By Christel Rydström, Case Officer, Swedish Agency for Economic and Regional Growth – 

Approximately a year ago, I was on my way to conduct fieldwork in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam focusing on young consumers perceptions with regard to sustainable consumption behavior.

Little did I know, when I started this journey and writing my project description for scholarships from Lund University, Sweden, that this fieldwork would take place during a global pandemic.

And little did I know that the people who contributed to the study would be victims of this virus.

I was quite aware of the Covid-19 virus while writing my project description, as I was living and studying in Beijing at the end of 2019, yet at that time, the World Health Organization had not declared it to be a global pandemic. Despite this, I was still quite fortunate in my research due to the generous support from people in Sweden and Vietnam who went far and beyond to contribute to this study.

And because of that, I want to dedicate this article to the people who contributed and to shed light on the importance of focusing on young consumers regarding sustainability in Vietnam.