Developing a set of criteria for sustainable craft villages and its pilot application

The assignment is aimed at promoting sustainable production and consumption in craft villages through the development and application of a set of criteria for sustainable craft villages. This is also one of the assignments of the National Action Program on Sustainable Production and Consumption for the period 2021 – 2030 (under Decision No. 889/2020/QD-TTg) of the MOIT to contribute to promoting sustainable production and consumption in Vietnam in the coming time.

Main activities of the assignment

• To survey and assess the current status of craft villages, analyze its sustainability, identify constraints and remaining issues in craft villages;
• To review and lessons learn from international and national experiences on developing sustainable craft villages and establishing a set of criteria for sustainable craft villages;
• To select appropriate villages for pilot application of the set of criteria on sustainable village development, thereby assessing the feasibility and potential for repetition and wide application in craft villages in Vietnam. 

Activities in 2021

• Collected secondary information, analyzed the current status of craft villages in provinces and cities across the country;
• Conducted field surveys in 5 typical craft villages in different districts of Hanoi city, Vietnam;
• Assessed the current status of craft villages, analyzed sustainability, and identified existing problems in craft villages in Vietnam;
• Developed a set of criteria for sustainable craft villages based on lessons learned from other countries in the world; reviewed results of documents, reports, researches, projects and field survey activities in craft villages;
• Selected a craft village and applied the set of criteria for Phung Xa Textile craft village (My Duc distric);
• Analyzed and evaluated the recorded results; recommendations to apply and implement effectively the criteria in practice and accurately assess the sustainability of Phung Xa Textile craft village in particular and other craft village over the country;
• Implemented consultation activities with the experts from Vietnam Association of Craft Villages (VICRAFTS), Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (INEST) under Hanoi University of Science and Technology (HUST); Experts in the field of sustainable production and consumption, cleaner production, energy efficiency; Representatives of craft villages, owners of production facilities in craft villages and local authorities where craft villages are operating, …). Based on the comments and recommendations from the consultation activities, the contractor finalized the structure and content of the set of criteria. This is an important basis to help build a set of criteria for sustainable craft villages that are objective, feasible and suitable for further deployment as well as orientation for craft village development in Vietnam.