Civic Resilience Laboratory

Presentation: From Local Knowledge to Climate Action: Lessons from Participatory Planning in Vietnam

As cities across Southeast Asia face increasing climate risks, planning processes are increasingly supported by digital tools and data-driven systems. However, many of these approaches struggle to capture the lived realities of communities most aHected by environmental change. Local knowledge about flooding, heat, pollution, and everyday adaptation practices often remains absent from formal planning data and climate modelling systems. This presentation reflects on two participatory planning pilots developed in Vietnamese cities that sought to bridge this gap by working directly with communities, local authorities, and universities to co-develop solutions for public space and neighbourhood resilience. Drawing from these experiences, the presentation discusses how participatory processes were designed and implemented in practice, highlighting the tools used, the challenges encountered, and the lessons learned about how participation unfolds in complex urban contexts. The discussion draws on tools derived from the Our City Plans (OCP) methodology, a participatory planning framework used globally to support community-centred urban development. Climate resilience is embedded throughout the OCP process, guiding how
environmental challenges are assessed, discussed with communities, and translated into planning priorities. Through methods such as community mapping, workshops, surveys, and tactical urban interventions, these tools help surface local environmental knowledge and create dialogue between stakeholders. Building on these experiences, the presentation also explores how participatory planning toolkits such as OCP could evolve through the integration of emerging technologies. While the OCP toolbox currently functions primarily as a digital knowledge platform, there is potential to incorporate AI-supported tools that help analyze diverse forms of data, including community-generated knowledge and environmental observations. The presentation reflects on how such tools could strengthen climate resilience planning while remaining rounded in participatory approaches and community perspectives.”

Keywords: Public Space, Urban Regeneration, Participatory Planning, Vietnam

Bio: Daniela Hurtarte is an urban planner and architect with more than ten years of international experience in participatory planning, public-space development, and climate-responsive urban design. She currently leads the Public Space Lab at the Institute of Smart City and Management at the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City, where she develops participatory planning methods, urban living lab initiatives, and pilot public-space interventions. Daniela previously worked with UN-Habitat Urban Lab, supporting cities in Latin America and Southeast Asia in participatory neighbourhood planning, climate resilience, and community-centred urban development.