On Thursday 10th October 2024 we officially closed the Island Guardians project with a small press event in the presence of our partners and stakeholders. Parallel to this event we offered a free day out to schoolchildren from four primary schools in our area. A fun day for all!

The press event was held at Esplora’s Hub Terrace overlooking the Grand Harbour.

Dr Tonio Portughese Chairman of the Consultative Committee & Member of the Advisory Board of Science Malta opened the event stating that “At the heart of this project lies the belief that everyone can play a part in safeguarding our environment.” He added “It is through commitment, education, awareness, and action that we can move toward a cleaner, healthier Mediterranean and a more sustainable planet.”

Dr Vesna Kuralt from the Remedies Consortium Coordination team said that “Island Guardians is a brilliant example of a community-based initiative addressing marine pollution bottom up, which is crucial to becoming climate resilient by 2030. Esplora was awarded for its vision of building a community of all ages committed to protecting and restoring our seas and ocean for future generations. As we wish to replicate the impact made here in other regions, we have decided to translate the storybooks and inspire children across Europe.”

Ms Irene Mangion, Project Manager of Island Guardians at Esplora, stated: “Our goal with this project was to go beyond awareness raising and foster active citizenship, thus creating a lasting impact, not only through immediate actions like beach clean-ups but also by ensuring that children and young adults truly understand the importance of a plastic-free Mediterranean.”

Closing the ceremony Senior Director of Esplora, Mr Olaf McKay stated that “The project’s vision was to leverage Esplora’s expertise in science engagement and its partnerships with local collaborators to create a lasting impact. Through a wide array of resources, this project has not only raised awareness but also inspired action”.

Esplora thanked the European Commission and Mission Ocean for their kind support, as well as the Remedies Consortium for selecting the Island Guardians project for funding and for all its support and assistance, in particular Dr Vesna Kuralt from the National Institute of Chemistry in Ljubljana, Slovenia, and Mr Dimitris Kokkinakis from Impact Hub Athens, who were the assigned project mentors.

The project manager also thanked all the staff at Esplora – from the content developers who developed the materials to the science communicators and explainers who presented the project resources to the schoolchildren, as well as the STEM Engagement, Marketing, PR, Bookings, Front of House and Esplora Cafe teams for all their work.

A big thank you also went out to the NGOs and researchers who were the project’s ambassadors and heroes, and who also kindly attended the event and set up wonderful stands for the schoolchildren to interact with: Raniero Borg from Raniero’s Adventures, Andrew Schembri and Cristina Macelli from Zibel, Audrey Zammit and Alessio Marrone from the University of Malta’s Oceanography Malta Research Group, Pamela Mason and Charlie Matthews from Sharklab Malta, as well as Nature Trust/FEE Malta and the Cirkewwa Marine Park.

You can read the press release published by Malta Today here.

Following light refreshments, our attention shifted to the unveiling of the Bebbuxu installation made from plastic collected during the clean-ups by artist Joseph Barbara who also kindly attended the event, and to the schoolchildren and their exploration of the Island Guardians project resources!

Schoolchildren aged 6 to 11 from the primary schools of Bormla, Birgu, Isla and Kalkara were invited to Esplora on the day to explore the theme of marine plastic pollution.

The younger children enjoyed a storytelling activity based on the storybooks written and illustrated for the project, brought to them by two of our science communicators, Sarah and Tal.

The other classes were offered a workshop with different activities from the resource packs developed for the project, one of which consisted of making their own garbage picker!

The children also visited stands prepared by the project ‘heroes’, where they were shown the kind of plastic waste that is commonly found on beaches and in the sea and introduced to ways of reducing our reliance on plastic …

Finally, the children also met the artist behind the Bebbuxu installation, which was made out of plastic collected during the two clean-ups that NGO Zibel coordinated with Esplora. Joseph Barbara explained how he was inspired by the way nature recycles its own waste, for instance the way crabs make use of shells discarded by sea snails!

It was a truly enjoyable day for all of us, which focused on the need to take action against plastic pollution in order to keep hope alive in a world that is rapidly deteriorating beneath the threats of pollution and climate change. As Zibel likes to say – It starts with us. And it continues, one may add, with our showing our leaders that the quality of our environment, of the ecoysystems that support all life on this planet and our own health all greatly matter to us!