Internal adaptive learning for grantee selection to lead collective impact initiatives of Reducing Pollution Activity in Vietnam

Vietnam's rapid social and economic development has led to significant environmental pollution challenges, including poor urban air quality, contamination of surface water and groundwater, and ocean plastic pollution. The people of Vietnam are increasingly concerned about their local environment, especially air and water quality. In response, the Government of Vietnam passed the 2020 Law on Environmental Protection and accompanying National Strategies and Action Plans related to air quality, water conservation, and plastic waste pollution. Given the complexity of the issues, broad cooperation between the GVN, the private sector, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), scientists, and community groups is needed to address environmental pollution challenges.

The USAID Reducing Pollution activity, a five-year effort implemented by Winrock International, is supporting locally-driven initiatives to reduce environmental pollution in Vietnam through a collective impact approach. As part of this approach, Winrock International works in close partnership with the Pollution Control Department (PCD) of Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) to identify to local organization grantees to serve as the "backbone" for each of six collective impact initiatives focused on specific pollution challenges. This case study examines how the project identifies qualified local organizations utilizing an effective and adaptable selection process that incorporates the Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) subcomponents of Pause and Reflect and Learning and Improvement.