The Faculty of Education Doctoral Seminar Series for 2015 ended with a ‘tasty’ twist on 11 December when the doctoral students were joined by third year students from the B.Ed. (Hons) Nutrition, Family & Consumer Studies programme for a special educational culinary activity --  ‘Crossing Borders for Health’. 

The evening started off with two Faculty of Education Ph.D. students presenting their ongoing research and preliminary results. Pierre Hili spoke about ‘Education for Sustainable Development for Maltese High-level Policy-makers: A Way Forward?’, whilst Liliana Maric described her study on ‘Inclusion within Further & Higher Education: The experience of young people with physical and sensorial disabilities’. Both presentations were followed by a discussion and critical input from Visiting Lecturer Professor Christine Helot from the University of Strasbourg.

Next, NFCS students made a short presentation on food and sustainability, focusing on the value of fresh, local, seasonal, organic, fair trade and traditional foods. Seminar participants also had the opportunity to sample a variety of traditional  foods and drinks from 6 regions of the world which had been modified slightly to enhance their health value. All items were prepared by the NFCS students. Bigilla canapes, Torta tal-Marmurat and Mbuljuta were the Maltese fare enjoyed by those present. An informational /recipe booklet was also distributed. Most of the serving equipment used was made from sustainable materials or could be reused.

From this recent joint session it has become clear that undergraduate and postgraduate students have a lot to share. Undergraduate students have their own knowledge and skills to present, while the postgraduate students inspire their undergraduate audience to aspire for further specialisation.