The creation of the Din l-Art Helwa Award Schemes in 2005 was a central part of Din l-Art Helwa's 40th anniversary celebrations.
The awards were designed to focus on the two key aspects of Din l-Art Helwa's inception and purpose - its advocacy role in influencing the authorities and public opinion about the importance of safeguarding Malta's cultural heritage and the natural environment; and the hands-on conservation of Malta's historic buildings and monuments.
The Din l-Art Helwa Award for Cultural Heritage Journalism, with the active support of the Institute of Maltese Journalism and the Tumas Fenech Foundation for Education in Journalism, was designed to highlight our advocacy role by encouraging the writing media to take up the cause of cultural heritage in their writing and press coverage.
The prize over the last two years has been awarded for any published journalistic work which makes an outstanding contribution to the better appreciation and understanding of the built cultural heritage of the Maltese islands.
There have been two distinguished winners of the silver trophy - George Cini of the Times, and Lino Bugeja writing in the Sunday Times - each of whom were adjudged to have produced journalistic work of quality and of educational and social relevance based on high standards of research.
The Din l-Art Helwa Award for Architectural Heritage, on the other hand, has focused on encouraging better architecture.
It has been conceived and run in co-operation with the Chamber of Architects. We wanted quite simply, to reward any building project which made an outstanding and significant contribution to architectural excellence in a Maltese context.
What we have looked for is anything which stood out as rolling back the tide of uglification which has affected so much of our construction development in the last few decades and, moreover, which sent a clear message that old buildings can be successfully restored to their former glory in a modern context.
We have received some outstanding entries. In 2005, the Valletta Waterfront project under architect David Drago, won the Silver Medal Award and in 2006, the Old Treasury Building under architect Edwin Mintoff won this prestigious award.
A number of extremely commendable diplomas were also awarded for projects in both the public and the private sector. The Din l-Art Helwa awards for Cultural Heritage Journalism and for Architectural Heritage, have now been launched.
The closing date for entries in both schemes is September 15. Details can be obtained from the Din l-Art Helwa web-site www.dinlarthelwa.org.
We very much hope that with the active encouragement of their editors, journalists, who have in the course of the last year, contributed pieces on Malta's rich cultural heritage will enter for the award.
In a similar vein, we look forward to a spate of entries from architects to the Architectural Heritage Award scheme.
There has been a most encouraging increase in conservation and restoration of buildings and monuments in Malta - both in the private and the public sector - and we look forward to giving them public recognition.
Mr Scicluna is vice president of Din l-Art Helwa.