The 22, 23 and 24 March 2023 saw the active participation of the Oceanography Malta Research Group (OMRG) in the FEE (Foundation for Environmental Education) Fest which was held at St Ignatius College Ħaż-Żebbuġ Primary School by Nature Trust and Ekoskola Malta through Prof. Paul J. Pace (CEER) and Mr Vince Attard.
Represented by Ms Audrey Zammit, Mr Johann Galdies, Mr Alessio Marrone and Mr Rami Mahmoud Kalfouni, the OMRG (which is part of the Geosciences Department) showcased and promoted four of its ongoing projects, namely CORALLO, BlueNIGHTs, BlueSchoolsMed and Spot the Jellyfish, with a total of eight-hundred and eighty pupils and sixty-four educators which originated from twenty-one different schools!
Of significant interest to the pupils were Gamblu the Robot and the CORALLO VR-sets which, being procured through the CORALLO project (programme: Interreg Italia-Malta), have been set up to educate on, and promote, the sustainable and environmentally-friendly use of Natura 2000 sites in Malta. Lead by the University of Malta, the CORALLO project began in 2020 and sees the active participation of seven Maltese and Sicilian Partners and is focussing on developing interactive and digital tools and means to promote Natura 2000 sites in Malta and Sicily amongst the general public.
The other projects being promoted during this event were BlueNIGHTs, funded by the EU Commission, which deals with promotion and dissemination of ongoing marine-related research with the public through specific events including the European Researchers’ Night; BlueSchoolsMed, funded by the Erasmus+ programme, which aims to promote ocean-literacy in schools from Mediterranean countries through the active participation of pupils and teachers; and the Spot the Jellyfish Campaign, a local citizen-science campaign dealing with jellyfish research which has been ongoing for more than a decade and which is financed by the International Ocean Institute and the Malta Tourism Authority. Prof. Alan Deidun from the Department of Geosciences is the Principal Investigator on all four projects.
