ENTIRE: ENabling susTainable Industrial development in Vietnamese delta’s: REducing, recycling and multi-sourcing industrial water

Delta areas have a large economic importance; they form the connection between the resources of the main land and those of the sea. Industrial, agricultural and residential sectors articulate a huge demand for water resources to sustain and develop society and economy. A sustainable use of fresh water resources is required to prevent it becoming a limiting factor for economic development. Thus, the ENTIRE project (ENabling susTainable Industrial development in Vietnamese delta’s: REducing, recycling and multi-sourcing industrial water) aims to develop, model, design and implement a technological and governance framework for water and waste water services for sustainable development of industrial areas and their associated residential areas, preserving fresh water resources for urban water functions and agricultural production.

This PhD-research is one of the most important parts in ENTIRE project which applies the triangle model of industrial ecology design to analyse specifically governance and institutions for fresh water innovation associated with selected technological innovations that are produced from other study as well as the interactions among water, energy and waste flow within selected industrial zones (IZs) and IZs with neighbourhoods in Vietnam. Within the framework of the research, the institutional challenges of transition towards sustainable water use in IZs  are assessed by addressing the particular stakeholders through semi-structured expert interviews, document review and focus groups/workshops. In addition, based on synthesis of the data and insights, innovations in water reuse and multi-sourcing brackish water are identified. During this research there is contact between the technological and institutional stakeholders through workshops, focus groups, feedback sessions and other more individual meetings. This is a vital part of the research to guarantee the needed interaction and trans-disciplinary exchange of (new) knowledge and (new) insights.