30 years of construction and development

Looking back at the 30 years of its establishment and development, the Union of Associations has made significant progress in all aspects and achieved outstanding results in its work...

Comrade Phan Xuan Dung, Chairman of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, presents a banner to the representative of the Thanh Hoa Union of Science and Technology Associations. Photo: Minh Hieu.

Over 30 years of construction and development, with the attention, leadership, and guidance of the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee; the support, coordination, and guidance of the Central Council of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, provincial departments, agencies, and organizations, and the Party committees and governments of districts, towns, and cities in the province; along with the unity and efforts of the Party Committee, the Executive Board, the Standing Committee, the Provincial Union of Science and Technology Associations (hereinafter referred to as the Union), and all leading officials and members of member associations within the Union's system and affiliated units, the environment and conditions have been created for the Union to increasingly actively participate in the political and social life of the province. At the same time, it helps the Union of Associations to effectively fulfill its function of gathering and uniting the broad ranks of science and technology intellectuals in the province through many rich and diverse forms, with the content of activities gradually being renewed. It is an important factor in the "Workers - Farmers - Intellectuals" alliance, an active member of the Vietnam Fatherland Front of Thanh Hoa province, and increasingly worthy of being the common home of member associations, a gathering place for the province's science and technology intellectuals. The activities of the Union of Associations have yielded many outstanding results and made noteworthy contributions to the development of the province, gradually affirming its position and role as a socio-political organization of Thanh Hoa's science and technology intellectuals.

Key features of the construction and development process:

Looking back at the 30 years of its establishment and development, the Union of Associations has made significant progress in all aspects and achieved outstanding results in its work, namely:

Regarding organizational development and membership growth, over seven congresses, the size of the Union's leadership body has continuously increased in both composition and number; the organizational structure of the Union's body has been streamlined, operating in an orderly and increasingly effective manner. The Union's socio-political activities have become more prominent, demonstrated in its efforts to unite and mobilize intellectuals to contribute to the cause of national unity and participate in building the homeland. The Union has actively contributed opinions to Party congress documents at all levels, major programs and projects of the province; organized many forums, scientific seminars, and consultations; and disseminated new knowledge on science and technology, politics, and current affairs to its members, the Ham Rong Club, and the province's science and technology intellectuals. The contributions of intellectuals in the province's socio -economic fields are increasingly meaningful and scientifically valuable, reflecting a spirit of responsibility, democracy, frankness, and practicality, relevant to the local situation and based on the policies and resolutions of the Central Government and the province.

From 2008 to the present, intellectuals, scientists, and management staff in the specialized associations of the Union of Associations have chaired and participated in the implementation of hundreds of science and technology tasks at all levels, including 40 projects at the ministerial and provincial levels led by the Union of Associations and its member associations. These science and technology projects have brought together a large number of members from diverse fields and sectors; contributing to solving pressing practical needs; many projects are valuable, contributing to the development of agriculture and rural areas, enhancing community capacity, poverty reduction, and promoting economic restructuring; especially in disadvantaged, remote, and mountainous areas; notably the ministerial-level science and technology project "Building a model for agricultural and rural development towards industrialization and modernization"; and the project "Conservation, exploitation, and sustainable use of the indigenous bamboo forest resources of Thanh Hoa - funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)". The project "Community-Participatory Watershed Management - funded by CARE International in Vietnam" is a prominent topic and project led by the Union of Associations, in coordination with central scientific agencies and international organizations. These projects have created breakthroughs and made significant contributions to the socio-economic development of Quy Loc commune, Yen Dinh district, Ngoc Lac district, and Ba Thuoc district. They serve as models for many districts in the province, many localities nationwide, and many international organizations to learn from. The impact of these projects and projects still resonates today with the activities of the Union of Associations and its contributions to the science and technology sector of the province.

From its inception, despite the lack of specific state regulations, the officials and members of the Union of Science and Technology Associations, with their sense of responsibility and understanding, proactively undertook the task of advising and providing feedback on several provincial and sectoral programs and projects, leaving a positive mark and laying the foundation for the development of the Union's advisory and feedback work today. Since the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 22/2002/QD-TTg dated January 30, 2002, and Decision No. 14/2014/QD-TTg dated February 14, 2014, assigning the task of advising, providing feedback, and conducting social assessment to the Union of Science and Technology Associations system from the central to local levels, this activity has been identified as the main activity of the Thanh Hoa Union of Science and Technology Associations. Since then, the Union of Associations and its member associations have successfully carried out thousands of social consultation, critique, and assessment tasks. During the period 2019-2024, the Union of Associations proposed and was assigned by the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee to critique 50 tasks, including programs, projects, plans, and projects in the fields of economics, culture, science and technology, education and training, public health care, and environmental protection. These consultation, critique, and social assessment activities have significantly contributed to improving the quality of programs, projects, and policies issued by the Provincial Party Committee, the Provincial People's Council, and the Provincial People's Committee; and simultaneously demonstrate the social responsibility of the science and technology intellectual workforce in contributing their intellect to the policies, programs, and major projects of the Party committees and governments at all levels in the province. In addition, the Union of Associations also participates in providing feedback and critiques on draft laws, helping the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Thanh Hoa province and the Provincial National Assembly Delegation to have more information, grounds, and data when contributing to draft laws in sessions, and appoints representatives to participate in provincial-level appraisal councils for projects developed by departments, agencies, districts, towns, and cities.

