News
Hope for a stronger Mekong Delta: equipping provincial and national government with technical knowledge to fight against climate change
A five-day training workshop on Remote Sensing (RS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for coastal monitoring has given various stakeholders in Viet Nam’s Mekong Delta the knowledge, skills and confidence to eventually mitigate the region’s accelerating climate threats.
July 15, 2025
The Mekong Delta, an agri- and aquacultural hub for local communities and ethnic minorities in southern Viet Nam, is at great risk of land loss and worsening degradation of the environment due to climate change . It has been particularly vulnerable to floods, sea level rise and cyclones and multiple findings predict that, in less than a hundred years, 40% of the Mekong Delta – home to about 17 million people – will be submerged.
But not all is lost for the region as effects can still be reversed with urgent and collective action. Thus, initiatives that equip national and provincial government institutions with the knowledge and tools to monitor their environment offer viable, sustainable solutions to address the problem . One such initiative, for which NIRAS is providing technical support, forms part of the broader GIZ-implemented Mekong Delta Climate Resilience Programme (MCRP).
Over
80
%
of respondents better understand GIS and RS
90
%
of respondents feel confident about analysing satellite imagery
80
%
of respondents feel more capable of using their newfound knowledge
Under MCRP, capacity building in GIS and RS aims to equip government at provincial and national levels with key technical knowledge through sequential training, specifically for three user groups, namely senior decision makers (Level 1), senior technical staff (Level 2) and technical and field staff (Level 3). The training enables these three groups to coordinate efforts according to their roles and capacities.
Last May’s training, which took place over the course of five days, targeted Level 3 users, which comprised 37 senior officials and technical staff from the Mekong provinces of Kien Giang, Ca Mau, Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre and Tien Giang. Other departments and institutes under the Viet Nam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority also participated.
At the heart of the workshop was the goal of empowering stakeholders so that they can monitor and manage coastal environments in the Mekong Delta. As part of NIRAS' role in contributing to stakeholders’ capacities, the project team helped them develop fundamental skills: applying GIS and RS to disaster-related scenarios; using software such as Quantum GIS (QGIS) to visualise and analyse data; interpreting satellite imagery for coastal zone mapping; conducting field survey for data gathering; and creating action-based maps for disaster planning and response.
In part, the MCRP aims to support the Viet Nam Disaster and Dyke Management Authority’s (VDDMA) and Mekong Delta’s goal of creating a coastal monitoring system. This system brings together increasingly available satellite-based imagery (remote sensing) with changing data on the ground (dynamic data capture), all of which will feed into a GIS platform for monitoring and spatial analysis.
Key subjects of the training:
- Remotely sensed data;
- Remote sensing tools;
- Introductory hands-on working experience;
- GIS and remote sensing for coastal monitoring activities.
Participants were generally satisfied with the training they received. Over 80% of survey respondents expressed a better understanding of GIS and RS tools post-training, and 80% shared they can now use QGIS for spatial data analysis.
As for analysing satellite imagery on Google Earth, nearly 90% indicated their confidence in this new skill, and 80% said they feel capable of applying their knowledge in their work.
One participant commended the training for including RS data in the course as it is “very important particularly in places where we cannot conduct filed survey”. Another participant seconded this sentiment, noting how RS data can support “wide-scale and long-term monitoring. [It] is getting more and more important and necessary.”
While most participants found all the topics helpful and practical for supporting the Mekong Delta, many also found certain subjects to be of great interest. The use of Google Earth was particularly useful for improving accuracy and saving time in terms of data processing and map creation. Learning about data collection tools in the field was also a strong topic, as participants felt they could more effectively conduct field surveys.
Overall, the training workshop yielded invaluable knowledge for the participants in the Mekong Delta. If efforts such as this continue, the region can gradually reverse the negative impacts of climate change and ensure resilience in communities in a real, tangible way.
