Vietnam launches ASEAN Vietnam Eco-School Award 2025

Recently, Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE) issued Official Letter No. 6253/BNNMT-HTQT to the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), and Official Letter No. 6254/BNNMT-HTQT to provincial Departments of Education and Training, requesting support in promoting the ASEAN Vietnam Eco-School Award 2025.

The ASEAN Eco-school Award is one of the key initiatives under the ASEAN Senior Officials on Environment (ASOEN). Each member state is tasked with organizing the award and nominating winners to be honored during side events at the ASOEN Meeting or the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on the Environment.

For 2025, the award is organized under the theme “Plastic-Free Schools.” It aims to spread the values, significance, and positive impacts of environmental initiatives within the framework of the ASEAN Eco-school Programme.

The award seeks to recognize, encourage, and reward schools with outstanding achievements in environmental education and initiatives that promote environmental protection. At the same time, it strengthens connections among Vietnamese ASEAN Eco-schools and builds a national network that enables sharing of information and best practices in environmental management and sustainable development.

Communication and awareness-raising activities surrounding the award are expected to help improve understanding, inspire behavioral change, and promote sustainable lifestyles across school communities and society at large. These efforts will contribute to reducing plastic pollution, advancing a circular economy, and supporting Vietnam’s commitments to national, regional, and global environmental goals. In addition, the initiative reflects Vietnam’s strong alignment with the United Nations’ call to “Beat Plastic Pollution,” which is also the theme of World Environment Day 2025.

Earlier, the Award Organizing Committee under MAE issued Decision No. 02/QĐ-BTC dated August 29, promulgating the Regulations and Selection Criteria for the ASEAN Vietnam Eco-School Award 2025.

Applications for the award must be submitted through two channels simultaneously: a hard copy sent to the Vietnam Agriculture and Nature Newspaper, Lot E2, Duong Dinh Nghe Street, Hanoi; and a soft copy compressed into a single file and uploaded to the official website Ecoschool.vn.

The deadline for submission is October 31, 2025. For hard copy applications, the postmark date will be used to determine eligibility, while for online applications, the upload timestamp on Ecoschool.vn will serve as the official submission date.

Through this initiative, Vietnam reaffirms its commitment to promoting green education, fostering environmentally responsible behaviors among youth, and contributing to the collective ASEAN effort towards building sustainable, resilient, and plastic-free societies.

Kieu Chi