Ho Chi Minh City garden grows sustainability, community spirit, with Danish Embassy's support

On Sunday, the Green Hero Garden was officially launched at 1 Thanh Giong Street in Dong Hoa Ward.

The green garden community model is a joint effort by the Food Bank Vietnam Network, the Youth Union of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Embassy of Denmark, and the Trade Union of the Center for Physical Education and Sports under Vietnam National University-Ho Chi Minh City, bringing this closed-loop circular agriculture model right into the heart of the city.

From waste to resources

According to Sanne Høj Andrén, Counsellor for Agriculture and Food at the Embassy of Denmark in Vietnam, more than 60 percent of the nearly 9,000 metric tons of waste Ho Chi Minh City generates each day is organic.

Left untreated, it becomes an environmental burden, but viewed through the lens of the circular economy, it is in fact a valuable resource.

Building on this insight, she and her colleagues developed Green Hero Garden as a ‘living laboratory’ to tackle the problem.

Here, organic waste and agricultural by-products are channeled into a closed-loop system: earthworms and black soldier flies break the waste down into organic fertilizer, which then feeds back into growing clean vegetables and fruit trees and supporting circular aquaculture.

Andrén said the Green Hero Gardens in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta are expected to supply more than 500 kilograms of fresh produce to disadvantaged households, while also serving as a space for learning and hands-on experience for students, volunteers, and the wider community.

Humanity at the heart of community life

Ta Hong Son, secretary of the Youth Union of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, said the model is reshaping how people think about resources and waste, turning what would otherwise be discarded into a driver of development.

He noted that the project's strongest connection with the community lies not just in its technical design, but above all in its humanity.

Nguyen Tuan Khoi, chairman of the Vietnam Food Bank Network, said that beyond its production role, Green Hero Garden is also envisioned as a hub for experiential education, scientific research, and community engagement -- a place where schools, businesses, social organizations, and residents can come together to learn and put circular agriculture, environmental protection, and sustainable development into practice.

On its launch day, the project was committed to donating two tonnes of food over the following year, drawn from the garden's own produce, to the charity classroom in Binh Trung Dong.