A Study-Unit of the annual IOI Malta Regional Ocean Governance Course, offered jointly by the University of Malta (UM) and the , was successfully delivered online during the past semester (November 2021-February 2022) to 20 registered participants hailing from 13 different countries based in four different continents (Europe, Africa, Asia and South America).
The study-unit in question is the GSC 5102 (Managing Marine Space and its Potential as an Economic Resource - Project Study), which represents one-third of the full academic content of the same Course and complements the study-unit (GSC 5101 – Global Ocean Governance Framework and Managing our Relations with the Sea) also delivered online within the same Course over the February-May 2021 period.
Participants were trained on how to hone their negotiation and diplomatic skills, even through a simulated negotiating session led by Prof. Awni Behnam and Ms Antonella Vassallo, as well as on the application of Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) methodologies to address future prospective expansion in maritime activity within Maltese waters. The latter exercise, titled 'Project Study', was led by Dr Robert Farrugia and involved the assessment of different zones within Maltese territorial waters by the students in terms of ongoing maritime activities within the same zones, conflicts arising through their interaction as well as the potential future expansion of different economic sectors within the same zones.
Prior to the conduction of such a hands-on exercise, students were briefed on thematics linked to Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) by Prof. Alan Deidun, on Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) by Ms Carmen Mifsud and on aquaculture by Dr Simeon Deguara. The ‘Code Red for Humanity’ hybrid seminar was held at the University’s Valletta Campus within the ambit of the study-unit just delivered, drawing on the emerging nexus between Climate, Ocean and Biodiversity thematics.
COVID-19 status permitting, the plans to offer, on a physical, direct contact basis, the fully-fledged, five-week IOI Regional Ocean Governance Course (total of 15 ECTS) next autumn, as had been the norm prior to 2020. In fact, under regular circumstances, the same Course, which consists of three complementary study-units (GSC 5101, GSC 5102 and GSC 5103) for a total of 15 ECTS, would be offered physically in Malta over a 5-week period in November-December, as has been the case for the previous 15 editions of the same course. Given the current restrictions on international travel, arrangements were made for the first two components of the said course – i.e. GSC 5101 and GSC 5102 – were offered online during the past year.
The IOI Malta Regional Ocean Governance Course is one of a total of six ocean governance courses offered by the IOI through its global network of training centres, but is the only accredited one from such a crop of training courses. Prof. Alan Deidun, resident academic within the Department of Geosciences at UM, directs the IOI’s Malta Training Centre, whilst Ms Antonella Vassallo is the IOI’s Managing Director, with the IOI’s Headquarters also being hosted on campus. The IOI is an NGO which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, tracing back its origins in 1972 through the seminal work of foundress Elisabeth Mann Borgese.
Further information about training opportunities offered by the IOI Malta Training Centre can be found on the .
