https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/437 Tue, 18 Aug 2026 09:24:42 GMT 2026-08-18T09:24:42Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148324 Title: Leadership beliefs and the creativity gap : interpreting Malta’s PISA 2022 results Authors: Mangion, Margaret Abstract: In 2022, the OECD introduced a creative thinking battery within PISA, repositioning creative thinking as a measurable and comparable outcome of schooling.[1] Malta's results offer a compelling case for critical analysis: while Maltese 15-year-olds performed moderately relative to their core-domain achievement, school leaders reported markedly lower beliefs in the value of creativity than their OECD counterparts (latent mean: −0.351 vs OECD: 0.255).[2] Drawing on critical interpretive analysis of PISA 2022 national data, integrated with transformational leadership theory. This paper argues that the primary constraint on creative thinking development in Malta is not student capability but leadership belief. The paper makes two original contributions. First, it reconceptualises Malta's PISA profile as a belief-constraint formation a condition in which creative activities exist structurally but are epistemically underauthorised by school leaders — rather than as a curricular or student-level deficit. Second, it proposes the Integrated Creative Agency Developmental Structure, a recursive framework in which epistemic belief authorisation, creative climate formation, ecological mediation, and pedagogies of the possible mutually reinforce one another. This model positions creative leadership as a systemic lever and provides a theoretically grounded pathway for policy and leadership development in Malta and comparable small-state educational systems navigating VUCA and Anthropocene conditions. Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148324 2026-06-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148115 Title: Navigating tensions and trade-offs in shaping sustainable ocean futures Authors: Pace, Lisa A. Abstract: Sustainability futures are characterised by uncertainty, competing priorities and resource conflicts. Interventions aimed at realising these futures are often presented as ‘triple-win’ solutions, delivering climate mitigation, enabling economic growth, and sustaining coastal livelihoods. However, their implementation reveals tensions that challenge linear models of sustainable growth. This study critically examines both the opportunities and the tensions of scaling two sustainability solutions in coastal and marine contexts to achieve SDG 14. It draws on empirical data from three workshops involving scientists and stakeholders across European maritime regions of the SEA-EU alliance to investigate how the participants navigate through the tensions towards realising sustainable futures and the trade-offs involved. The findings highlight both opportunities for co-benefits and trade-offs between ecological protection and economic imperatives, as well as between innovation and traditional practices. The study offers insights for policy and practice on realising sustainability futures in marine and coastal contexts marked by competing economic interests, power dynamics, and diverse societal values. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148115 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148114 Title: Competing for sustainability : sensemaking and organisational engagement in European tourism competition Authors: Pace, Lisa A.; Font, Xavier Abstract: Sustainability competitions are widely used as soft governance instruments, yet organisational engagement varies considerably. This study explains this variation by examining managerial sensemaking. Drawing on interviews with senior managers from 16 European destinations, the study demonstrates that engagement is shaped by how tourist destination managers understand the purpose and relevance of competitions through identity-related interpretive logics that define what the organisation stands for, and thus its values and purpose. These logics determine whether competitions are treated as meaningful governance mechanisms or as marginal compliance or reputational exercises. We identify five sensemaking configurations that explain variation between substantive, learning-oriented engagement and selective or symbolic responses, and show that these configurations may shift over time as organisational experiences and contexts change. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/148114 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146365 Title: Creative cognition : a collaborative research agenda Authors: Ross, Wendy; Agnoli, Sergio; Baas, Matthijs; Danek, Amory H.; Lebuda, Izabela; Ackerman, Rakefet; Ammalainen, Artur; Benedek, Mathias; Bai, Honghong; Ball, Linden J.; Barbot, Baptiste; Campidelli, Lorenzo; Caravona, Laura; Ceh, Simon; Corazza, Giovanni Emanuele; Czerwonka, Marta; Luft, Caroline Di Bernardi; Hart, Yuval; Jędrusiak, Jakub; Kenett, Yoed N.; Khalil, Radwa; Macchi, Laura; Mangion, Margaret; Miroshnik, Kirill G.; Nawrocka, Paulina; Nijstad, Bernard A.; Öllinger, Michael; Ormerod, Thomas C.; Rafner, Janet; Reis, Moritz; Rominger, Christian; Rummel, Jan; Salvi, Carola; Segatta, Cecilia; Stevenson, Claire E.; Tulver, Kadi; Urban, Kamila; Urban, Marek; Vallée-Tourangeau, Frédéric; Weiss, Selina Abstract: Creative cognition research has flourished in recent decades, revealing how extraordinary creative outcomes emerge from ordinary cognitive processes. However, the field faces fragmentation that hinders consensus and integration. This research agenda, developed through a collaborative workshop of 50 European researchers at the Lorentz Centre in Leiden, the Netherlands, identifies four critical challenges for advancing creative cognition research. Challenge 1 addresses theoretical concerns around defining core research terms like divergent thinking, emotions, and metacognition. Challenge 2 focuses on identifying different types and domains of knowledge that influence creative performance. Challenge 3 emphasizes measuring dynamic interactions between cognitive, affective, and metacognitive processes over time. Challenge 4 calls for incorporating environmental and interpersonal contexts, including collaboration, technology, and embodied cognition. These challenges highlight the need for collaborative approaches to develop standardized measures, synthesize existing findings, and foster methodological innovations. By working together as a research community, we can build more comprehensive theories and effective methods for understanding creativity's cognitive foundations while embracing rather than reducing its inherent complexity. Thu, 01 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/146365 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z