Participation in European and International Projects

The Foundation is ideally-placed to join or promote the active participation of its members in European transnational projects in several areas.  Indeed, some of the FTZ founding members (such as the Malta Council for Science and Technology, the University of Malta and the Ministry of Education) acted as the national contact point organisations for a number of EU and international programmes.

Following its 2003 launch by the Minister of Education, FTZ has participated in FP5, FP6, EUMedIS, Comenius and UNESCO Participation Programme projects.  Recently, it has also submitted proposals (being evaluated) through programmes such as Interreg – Archimed, Medocc, Italia-Malta – and Leonardo. 

• The growing need for continuous professional development, coupled with a demand for highly specialized competencies in a wider diversity of fields, necessitates a revision of the training policies and practices of successful enterprises.  FTZ is seeking to participate in projects that could complement the Avicenna initiative and provide blended learning opportunities in a range of subjects.  Designing, producing and sharing professional pedagogic resources through the projects it implements, the Foundation has therefore set out to offer lifelong, flexible training opportunities targeted at the local workforce. 

• The Foundation is particularly active in ICT, science and research projects, as it can draw upon the vast experience gained by some of its members in the EU’s Fifth and Sixth Framework Programmes for RTD. 

• It also has the expertise to join regional development projects in a wide variety of areas, due to the competence and clustering of its individual member organisations.

• Being an umbrella association, a multi-stakeholder partnership of academic, public and private entities, FTZ can rely on its extensive networks to undertake demonstration and dissemination activities and fulfil the role of a multiplier. 

FTZ is targeting specific sectors like the Public Service and SMEs, and it has also drawn up project proposals to set up Community Knowledge Centres and programmes for flexible learning, and joining proposals aimed at transnational cooperation between regions.

Avicenna Virtual Campus (AVC)
http://pleiad.unesco.org/portal
This UNESCO-led, multi-cultural EUMEDIS pilot project, first proposed by the Maltese partner, brings together higher education institutions from 15 Euro-Mediterranean states to create a regional community of e-learners.  Every country represented in the consortium has set up its own Knowledge Centre (AKC), to produce, adapt and share e-learning modules.  The AKC will offer virtual mobility options to students, as well as opportunities for lifelong learning. 

Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC)
http://www.col.org/virtualu_invite.htm
The Fondazzjoni Temi Zammit is a founding member of the VUSSC – a truly global Virtual University networking educational institutions from 22 small states of the Commonwealth.  Under the leadership of the Commonwealth of Learning, this ambitious project has been designed to target the specific needs of small states.



Differentiated teaching module – primary:  preparing trainee teachers to respond to pupil diversity (DTMp) 
http://www.um.edu.mt/pressreleases/2004/comenius_bartolo.html
The University of Malta is coordinating this Comenius 2.1 project for the training of school education staff.  The project aims to produce a multicultural, multimedia, internet-based teacher-training module to enable trainee teachers to respond to the diversity of pupil needs in primary education.  In this project, the role of the FTZ is to develop the online modules for the consortium.

Setting up Community Knowledge Centres (CKCs)
(UNESCO Participation Programme)
FTZ is collaborating with Local Councils to set up three community knowledge centres equipped with the resources needed to function as virtual classrooms.  The centres, promoting accessibility and inclusion in education and targeting young people and women, will empower the local communities to respond to the challenges of the knowledge society, effectively assisting in the creation of learning communities.  Besides facilitating autonomous learning, the centres will lead to the production of three online modules related to the priorities set out by the UNESCO Programme, namely migration, youth and gender issues.

Programme for Flexible Education - Centre for Flexible Learning (CFL)
(UNESCO Participation Programme)
FTZ and the Faculty of Education of the University of Malta are jointly setting up the Centre for Flexible Learning (CFL) and developing a Programme for Flexible Education (PFE).  The Centre will (i) diversify and increase study opportunities in Malta and the Mediterranean region; (ii) train teachers in technology-enhanced flexible learning systems; and (iii) train the workforce through targeted vocational courses offered online or in blended mode.  The planned Flexible Learning Systems programme of studies – offering courses from certificate to doctorate level – will emphasize different learning patterns, settings and media combinations.

Science Online (Sci-O)
(UNESCO Participation Programme)
This project aims to raise the public understanding of science and to assist young people taking examinations in science subjects by offering them online material related to their syllabus.  It will complement the Ministry of Education’s “Physics Online” initiative, offering an open and distance learning (ODL) course to improve basic science education and lifelong learning, making science more attractive to young people and encouraging the uptake of science careers.

New Arrivals (Approdi)
( DG Enlargement APESC Programme)
The project stems from the idea of using cartoons drawn by African artists as a means to explore the complex reality of immigration in Europe, in the light of the enlargement of the EU to 25 member states.  In this context, the project involves two traditional places of arrival, Italy and Spain, and the new European frontiers, Malta and Cyprus.  It targets young people to raise awareness about the issue at the centre of the many challenges that accompany the process of integration – immigration, to which the new generations will have to provide an effective response.

Digital Citizenship developed on Wireless Network in geographically isolated areas (WDCNET)
(Interreg IIIB Archimed Programme)
The project intends to set up a radio frequency wireless network, linking all public services suppliers (municipalities, schools, welfare…) in geographically isolated areas, to provide data and information useful for the citizens.  The wireless technology enables a high performance and reliable network with minimum environmental impact, on which to implement and manage an internet portal which gives priority to the citizens – in this case, Gozitans – keeping them informed and advised about the problems and services offered to the community.

