The international exchange course "Livelihood, Environment and Peace: Studying in Vietnam II" is a joint project between Hue University, located in central Vietnam, and Kyoto University's Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies (GSGES). Around 110 KU undergraduate students have visited Hue University as part of the program over the past eight years. This year, twelve Kyoto University undergraduate students, accompanied by two faculty members, traveled to Vietnam in early September to take part in the two-week program.
The 2014 program began with a tour of Ho Chi Minh City, which included visits to Reunification Palace and the War Remnants Museum, enabling participants to learn more about the history of the Vietnam War. The students then traveled to Hue, a former national capital and the base of GSGES's activities in central Vietnam, and were welcomed by Hue University students at an exchange meeting and welcome party. In addition to activities conducted within the host city, the students also traveled further afield, visiting a border zone with Laos and rural communities to learn firsthand about ethnic minorities being faced with significant environmental changes and impacts on their livelihoods. The students also visited Danang, the largest city in central Vietnam, and Hoian, an ancient town once home to a sizable Japanese community. To round off the central Vietnam program, participants from the two institutions gave a joint presentation about their findings and engaged in a lively discussion with more than 30 students and faculty members of Hue University. Finally, the participants joined a tour of Hanoi with students from Hanoi University of Science and Technology, with visits to the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology, the ancient Imperial Citadel of Thang Long, and other sites of historical and cultural interest, before returning to Japan.
The program enabled the participants to experience aspects of the "real" Vietnam that would ordinarily be difficult to witness, and aimed to inspire KU students to contemplate their future paths.
At the Truong Son Cemetery for those who died during the Vietnam War
Visiting a coffee farmer in Khe Sanh
Visit to the Dak Long Nature Reserve
Visiting Tam Giang Lagoon
Visiting a community house for ethnic minorities in Hong Ha
A student presentation at Hue University
Students and teachers at the student presentations held at Hue University
