A round-up of various EU-sponsored Comenius projects and related overseas meetings in which local schools have taken part with the help of funds allocated by the Maltese EU Programmes Agency under the Lifelong Learning programme.
History in a multiperspective vision
Sir M.A. Refalo Centre for Further Studies, Gozo, has for the last two years been involved in a Grundtvig Programme with five foreign schools.
The first meeting was held in April 2009 in Thessalonica, Greece, during which the six schools agreed on the procedure and format they would adapt for the final product of the study.
The theme chosen was 'History in a multiperspective vision through the adult learner's eyes'. The focus of each group was on how the fall of the Berlin Wall affected each country involved.
Students accompanied teachers whenever the school representatives went abroad for the exchange visits and they conducted questionnaires with people from various sectors living in the different countries involved in the project.
They also conducted research in the local newspapers and gathered cuttings that related to the fall of the Berlin Wall and how the individual countries handled this event.
The next visit is scheduled for Genova, Italy, in May.
BE in Europe
The Mcast Institute of Building and Construction Engineering is participating in a Comenius project entitled 'BE in Europe', together with similar vocational centres from Scotland, Holland, Italy and Finland.
The objective of the project is to investigate themes related to energy efficiency within buildings, such as energy utilisation, integration of renewable energy, water usage and harvesting, human comfort and building materials.
A campus meeting was recently held at the institute, based on the theme of energy utilisation in buildings. The learning group was provided with the opportunity to understand the local construction techniques during a site visit to Pender project, St Julian's.
Mark Borg, innovative architectural structures project manager at Pender Place, explained the design concepts, construction techniques and project management on site to the learning group.
A short informative seminar was conducted at the Institute of Building and Construction Engineering, whereby details on the nature-park and sustainable development centre at Xrobb l-Għaġin were explained.
Orland Bonavia, Ruben Paul Borg, Charmaine Fenech, Cyril Spiteri Staines and John Borg disseminated information on the project, the strategy adopted for sustainable rehabilitation of the site and energy conservation practices within the building. They also provided an overview on the renewable technologies to be integrated within the building fabric.
During the project meeting, learners presented information in their respective national groups on energy efficiency within the building envelope. Possible ways of integrating renewable forms of energy within the building were also investigated.
The learners also had the opportunity to work in international groups during the meeting to analyse, compare and contrast the information presented. Cultural and social activities were also organised. The next campus meeting will be conducted in Jyvaskyla, Finland during the final week of April.
The institute has been actively involved in projects within the lifelong learning programme since 2003.