Bringing heritage to life

Innovate on a Native Platform

Ideas to bring heritage closer to life were developed by young people in Hoi An in the "young leader training" component.

The component attracting the participation of more than 50 local students is a key activity of the project "Promoting innovation for youth and communities" sponsored by UN-Habitat and Fondation Botnar.

The program aims to realize the goal of developing Hoi An into a creative, inclusive and people-centered city.

Deployed over 5 weeks, the component's training framework includes four main pillars: Global citizenship mindset combined with indigenous knowledge; talented leaders; project management skills for students; community communication skills.

The interesting common point of the component is that all 14 solutions implemented by Hoi An youth are closely linked to the colors of local heritage.

Centuries-old heritages such as Kim Bong Carpentry Village, Thanh Ha Pottery Village, Bài Chòi… have been breathed new life by the “gen Z” generation, the generation that will be the owners, operators and developers of these heritages in the future.

In the end, the project that received the highest evaluation was “Kim Bong du ca”. This is an idea to develop a community tourism model and creative communication, connecting experiences at Kim Bong Carpentry Village and Cam Kim area into a continuous journey for visitors.

The special point in the project is the idea of a flood season tour for the Kim Bong area along with the preparation of local specialties, sedge mats and the design of promotional leaflets as a real tourism product.

Second prize is “Touching leaves, touching health”, a project on cultural tourism solutions for the Oriental medicine profession in Hoi An, integrating knowledge sharing workshops, health consultations and experiential tourism activities to create healthy herbal products with the guidance of doctors.

Third prize went to “Neo choi”, with “Neo” representing the meaning of “new” in Greek. The idea proposed a digital library solution to store the lyrics of the bai choi and a research direction to translate the traditional bai choi lyrics into modern language. At the same time, it proposed the forms of souvenir products or utensils in restaurants and hotels to promote the old and new bai choi lyrics to the community and tourists.

Mr. Phan Xuan Thanh, General Director of Emic Hospitality Hoi An Co., Ltd., a member of the jury, commented that most of the student groups knew how to make a project financial plan and were aware of the need to incorporate sustainable development into the long-term roadmap.

Some of the young people's ideas are very practical, even have business value, and are very feasible to replicate in the city.

Expectations continue

The results of the post-program survey of students showed that the multilateral cooperation model and the structure centered on global citizenship skills, based on indigenous knowledge, and based on empowerment and equality as the organizational method achieved positive results.

Nearly 79% of students believe they have improved their teamwork skills. Other skills that have improved to a high degree are effective communication, critical thinking, self-awareness and emotional management.

Many students expressed their love for the “Magical Leaders” training framework because it helps them practice emotional self-management and presentation skills and become more confident in leading themselves and their teams.

The results of the component are expected to continue when, after the program, students have the opportunity to join the Hoi An Youth Innovation Club.

This is a lever for young people to continue developing potential projects that are materialized in life.

Mr. Le Quoc Viet, Chairman of the Quang Nam Destination Club for Preserving Indigenous Values, said that many ideas have exceeded expectations for teenagers.

Need support, suggestions from business resources, investors to accompany the development of innovative ideas of young people to become real business models.

Ms. Truong Thi Ngoc Cam, Deputy Director in charge of the Hoi An World Cultural Heritage Conservation Center, said that the relevant parties have made great efforts to ensure the program runs smoothly in the context of difficulties and limited resources due to the implementation coinciding with the end of the district-level government organization.

The success of the program also opens up prospects for building a public-private partnership model, aiming at developing human resources so that Hoi An continues to be a place of convergence of creativity, innovation and global cultural exchange.