Workshop on Mekong Delta Coordination and Geo Data Standardization in the Water Sector

Vietnam and especially the Mekong Delta is currently under focus of intensive activities of foreign supported environmental projects, funded for example by Danish, Dutch, German, American and international governmental agencies and NGOs to support Vietnam in fighting the predicted effects of a potential sea level rise, caused by global warming. WISDOM together with the Southern Representative Office of MOST organized a workshop on the 28th and 29th of April 2011 in Phu Quoc / Vietnam, to contribute to a better methodological and thematic linkage between the different projects. The 28th of April 2011 provided a platform for 10 projects, all active in the Mekong Delta, to introduce their objectives, applied methods and results. It was concluded that an overview of different projects, which are on-going in the region, does not exist. Regular meetings between the different projects, a map / spread sheet, which is online available and should be updated regularly could improve this situation.

The 29th of April focused on possibilities for a better data exchange and more efficient cooperation by following well known Geo Data Standards. Concepts such as the European approach INSPIRE, Meta Data Standards and Land Cover Classification Systems (developed by FAO), where presented and accompanied by an introduction of CIREN / MONRE showing concepts for the National Geo Database on Natural Resources for Vietnam. Subsequent to the introduction all participating projects funded by GIZ, AusAid, DANIDA, BMBF, IUCN, AusAid as well as local authorities presented their Geo Data Concepts. The second day, on which about 35 participants were present, concluded that there must be a joint approach in terms of Geo Data Management to avoid redundancy in the Mekong Delta, however data sharing seems to be a very sensitive topic. To move a step towards an improved Data Management it was suggested to highlight the importance of Meta Data Concepts and possibilities to exchange Meta Data and to merge Meta Data Catalogues, so that everyone can get a better insight into what data is actually available.

Presentations and the Participants List can be downloaded here: DOWNLOAD