Here’s a blog post from Cici Tran a volunteer from 350.org Vietnam, about a recent activity they held in Hoa Sen University.

Changes do not necessarily have to be big. Small changes matter as well, especially when both take time to produce results. Then, who would be better to target than the youngsters who have the most potential and time to create changes for the future?

On Sunday, 11 October 2015, CHANGE/350 Vietnam participated in a welcome event for freshers at Hoa Sen University. The event was for first-year students to get to know each other and sign up with university clubs which they were interested in. CHANGE cooperated with the environment club of the university called Green Environment Organisation (GEO), having an interactive booth as well as holding a talk with a group of students about climate change and COP21.

As soon as the event kicked off, the youthful energy could be felt throughout the entire hall as soon as the students started arriving. Music, the sound of laughters and talking filled the atmosphere.

This was also a follow-up event for our Live Simple project, which aims to promote low-impact lifestyle and raise awareness about the role of individuals in tackling climate change. Therefore, at our booth, the students were invited to participate in a fun yet educational quiz about the environment and climate change. Moreover, when answering correctly, the students received a prize: a Live Simple t-shirt, a Live Simple eco-friendly tote bag or a cute plant. The amount of students turning up at our booth surprised even our staff. They were all eager to try out the quiz. Some were so persistent that despite answering incorrectly several times, they stayed and answered until they finally got it right.

Afterward, we moved to a classroom to give a short talk to 30 students. A CHANGE staff, Binh Vuong, gave an inspiring and engaging talk, from which the students learned the basics about climate change, renewable energy, emissions, fossil fuels, COP21, as well as tips on how to live a simple and low-impact life. The students were not passive, but instead interacted and asked questions. Just before the talk ended, CHANGE/350 Vietnam staff and students took a photo together holding banner “Climate Action Now” as a way to ask the world leaders at COP21 to commit to switch to renewable energy as the most direct and effective way to mitigate climate change.

This was the first time CHANGE/350 Vietnam worked with Hoa Sen University, but it was a huge success. We look forward to cooperating again in the future to organise a series of projects with continued participation of the bright and young students of the university, who will be the pioneers of climate action among the youth of Vietnam.