NUOL’s Circular Economy Living Lab Engages Vangvieng Community in Hands-On Waste Management Workshop
NUOL-CIRCULAR Team was explaining the concept of Circular Economy and how local community can be involved in practices.
October 1, 2025
National University of Laos (NUOL) team of the Circular Economy Living Laboratory, operating under the CIRCULAR Project, successfully conducted a community-based consultation and practical activity on circular economy principles and waste management. The event, held at That Temple in Vangvieng district, brought essential environmental knowledge and skills directly to local residents and temple members.
The workshop was designed with two primary objectives. First, the NUOL team formally presented the Circular Economy Project, highlighting the Living Lab’s previous achievements and detailing the strategic work plan for upcoming activities. Second, the session prioritized deep participant engagement through practical learning and real-life experiment activities.
Attendees received hands-on demonstrations on critical circular practices, focusing specifically on effective techniques for reducing single-use plastic and segregating waste at the source. The learning activities were followed by a knowledge reinforcement quiz on circular economy and waste management concepts. The event saw strong participation from the local community, with a total of 27 participants, including 24 local residents and 3 monks from That Temple. Participation from women was notable, accounting for 20 of the participants. The team utilized a diverse pedagogical approach, ensuring effective knowledge transfer through lecturing, interactive discussion, fun games, and experiential learning exercises.
The impact of the practical approach was highlighted by one participant: “taking part in the workshop is very new experience and fresh knowledge gained. It can be implementing at home to ensure waste segregation to reduce negative impact on environment and harm for health of villagers also.”
This successful engagement at That Temple underscores the CIRCULAR Project’s commitment to translating research and academic initiatives into tangible, localized environmental action, empowering communities to adopt sustainable circular practices in their daily lives.
Volunteer of CIRCULAR Living Lab were explaining the activities and facilitating the discussion.
