VAS continues to nurture the young generation with “Sustainable development”
Following the success of the inspirational sharing series VAS TALKS 2019 – “Green Year” theme, in September, Vietnam Australia International School (VAS) organized 23 sharing sessions in the VAS TALKS 2020 for more than 5000 students in grades 3-12 with the theme “Sustainable Development”.
Speaker Nguyen Da Quyen, MC Nguyen Khang and Nguyen Thuy Quynh – VAS alumni
VAS TALKS 2020 honorably welcomed the participation of community activists who have made positive contributions to the sustainable development in Vietnam, such as Ms. Nguyen Da Quyen (co-founder of Lai Day Refill Station, co-founder of Vietnam Supply Chain, winner of Asian Creative Awards 2014), Ms. Mzung Nguyen (independent filmmaker about environmental protection and wildlife conservation, environmental activist, founder of Mzung Space, the project “Tra lai Da Lat xanh” and “Thao do nha kinh”), Ms. Le Nguyen Thien Huong (co-founder of campaign #SaveSonDoong, top 30 Under 30 by Forbes Vietnam 2010) and Ms. Helly Tong (co-founder of Lai Day Refill Station, founder of The Yen Concept, CCO at Song Foundation).
Speakers receive flowers from the school representatives
Coming back this school year, the talk show continued to provide useful information and practical solutions to the problems of plastic waste, deforestation, consequences of the fast fashion industry, gender inequality, impacts of the Covid19 pandemic on the environment, and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations.
VASers get excited in the Q&A session with the speakers
With the lively hosting of MC Vo Hieu and MC Nguyen Khang, together with the real stories experienced and shared by the speakers themselves, VASers seemed to discover new aspects of the environment in particular and the sustainable lifestyle in general which they could not find from books or any other websites.
After Ms. Da Quyen gave practical examples of the shoes the students wear every day and its correlation to the Circular Economy, Ms. Helly Tong pointed out the massive numbers related to the current situation of pollution on Earth which left the whole auditorium dumbfounded because of the unpredictable consequences of an unsustainable lifestyle. Moreover, Ms. Thien Huong also responded to a series of questions about applying digital technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) in production and consumption to increase efficiency and reduce waste.
Ms. Thien Huong (3rd person from left to right) shared about the societal aspect of sustainable development
Especially, VASers seemed to hold their breath when immersed in a dramatic and touching story about wildlife conservation in South Africa and Egypt by Ms. Mzung Nguyen. The moments of danger when the crew accidentally encountered lions hunting in the primeval forest or when they rescued the family of African wild dogs with a team of experts who were urgently dispatched by helicopter are all real experiences of the speaker. These sharings contributed to arouse the students’ curiosity and love of animals, which helped VASers understand that although the conservation work is laborious, it has brought countless human values to this life.
Ms. Mzung told a story about her journey to the primeval forest
A VASer questioned the speakers about how to minimize the usage of forest resources
With the theme “Green Year”, VAS TALKS 2020 – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT is one of many VAS activities to spread the solutions to green living, sustainable living, and young people's responsibility in protecting our living environment and the Earth.
Ms. Helly Tong took some photos with VASers
