The results of the first scientific survey on how the Maltese identity is evolving were discussed on Friday 4 June 2021, at the State of the Nation Conference held at Verdala Palace under the patrimony of the President of Malta, His Excellency Dr George Vella.
In groups of four, academics, artists, politicians and entrepreneurs all gave their views on Malta’s future by discussing key topics in hour-long moderated conversations.
These included:
- UM Rector, Prof. Alfred J. Vella, who stressed for more research on cultural heritage, both the physical and the intangible one,
- Prof. JosAnn Cutajar, from the Department of Gender and Sexualities, who gave an overview of how the history of Malta is taught throughout our educational journey, and how very little of this is recounted from the local perspective,
- Prof. Gordon Sammut from the Department of Criminology, spoke about the highly predictive nature of our social media behaviour and how much insight on our personalities this has,
- Dr Marco Galea from the School of Performing Arts, who spoke about how one of the most important values for the Maltese populations is our family,
- Mr Ranier Fsadni, from the Department of Anthropology, who commented about the values instilled upon us by the Constitution,
- Prof. Joseph M. Brincat, from the Faculty of Arts, who stressed the importance of multilingualism in Malta throughout the ages, and the relevance of Maltese, English and Italian today,
- Dr Marie Briguglio from the Faculty of Economics, Management & Accountancy, who talked about how environmental measures need to be quantified in order to contribute towards and complement the economy,
- Dr Immanuel Mifsud from the Department of Maltese, who gave a moving speech on how literature informs our national identity,
- Prof. Raphael Vella from the Faculty of Education, said that when Malta neared its Independence, artists expressed their liberty by making art that didn't strictly adhere to that theme,
- Prof. Vicki Ann Cremona from the Department of Theatre Studies, who spoke about the need to communicate research findings as an important part of political culture,
- Prof. Adrian Grima from the Faculty of Arts, who talked about the need for a space to discuss, analyse and add personal experience of how contemporary culture is experienced,
- Dr George Vital Zammit from the Department of Public Policy, said that beyond political nuances, there are issues that should be absolutely agreed upon and that could be used as common ground for politicians to be brought closer together,
- Dr Aleks Farrugia from the Faculty for Social Wellbeing, talked about the political discourse in Malta shouldn't strictly be in the domain of the politicians
- Prof. Godfrey Pirotta, the President of MEDAC, who said politics doesn’t happen in a vacuum but within societal complexities which we need to evaluate before reaching any decisions that'll affect the state
- Dr Norbert Bugeja from the Mediterranean Institute, said understanding the complexities which an individual is made up of is something one needs to take into account when trying to take a snapshot of the state of a nation
- Dr Jean Paul De Lucca from the Department of Philosophy, said that the definition of citizenship cannot just be attributed to the psychological and emotive state of the individual
The President took the opportunity to announce that his Presidency will create the Foundation for National Unity (Fundazzjoni għall-Għaqda Nazzjonali) with the aim of addressing in a tangible way what still needs to be done to reduce divisions among us.
Watch the Conference again below: