COMPLY Platform Launch: Simplifying Environmental Compliance in Malta

The Islands and Small States Institute at the University of Malta launched COMPLY on Wednesday, 3 June 2026 at the Phoenicia Hotel, Valletta. The event brought together 40 participants from Malta's environmental, construction, regulatory, and academic sectors. The platform was developed by Dr Luca Nguyen, postdoctoral researcher at ISSI, in collaboration with Adi Associates and with the active involvement of ERA Malta.

COMPLY is a free digital platform designed to help businesses and professionals navigate Malta's environmental regulations, beginning with the Construction and Demolition Waste Framework Regulations (S.L. 549.161). The platform combines a regulatory knowledge base with an AI-assisted chatbot and a guided workflow that generates structured compliance summaries for submission to ERA. It addresses a structural challenge common to small island states: the obligation to transpose and implement EU environmental legislation with limited administrative capacity and fragmented guidance for the private sector.

The launch event featured opening remarks by Prof. Stefano Moncada, Director of ISSI, and Prof. Valerie Sollars, Pro-Rector for Strategic Planning and Sustainability at the University of Malta, as well as Darrin Stevens, Director of Environment and Resources at ERA. A panel discussion followed, bringing together Rachel Xuereb, Director of Adi Associates; Roderick Bonnici, Chief Executive Officer of the Building Construction Authority; Daniel Grima Duca, Deputy Director of Regulatory Affairs at ERA; and Perit Prof. Rebecca Dalli Gonzi, Head of the Department of Construction and Property Management at the University of Malta.

The discussion highlighted the importance of cross-sector collaboration in making regulatory compliance more accessible, and the role digital tools can play in bridging the gap between legislation and practice.

COMPLY is available free of charge. While the current version addresses construction and demolition waste compliance, the underlying methodology is designed to be applicable to other regulatory frameworks and adaptable to other small island and developing states facing similar challenges.

The project was carried out under the postdoctoral fellowship scheme financed by MEYR, in consultation with the University of Malta, The Parliamentary Secretariat for Youth, Research and Innovation and The Malta Chamber of Commerce. The scheme contributes to the ISSI's broader mission of supporting evidence-based policy and capacity building in small islands.

For information please contact Dr Luca Nguyen.