Tourism potential provides an indication for the tourism development opportunities of regions and sites. This paper deals with a multicriteria evaluation of the tourism potential in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. The study area is located in the Southeast Asian monsoon tropical climatic zone, and offers both natural and cultural tourism resources. GIS-based cost distance analysis was used to calculate the travel time along the road and using other transportation networks. Then an Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to determine a weighting coefficient for each criterion in multicriteria evaluation. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was processed next to AHP, allowing combination of the internal and external tourism potentials of the considered sites. Both AHP and PCA approaches were based on a certain number of alternatives, and take multiple criteria and conflicting objectives into consideration. The results show that the Central Highlands have considerable potential for tourism development at 99 potential eco-tourism sites and 45 potential cultural tourism sites. However, the region is now faced with poor tourism infrastructure with low external potential. An improvement of tourism infrastructure, service quality, and strengthened linkages with other tourist sites is indicated to diversify the tourism products and increase the attractiveness of regional destinations.
Coastal communities living in the low delta areas of Vietnam are increasingly vulnerable to tropical storms and related natural hazards of global climate change. Particularly in the Red River Delta Biosphere Reserve (RRDBR), farmers change the crop structure and diversify agricultural systems to adapt to the changing climate. The paper deals with a quantitative approach combined with behavior theories and surveyed data to analyze farmers’ intention to climate change adaptation in agriculture. Based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), seven constructs are developed to a questionnaire surveying 526 local farmers: risk perception, belief, habit, maladaptation, subjective norm, adaptation assessment, and adaptation intention. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is implemented to extract eight factors and to quantify the relationship between protective behavior factors with the adaptation intention of the surveyed farmers. Two bootstrap samples of sizes 800 and 1200 are generated to estimate the coefficients and standard errors. The SEM result suggests a regional and three local structural models for climate change adaptation intention of farmers living in the RRDBR. Farmers show a higher adaptation intention when they perceive higher climate risks threatening their physical health, finances, production, social relationships, and psychology. In contrast, farmers are less likely to intend to adapt when they are subject to wishful thinking, deny the climate risks, or believe in fatalism.
Concern about energy depletion has risen because of industrialization and consumerism, pushing a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. To this end, every group within society, especially the youth, should be made responsible for confronting and/or mitigating environmental problems. This study advances the understanding of young adults’ intentions to learn about energy conservation and its influencing factors, as well as contributes to the literature on environmental management and environmental culture and development. We used a systematic random sample technique to conduct a large-scale online survey with 1454 students from 48 different Vietnamese universities and employed Bayesian regression model to analyze the data. The initial research indicates that young adults are highly concerned about the environment, but more work has to be done to turn perceptions into actions. The majority of respondents—nearly 83%—want to increase their energy-saving knowledge, and around 50% are interested in enrolling in an energy course. Their decision regarding participation in an energy course is largely influenced by their perception and income. Women were more inclined to take energy-saving courses, and people who lived in rural areas had a stronger desire to increase their knowledge. Our research has various policy implications for promoting energy transformation and/or nurturing environmental cultures associated with environmental education improvement in Vietnam and beyond.
8 January 2021 in Environment, Development and Sustainability
The circular economy (CE), a sustainability concept that promotes resource efficiency and waste reduction, has garnered significant popularity in recent years due to its potential to address pressing environmental and economic challenges. This study applies the Bayesian Mindsponge Mindspongeconomics (BMM) framework/analytic method, based on the Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF), to the factors influencing young adults’ pro-environmental behavior and their purchases of green products at different price levels. The findings indicate that young adults who are knowledgeable about the CE and who value environmental protection and energy conservation are more likely to engage in waste sorting, while the factors that affect their willingness to pay (WTP) more for green and energy-saving products vary at different price tiers. This study demonstrates that knowledge of the CE, daily waste sorting habits, and environmental concern positively impact young adults’ WTP for products that are priced 5%, 10%, and 15% higher, respectively. Furthermore, this study also highlights the potential of educational programs and cultural influences in nurturing a generation that prioritizes environmental value. This research integrates multidisciplinary perspectives and offers practical implications for policymakers, educators, and businesses seeking to promote green literacy and foster an environmental culture among the youth, contributing to the broader goals of green transformation and sustainable development associated with the CE and the green economy, especially in the urban areas of emerging countries and beyond.