Sharing experiences in popularizing and educating laws on environmental protection

Mr. Dinh Ngoc Thang - Principal of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vinh University, Director of the Vinh University Legal Consulting Center and Nguyen Van Chien - Vice Chairman of the District People's Committee, Chairman of the Coordinating Council for Dissemination and Legal Education of Thanh Chuong District co-chaired the workshop.

Overview of the workshop. Photo: An Quynh

Over time, workenvironmental protectionhas been receiving attention and has had positive changes, is a hot topic in national agendas with the highest goal of protecting people's health as well as ensuring the quality of the living environment.

Nghe An is a province with a large land area, a large population, rich resources and a very high risk of encroachment. The reason for the encroachment of forest resources is the limited knowledge and awareness of the people. Therefore, the work of propaganda, dissemination and legal education for disadvantaged people and people with limited legal awareness is considered the most important content of the project.

Mock trial to disseminate legal education on water resources protection. Photo: Vinh University Legal Consulting Center

From November 2021 to October 2022, the project was implemented in 5 mountainous communes including Thanh Son, Ngoc Lam, Hanh Lam, Thanh Duc and Thanh Thuy in Thanh Chuong district. This is a border area with 100% ethnic minorities, whose livelihoods are mainly linked to the natural environment.

In addition, this is the source of many large rivers. Agricultural production requires frequent use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, etc. This is the reality that led the workshop to choose this location to implement the project.

Speaking at the workshop as one of the five communes benefiting from the project, Mr. Lo Huy Hung - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ngoc Lam Commune said: Initially, people were very interested in and responded to the propaganda on environmental protection and were also aware of the issue of protecting the living environment right in the area. However, in general, the intellectual level of the people is still limited, it takes a long time and a systematic way for people to change their awareness, behavior and old habits that affect the environment.

Representative of Ngoc Lam commune - one of the 5 communes benefiting from the project spoke at the conference. Photo: An Quynh

The workshop was held in 2 sessions to share experiences in disseminating, propagating and educating about environmental protection laws at the grassroots level, and policies on integrating communication and education about environmental protection laws at schools. At the same time, the workshop will contribute ideas to perfecting environmental protection laws.