Intelligent Port Systems (iPORTS)
(Interreg IIIB Archimed Programme)
Ports in the Southern Mediterranean area are lagging behind in the challenge of promoting regional development, as well as secure interregional, cross-border and transnational cooperation.  iPORTS’ main objective is the use of ICTs and telematics for ports to regain their competitive edge and become intelligent and secure development gateways by:

•  developing a strategic plan for iPORTS’ deployment based on stakeholders requirements and priorities;
•  implementing iPORTAll, a proof of concept pilot application;
•  defining the exploitation and commercial value of iPORTS products.

Mediterranean Cultural Network of Cities – Stations of the Apostle Paul’s Missionary Path (MEDMISSION)
(Interreg IIIB Archimed Programme)
The MEDMISSION Archimed project aims at exploiting the common cultural heritage of Mediterranean cities through the creation of a Sustainable Cultural Network on the traces of the Apostle Paul’s “missionary path for the expansion of Christianity”, taking advantage of ICT technologies and exploiting synergies with local key economic sectors in the Mediterranean basin.  Main objectives of the project are:

•  the protection and utilization of the Apostle Paul’s “missionary path” cultural heritage;
•  the promotion and networking of the cities – stations of Apostle Paul as cultural landscapes of great historic and cultural value and “nodes” of a common “path”;
• the creation of relevant ICT applications and cultural tourism “products”. 

Bande Large Européenne pour la MEDitérranée (BLEu MED)
(Interreg IIIB Medocc Programme)
The project intends to increase accessibility to broadband internet in rural, peripheral and insular areas, mainly through wireless technology.  It aims to promote the services offered by public and, at a later stage, private entities.  Such services range from eGovernment and public transport, to eHealth and lifelong learning.  The local communities and visiting tourists will benefit from the provision of online information to promote the cultural, gastronomic and environmental heritage of the territory, environmental control and surveillance and tourism services.  The project is to be implemented in close collaboration with the public administration, local authorities and social parties concerned, involving the various organizations, institutions and associations present on the territory (in our case, the northern, more rural part of Malta).

Energy Malta Polesine Observatory Kyoto Club Agency (EMPOK[c]A)
(Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) Programme)
The Kyoto Protocol represents the first pillar of an international strategy to achieve the objective of a progressive reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, in order to fight climatic changes caused by the quick rise in the earth’s temperature, with serious risks for the survival of our planet.  The Malta Energy Management Agency intends to be a protagonist of this engagement, promoting awareness initiatives and contributing to define incisive and targeted proposals and policies of intervention, thus aiming to optimize the use of conventional energy resources and to develop renewable sources on the island.

NUclear Physics EXperience (NUPEX): funded under FP5
(NUPEX  HPRP-CT-2002-00006_FP5) http://www.nupex.org
Another EC-supported project (Improving Human Potential, FP5) that the Foundation has been involved in concerns the teaching of nuclear physics in secondary schools.  The broad public is often sceptical about nuclear science and its applications because of a lack of relevant information.  Scientists having the knowledge and science mediators having the ability to communicate facts, arguments and standpoints to the public have therefore created a web-based science communication system which can improve awareness about developments in the whole field of nuclear science, including astrophysics and medical applications. 

Researchers Mobility Centre Malta (RMC Malta): funded under FP6
(RMC Malta_003742_HRM, FP6) http://europa.eu.int/eracareers
Having been given by the Ministry of Education the mandate to set up a Researchers’ Mobility Centre at national level, FTZ is coordinating a new project (Human Resources and Mobility, FP6) to give researchers and their families, whether incoming or outgoing, assistance in all matters relating to their professional and daily lives.  The project will raise awareness of the European network of mobility centres (ERA-MORE) and the European mobility portal, creating a favourable environment for research mobility through effective coordination of key local stakeholders.

Towards Open Source Adoption and Dissemination (TOSSAD) : funded under FP6
(TOSSAD  015981_IST, FP6) http://www.tossad.org
The main objective of the TOSSAD project is to start integrating and exploiting already formed methodologies, strategies, skills and technologies in F/OSS domain in order to help governmental bodies, educational institutions and SMEs to share research results, establish synergies, build partnerships and possibly innovate in an enlarged Europe.

STimulate the pARTicipation of SMEs of NMS in IST activities (EPRI START) : funded under FP6
(ERA MINA TS_015833_FP6) http://www.epristart.org
EPRI start is a project that aims at stimulating, increasing, but at the same time qualifying the participation of SMEs from New Member States of the European Union in the IST Programme that is managed by the European Commission’s DG Information Society.

European Research Area Pilot Action on MicroNanoTechnology Systems Integration (ERA Pilot) 
(FP6, Information Society Technologies)
This FP6 Coordination Action intends to network national and European entities supporting systems integration related to micro and nanotechnologies.  The project will therefore establish a formal dialogue between those institutional entities involved in promoting micro and nano systems and integration aspects in Europe. 

Support for participants in ICT Priority by network for IST under the transition to the 7th Framework Programme (Idealist 7fp)
(FP6, Information Society Technologies)
The objective of Idealist7fp is to stimulate, encourage and facilitate the participation in current and future Community ICT research of organisations of all types.  Special focus is put on newcomers and SMEs, including organisations from New Member States (NMS), Associated Candidate Countries (ACC) and INCO comprising countries from broader Europe, Mediterranean countries and non-European countries with high technical and economical potential.  The project relies on the specific information and assistance structures established by the Member States and the Associated Countries at local, regional and national level, but its activities address the international aspects not covered by the nationally-funded national contact point (NCP) role.