Vinh Long Province, Vietnam – 14-16 January 2026

From 14-16 January, AIP Foundation hosted a stakeholder workshop and a Training-of-Trainers capacity-building workshop, which marked the official project kick-off of the AI for the Global Goals – AI&Me Phase II project. Following the successful pilot in Ho Chi Minh City, Pleiku, and Yen Bai (Phase I), the initiative is expanding to Vinh Long and An Giang provinces in Phase II, where youth voices are being placed at the center of discussions about urban futures.

Teachers sharing a sketch of their school zones

The project is supported by Google.org, with technical and implementation support from Anditi and the International Road Assessment Programme (iRAP). iRAP also attended the kick-off workshop and provided training on its Youth Engagement App (YEA) and Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) toolkit during the capacity-building workshop.

Kick-off Workshop

A stakeholder workshop was successfully held on 14 January 2026 in Vinh Long, bringing together key partners to strengthen coordination and implementation of project activities in An Giang and Vinh Long provinces.

The workshop, hosted by AIP Foundation, gathered 59 representatives from provincial and local government agencies including the Department of Education and Training, Union of Friendship Organizations, Department of Construction, iRAP, and 18 secondary schools – reaffirming a shared commitment to improving youth safety, well-being, and capacity building through cross-sector collaboration.

The workshop featured a comprehensive project introduction presented by Ms. Trang Truong, Senior Program Manager at AIP Foundation, which provided stakeholders with an overview of project objectives, implementation plans, and expected outcomes.

The session encouraged open dialogue and clarified the roles of participating agencies, schools, and partners.

A direction-setting address was also delivered from Mr. Nguyen Thanh Cuong, Deputy Director of the An Giang Department of Construction, highlighting the importance of integrating safety into infrastructure around school zones.

Training-of-Trainers Workshop

From 15–16 January, 30 core provincial teachers participated in a Training of Trainers (ToT) workshop following the project’s stakeholder kick-off workshop. The training aimed to strengthen teachers’ capacity to engage students as active contributors to road safety and safer school environments.

Minh Vo, Star Rating for Schools (SR4S) Coordinator for iRAP, delivered key sessions focused on the principles of Safe School Zones, the SR4S methodology, and hands-on use of the Youth Engagement App (YEA) for data collection and assessment. Participants also explored approaches to meaningful youth participation through interactive activities such as designing future school zones, developing student training curricula, and practicing student-led training sessions.

The ToT workshops strengthened coordination among teachers and partners, ensuring that youth-generated data and insights can be effectively integrated into local planning processes, sustained within the education system, and scaled for long-term improvements in school road safety and community environments

“After the training, I gained clear guidance and learned of engaging activities that I can apply immediately with my students. While YEA is new to us, it empowers students to actively share their views on road safety through technology, giving youth a voice in creating safer school environments,” said Mr. Nguyen Truong Giang, teacher at Tran Hung Dao Secondary School, An Giang.