04/02/2026
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After five years of establishment and development, the UEH Green Campus Project has become a strategic orientation, contributing to the realization of the Operations pillar - one of five pillars of the Multidisciplinary and Sustainable University Strategy of the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City (UEH). The year 2025 marks a proud milestone with a diverse range of innovative activities and solutions comprehensively deployed under the Living Lab Model, thereby expanding its scope of influence, connecting communities, and affirming the position of the UEH Green Campus Project on the journey toward sustainable development.
Living Lab UEH Green Campus: Co-creating and Nurturing Sustainable Solutions from Practice
The Living Lab Co-Creation model is a user-centered innovation ecosystem, where environmental issues within the UEH campus become "real-world problems" for learners, the university, and organizations to jointly research, co-create, and implement solutions. Operating across five domains - Education, Research, Governance, Operations, and Community - the initiatives are not only applied within UEH but also extended externally, contributing to raising awareness and driving behavioral change in each individual.
Education - Nurturing UEH Green Citizens from Knowledge to Action
In 2025, the UEH Green Campus Project deployed over 50 events/programs disseminating environmental knowledge and practices to the community. Among these, more than 20 activities were led by students and Youth Union - Student Association - Clubs; over 10 cultural and international cooperation events; and more than 10 community service and environmental volunteer programs, achieving 100% of targets for green initiatives and innovation.
A key highlight was the upgrade and deployment of UEH Green Campus - Game in the orientation activities for Course 51 freshmen, attracting approximately 6.752 participations, helping learners access environmental and sustainable development knowledge in an intuitive and accessible manner. This product is currently being transferred to universities, colleges, and secondary schools in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta region.
Concurrently, UEH finalized the "I - UEH Green Citizen Handbook 02: Towards Neutral Carbon", integrated the "Sustainable Development" course into the compulsory curriculum (one of six foundation courses applicable to all majors), and standardized training courses on the green school model and green skills, ready for deployment to the learner community. To date, the University has approximately 442 courses integrating sustainable development-related content, accounting for 27,07% of total courses, demonstrating UEH's synchronized effort to establish sustainable development as a core value in education.
Research - Connecting and Disseminating Innovative Solutions
Scientific research activities within the UEH Green Campus Project were implemented at multiple levels (university level, member schools, faculties/institutes), mobilizing the participation of faculty and students. In 2025, research topics under the Living Lab Green Campus continued to expand, focusing on 10 aspects of the Green University Model and the SDGs, including resource management, emission reduction, circular economy, sustainable consumption, and green university governance. Simultaneously, the Living Lab website was refined as a scientific data source to support research and propose feasible solutions, accelerating the process of building a Green University at UEH.
In parallel, the project developed academic platforms through the Green Research Community initiative, recording approximately 1.110 research papers on the environment; 1.130 on sustainable development; 835 on renewable energy; and 1.430 on climate change. Over 25 UEH Green Campus podcast episodes were published on various platforms including the UEH Green Campus website, UEH Fanpage, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, TikTok, and Spotify, showcasing green research conducted by UEH students. This contributed to disseminating the spirit of scientific research among students and gradually building UEH's green academic brand.
Governance - Standardizing the Sustainable Governance System at UEH
UEH approaches sustainable development as an integral component of modern university governance, focusing on standardizing policies, coordination mechanisms, and data systems to ensure solutions are implemented synchronously, measurably, and transparently. Following the SDGs framework, content areas covering education, infrastructure, campus safety, equity in the learning-working environment, partnerships, and social impact were systematized as a basis for performance evaluation and enhancing UEH's position in international rankings such as THE Impact Rankings and UI GreenMetric.
Building on this foundation, the UEH Green Campus Project continued to update the Green University Regulations, prioritizing the standardization of water resource management. In 2025, the project reviewed the wastewater treatment system at the Nguyen Van Linh campus (including operational procedures and water quality certification results conducted by third-party units), while documenting that over 80% of water-saving equipment is currently in use. This serves as the basis for identifying priority areas for the next phase, including water use reduction, promoting reuse, and strengthening wastewater quality control.
Operations - Optimizing Resource Management and Reducing Emissions on Campus
As a core component of the UEH Green Campus Project, waste management was implemented following the 3R model (Reduce - Reuse - Recycle) across all UEH campuses, integrating synchronized solutions such as waste sorting practice stations applying Model 3 and Model 7, the Green University Regulations, and a series of waste reduction communication activities. Thereby, the project contributed to raising awareness and gradually establishing sustainable consumption habits within the UEH community.
UEH continued to modernize infrastructure toward smart buildings, optimizing operations and energy efficiency. In 2025, the total floor area meeting smart building criteria reached 79.665,85 m², accounting for 76,3% of UEH's total system floor area. These facilities are equipped with centralized management and monitoring systems, real-time energy consumption tracking, and automated lighting and air-conditioning controls. Regarding renewable energy, the solar panel system at UEH generated over 470.244,20 kWh/year, directly utilized at campuses A, B, and N.
In the past 12 months, UEH estimated total carbon emissions at approximately 3.561,96 tons of CO₂eq, primarily from electricity consumption and transportation. Based on this, UEH strengthened emission management solutions, including Shuttle Bus services with nearly 10 trips/day to limit private vehicles and promote zero-emission transportation within the campus. Additionally, UEH Green Campus - Digital Twin was piloted at the Vo Thi Sau campus, providing visualized data to support operations, energy savings, and resource management, laying the foundation for the emission reduction roadmap toward Net Zero 2050.
Community - Affirming the Pioneering Role in Disseminating the Green University Model
In 2025, the UEH Green Campus Project continued to disseminate the Green University Model through Let's Green Unitour. From February to April, the program was deployed at UEH Mekong, welcoming 28 secondary and high schools and attracting over 6,500 students to participate. In Ho Chi Minh City, the Let's Green Unitour Day series - A Day Experiencing Being a Green University Student - was organized throughout November 2025 to January 2026 at multiple higher education institutions, attracting over 1,600 students and receiving positive feedback, contributing to promoting environmental awareness and action within the learner community.
Simultaneously, the Project actively participated in events within and outside UEH, including Green Day Festival within the framework of UEH Sharing & Giving - Career Fair 2025, attracting over 6,000 participants; Green Visit Event - hosting the delegation from the Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City Dormitory Management Center and Urban Area along with other universities for visits and working sessions at UEH; sharing experiences at the Innovation Forum on "Waste Sorting and Creative Recycling Solutions for Sustainable Development", the Forum on "Ho Chi Minh City Students with Green Practices and Sustainable Actions", and the Workshop "PR for Breakthrough Development: Building a Sustainable Future with Education, Creativity and Technology" co-organized by VNPR and RMIT University.
Notably, 2025 marked outstanding milestones: UEH Green Office was honored as "Best Premier In-house Team" at the VNPR Awards 2025; the "No Single-use Plastic Campus System" initiative received a $10,000 grant from the 2025 Plastic Innovation Programme organized by UNDP.
| The outstanding achievements of the UEH Green Campus Project over the past year not only demonstrate concrete results but also affirm UEH's steadfast transformation on the journey of creating a Green University Model intertwined with sustainable development. Building on this foundation, UEH continues to pursue long-term strategies, intensify research and innovation, expand cooperation, and disseminate knowledge and responsibility to the community. Today's accomplishments serve as a spring compagnon for UEH to make stronger breakthroughs, gradually affirming its pioneering role as a leading university in the era of sustainable development. |
New and photos: Living Lab UEH Green Campus, UEH Youth Union - Student Association, Department of Communications and Partner Development
