NatCen International awarded £1.3 million grant by the Wellcome Trust for a climate impact project in Vietnam

The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) has secured a prestigious Climate Impact Award from the Wellcome Trust, making it one of the first pioneering research teams to receive this recognition. NatCen International, the global arm of NatCen, has been granted a £1.3m grant to conduct original research on the ‘Health Impacts of Climate Change on Precarious Outdoor Workers in urban megacities in Vietnam’. 

The Wellcome Trust is supporting transdisciplinary teams to deliver short-term, high-impact projects, combining evidence generation with communications and/or public engagement. Funding has been prioritised for research that serves the expressed needs of at-risk populations and communities with high exposure and vulnerabilities to the health impacts of climate change.

Dr Anh Vu, Research Director at NatCen International, is the Principal Investigator for this project. She specialises in understanding the intersections between environmental change, risks, vulnerabilities and human wellbeing. The research project, generously funded by the Wellcome Trust, will investigate vulnerabilities and multiple health exposures of outdoors workers in urban areas in Vietnam. Given the country’s significant informal sector, the project will co-construct a new evidence base through multi-stakeholder collaboration, addressing fundamental knowledge gaps about the vulnerabilities of outdoor urban workers. The project will enhance the ability of Vietnamese policy makers to devise interventions attuned to the unique conditions and concerns of workers. 

Dr Anh Vu, Research Director at NatCen International, said: “We are thrilled to have been awarded one of the 2023 Climate Impact Awards. We are eager to begin building a new evidence base around the health impacts of climate change on precarious outdoor workers in Vietnam. I am delighted to collaborate with the University of Bristol and our partners based in Vietnam, Social Life Research Institute and Institute for Development and Community Health “LIGHT” to conduct this new and critical research project.”

For more information please contact:

Emileigh Spurdens, Communications Manager
t:020 7549 8506 e: emileigh.spurdens@natcen.ac.uk

Notes to editors:

1. The National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), Britain’s largest independent social research organisation, aims to promote a better-informed society through high quality social research (www.natcen.ac.uk).
2. Further information on NatCen International and it’s advisory board (https://natcen.ac.uk/international)