Over the last decade there have been a number of studies on climate change adaptation in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta. However, the implementation of climate change adaptation remains fragmented with limited uptake for informing strategic planning and decision-making and/or practical application at local levels. There is a risk that climate-adapting development will be held back, or even that development strategies will be mal-adapted to climate change impacts at the local levels.

This presentation will propose and demonstrate a holistic procedure to build a pathway from scientific research to implementation for climate adaptation projects to maximise their potential of success. The procedure needs to be a nexus of science, engineering, and art of engagement; and is in line with the Theory of Change for development. The procedure has been applied and demonstrated its effectiveness in a two-year project of Climate Adaptation through Sustainable Development for water systems in Can Tho city of the Mekong Delta by the CSIRO-AusAID Alliance. The project outputs have achieved many successes in making intended impacts at two levels: to be adopted by governmental level for development planning; and to be uptaken at the community and household level for practical application. Understanding on the on-going traceable evolution of the impacts at two years after the project completion will be presented. Reflection and lessons learnt, including both achievements and things-should-have-been-made will be discussed. It was found that ability to produce tangible outputs, and inclusiveness in engagement and capacity building are the most critical factors for the project’s success.