Last June, I launched the President’s Foundation for the Wellbeing of Society. The Foundation comes in response to the responsibilities entrusted to me as President of Malta, to stand and safeguard the wellbeing of our Islands and their inhabitants. Together, we are today launching the Foundation’s calendar of activities for the first three months, October to December. The Foundation has planned its activities on an ongoing three month basis, with the October-to-December events as initial activities prepared by the Entities and Fora. They are geared to engage individuals, to initiate conversations, foster consultation, and to begin the practical work of the Foundation. Many of the activities which are scheduled to take place are grounded in dialogue; thematic conversations that shall inform me about the concerns of our society and help me direct the Foundation’s research work.
At the Foundation’s inception, one project we wanted to propose was focused on ethnobotanical research and gardens, as a multi-disciplinary field of learning about the relationship between people and the use of plants in culture and heritage, alongside the multidimensionality of human-plant interactions. Today, with great pleasure, I am also launching The President’s Hub for Ethnobotanical Research. Through the Hub we seek to specifically look at our wellbeing, intertwined with the relationships and interconnection of our urban and natural environments. The Hub wants to especially valorize the most simple human interaction with plants, and focus on how this interaction can enhance the wellbeing of people and our environment itself. It will also seek out and listen to traditions, folk wisdom and early practices in relation to the use of wild and domestic plants in the Maltese way of life, at risk of being lost. We want to engage with those who are living in Malta and were not born here, to listen to their stories, and learn from their traditions. We want to know if they are familiar with the plants they find in Malta, and if they miss any plants from their own home countries. We hope that this initiative shall grow into a collaboration that goes beyond the Presidential Palaces, hence the word “Hub.” As the President, I want to offer this platform and facilitate dialogue to inspire other initiatives that can be incubated within the Palaces and then planted in our communities, as a response to the needs and creative projects of the communities themselves.
The Hub, in the coming months, will be initiating trans-cultural and inter-faith roundtables around the use of the garden, both as a utilitarian space and as a metaphor fertile with profound spiritual and theological meaning. It will also initiate a farmers’ and architects’ roundtable for conversations which are more practical, focusing on the here-and-now of our basic needs, of food and shelter, without ignoring the spiritual dimension of human life and all creation. I look forward to the outcomes of such activities, and again hope that through our initiatives we can each contribute to a society that values the wellbeing of all of its members.
The scope of each and every activity within the Foundation is to explore, inspire and contribute to the wellbeing of all individuals living on these islands, and of our communities as a whole. This is only the beginning, and my wish is not simply for the flourishing of these activities within the Foundation itself, but that they may serve as an inspiration to others. May wellbeing mark our identity as a country, and become rooted in our culture and relationships.
THE PRESIDENT’S FOUNDATION FOR THE WELLBEING OF SOCIETY – SCHEDULE OF EVENTS, OCTOBER TO DECEMBER 2014
FONDAZZJONI TAL-PRESIDENT GĦALL-ĠID TAS-SOĊJETÀ.
1. Il-Fondazzjoni għall-Ġid tas-soċjetà li se tibda bin-nies u mbagħad bir-riċerkaturi.
2. Mill-25 ta’ Ġunju lil hawn, l-entitajiet u l-Fora kienu qed jiżviluppaw proċessi ta’ konsultazzjoni u riċerka fl-oqsma tal-familja, tfal, vizzji u għixien xieraq.
3. Illum se nniedu l-programm ta’ bejn Ottubru u Diċembru bl-iskop li kull tliet xhur il-Fondazzjoni tħabbar il-ħidma tat-tliet xhur li ġejjin.
4. Fil-ħidma tagħna qed inkunu kawti, għaliex irridu nkunu qed nevalwaw x’qed nagħmlu.
5. Il-Fondazzjoni ġiet mwaqqfa sabiex l-ewwel tisma’ imbagħad twieġeb permezz tar-riċerka għat-tħassib imqajjem minn professjonisti u akkademiċi, iżda iktar importanti t-tħassib mill-POPLU li jghix f’Malta, Għawdex u Kemmuna.
6. Qed inniedu ċ-Ċentru tal-President għar-riċerka Etno Botanika.
7. Proġett li ridna niffukaw mill-ewwel fuqu kien l-ETNO BOTANIKA qed jintuża bħala qasam ta’ tagħlim multi dixxiplinarji fejn għandek l-ambjent, il-kultura u l-wirt kulturali – metodu innovattiv biex iġġib in-nies flimkien fi djalogu inter kulturali u inter fidi. –
8. Skop biex dan il-proġett iħeġġeġ il-paċi bejn il-bnedmin ta’ kulturi differenti.
9. Kien hemm interess kbir ghal dan il-progett, bi djalogu ma’ bdiewa, NGO’S u kooperattivi u t-thassib taghhom fuq il-futur taghhom.
10. Aħna bħala Fondazzjoni rridu nimxu lil hinn mill-Palazzi Presidenzjali, u għalhekk użajt il-kelma HUB biex l-inizjattiva tikber f’kollaborazzjoni ma’ kull min irid.