate consideration of the systemic city-regional nexus. Therefore, the objective of emplement! is to develop transferable tools and the needed capacities that enable administrations and relevant stakeholders in the city of Da Nang and the adjacent Quang Nam Province in Vietnam to implement relevant strategies and plans into practical, efficient and sustainable as well as resilient city-regional measures that interact synergistically.
Both at the planning and the practical level, emplement! thereby focuses on four fields of action: tourism, agriculture, industry, and built environment. Based on this, a comprehensive, transferable methodology applicable also in other Asian cities and regions will be developed.
Besides the definition of longer-term implementation activities in the four fields of action, the German-Vietnamese team of researchers, practitioners and local authorities already in the definition phase conceived first practical showcase projects, taking into account the conceptual and technical synergies both between the four fields of action and within the urban-regional context. In the R&D phase, the research team of Frankfurt University takes the lead in the action field of a sustainable, community-based tourism (CBT), scientifically accompanying a CBT pilot project in the Hoa Bac commune and along the Cu De River valley.
The need for capacity development is addressed by appropriate trainings and workshops. The reference of the results to the superior framework (such as SDGs and New Urban Agenda) is ensured by UN-Habitat as project partner.
Press Release, September 12, 2019
Results of the Definition Phase 2019-2021
In the definition phase, the Frankfurt UAS team had a focus on the Cu De River Valley as a development space connecting Da Nang with its regional and rural surroundings. The valley is conceived to provide an entry point for visitors to expand their stay and experiences in the region through a provision of sustainable tourism options. The research and summer school activities that took place were seen as a pilot project to illustrate the regional potential for community-based tourism and urban-rural development. The following project results are available here:
Research Report Cu De River Valley – Sustainable Tourism Development of Hoa Bac (2021)
In recent years, Vietnam has strengthened tourism as a major economic sector. Although investments have so far been primarily focused on mass tourism, there are also efforts to promote local, community-based tourism, which helps to generate income opportunities for the population, while preserving cultural traditions and promoting environmental protection. Based on a comprehensive master's thesis, the definition phase created initial ideas for a regional sustainable tourism network that identifies, visualizes and links existing tourism potentials and strategies, creating synergies for economic, social and environmental added value.
Research Report Regional Network for Sustainable Tourism Development (2021)
The overall final report on the definition phase 2019-2021 (in German) is available here:
Summer School 2022: Community-Based Tourism in the Cu De River Valley
After 2019, this second International Summer School was organized in cooperation with Da Nang Architecture University (DAU) from 20th to 30th September, 2022. The objectives were an assessment of the already existing tourism activities in the valley, the development of complementary offers and the conception of the necessary capacity development strategies.
25 students from Vietnam and Germany worked together on five topics: cultural tourism, ecotourism, sustainable forestry and agriculture, decentralized rural infrastructure, and a regional tourism network.
The final documentation can be found here and summarizes the different work steps, the experts’ presentations, and the final results of the groups.
German-Vietnamese Science Day 2023 and Conference Wise City 2023 in Krakow
The pilot project on community-based tourism in the Cu De River Valley was presented by Prof. Michael Peterek and Dr. Susana Restrepo Rico at the German-Vietnamese Science Day on 26th and 27th April, 2023 in Da Nang.
Additionally, the project was also presented by Prof. Michael Peterek at the Conference Wise City at the Technical University of Cracow in Poland on 12th and 13th May, 2023.
SURE Status Seminar 2023 in Bangkok
At the Status Conference 2023 of the BMBF project network "Sustainable Development of Urban Regions (SURE)" on September 26th and 27th in Bangkok, members of the German-Vietnamese emplement! research team presented the current state of research on the development of sustainable, community-based tourism in the Cu De River Valley in Vietnam > find here the summarizing presentation poster