During its operation, the Union of Associations has clearly defined the role and significance of traditional work and knowledge dissemination. Initially, due to financial difficulties, communication and knowledge dissemination activities were very limited, with only 1-2 topics organized each year. Thanks to the province's financial support and the efforts of member associations, communication and knowledge dissemination activities have gradually become more organized and effective in disseminating knowledge about science and technology related to the expertise of the Union of Associations and its member associations, achieving many outstanding results. Closely following major national and provincial events, the information and communication activities of the Union of Associations and its member associations have promptly disseminated the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws and regulations, and advancements in science and technology both domestically and internationally; reflecting exemplary individuals and good deeds, and practical and effective association activity models. Propagating and disseminating successful models for wealth creation and poverty reduction in agricultural production, transferring scientific and technological advancements, and building livelihood models for ethnic minority communities in mountainous districts of the province. Since its establishment, alongside maintaining and developing the Thanh Hoa Science Special Publication and other media publications of specialized associations, the Union of Associations and some member associations and affiliated centers have intensified communication efforts, introducing the results of the system's activities through electronic information pages, thereby strengthening cooperative relationships between the Union of Associations and organizations and localities inside and outside the province.

The Union of Associations, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology, the Provincial Labor Union, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, and several related agencies, has promoted the mass movement of people participating in scientific and technological innovation activities through the regular organization of Technical Innovation Competitions, Youth and Children's Innovation Competitions, and participation in the Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Award. These activities have increasingly spread strongly among the people and union members in the province.

In the early years after its establishment, despite many difficulties, the leaders of the Union of Associations throughout the years paid special attention to activities honoring intellectuals, initially within the Union's system and gradually expanding the forms of honoring and the scope to include science and technology intellectuals in the province. Recognizing that honoring intellectuals is an important solution for the Union of Associations to further promote its role in gathering, uniting, and fostering the intellect and creativity of the province's science and technology intellectual workforce, the Union of Associations recently advised the Provincial People's Committee to issue regulations on the selection and honoring of outstanding science and technology intellectuals in Thanh Hoa province. According to the plan, in 2024, the second provincial-level honoring and awarding ceremony for outstanding science and technology intellectuals will be held (a total of 20 intellectuals will receive the title of outstanding science and technology intellectual in Thanh Hoa province). These are highly accomplished science and technology intellectuals who have made significant contributions to science and technology activities in the province.

Continuing the tradition and lessons learned from previous generations of leaders of the Union of Associations, and seeking to overcome the limitations in international cooperation activities in previous years, in recent years, the Union's international cooperation activities have been reorganized and have achieved initial results. Thanks to the innovation in working methods and approaches, the Union has attracted the attention, assistance, and technical and financial support of international organizations in Vietnam. The Union and its member associations have successfully implemented many projects with new perspectives and thinking. Over the past 30 years, the Union and its member associations have successfully coordinated and implemented 18 projects funded by international organizations with a total amount of nearly 55 billion VND, and one project currently underway with a budget of 18 billion VND. The projects, spanning various socio-economic sectors, have yielded practical benefits and effectiveness, contributing to the socio-economic development of the province and the localities benefiting from the projects; at the same time, they have created additional resources for the Union of Associations to better fulfill its mission of gathering and uniting the scientific and technological intellectual workforce to transfer scientific and technological advancements into production and daily life.

Awards from the Party and State to the Union of Associations

Recognizing and appreciating the achievements over the past 30 years, the Party and State have awarded the Union of Associations and several member associations many prestigious awards. Among them, the Thanh Hoa Union of Science and Technology Associations has been awarded the Second and Third Class Labor Orders by the Party and State; and has received numerous commendation flags and certificates from the Prime Minister, the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations, and the Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province.

Focusing on tasks and solutions for the coming years.

The Union of Associations will continuously innovate its content and methods of operation to effectively implement the following tasks and solutions:

Strengthen propaganda and education efforts to gather a large number of science and technology intellectuals under the umbrella of the Union of Associations, especially young intellectuals, highly qualified intellectuals, and Thanh Hoa intellectuals residing in other provinces (currently, the number of intellectuals is relatively large, but their gathering remains limited). Innovate the content and methods of operation to effectively utilize the intellectual capacity of science and technology intellectuals to serve socio-economic development in all fields.

To encourage and motivate intellectuals, scientists, members, and the general public to advance in science and technology, to innovate the methods of organizing research activities, and to propose science and technology tasks throughout the entire Union of Associations system. To organize and launch a movement for science and technology intellectuals to participate in science and technology programs, projects, and initiatives at all levels.

Actively advise and propose to the Provincial Party Committee, Provincial People's Council, and Provincial People's Committee on mechanisms and policies to promote the development of science and technology, education and training; mechanisms and policies to reward scientists, researchers, and inventors whose applied inventions bring benefits in various fields, contributing to resolving bottlenecks and pressing issues in social life in a satisfactory manner.

Consult on mechanisms and policies to strongly promote the scientific research and innovation movement within the Union of Associations, among the scientific and technological intellectuals and the general public in the province, aiming to create many high-value technical innovation solutions, many solutions worthy of winning awards at the provincial and national Technical Innovation Competitions; many outstanding scientific and technological works selected to participate in the Vietnam Science and Technology Innovation Award and achieving high awards; many technical solutions by the younger generation winning awards at the Youth and Children's Innovation Competition at all levels. Continue to innovate activities and improve the quality of the Union of Associations' consulting, critical review, and social assessment work; diversify the forms of organizing science and technology forums to attract intellectuals and scientists inside and outside the province to promote the Union of Associations' activities.

Develop programs, plans, and effectively implement the conclusions of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee at the meeting, consultation, and dialogue between provincial leaders and intellectuals in 2024.

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