All in the same boat – Women, ecosystem-based adaptation, and flood resilience in Central Vietnam

Thua Thien Hue province in Central Vietnam is one of the regions most threatened by flooding worldwide. Women in particular hold a great deal of experiential knowledge that can help reduce flood risk and strengthen local resilience. However, they often have little power to shape policy, and their adaptation knowledge is often not given sufficient consideration. The research project "ResilNam" aims to strengthen the role of women in managing disaster risk and adapting to climate change through ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) measures. In this context, restoring, preserving and sustainably managing mangroves and urban waterways in Thua Thien Hue province has proven to be one of the most effective and sustainable prevention measures.

Our documentary aims to strengthen the perspective of women as key actors within EbA. A particular challenge was to translate the women's multi-layered flood experiences into film in a way that could be used productively for community work, create local identification with the topic, and help establish respect for women as equal and strong actors in flood prevention and risk management.

To achieve these goals, we chose a participatory approach and used ethnographic methods. On the one hand, the women used "flood diaries" — short diary entries — to describe their personal flood experiences and their ideas on how resilience strategies could be better implemented in their communities. In doing so, they also spoke of everyday difficulties such as poverty, discrimination, and the effects of climate change that they face. On the other hand, we recorded the women's accounts and supplemented them with "video elicitation": we accompanied the protagonists to the locations they had described in their diaries and left the decisions about what to film up to them. This produced powerful, moving imagery for the recorded flood diaries. Our filmic approach created atmospheric, deeply personal narratives that resonated strongly with community members and strengthened the dialogue about EbA measures.