Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1053035
27 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 NOVEMBER 2018 Evarist Bartolo Excellence at Wardija Evarist Bartolo is Minister for Education and Employment LAST Monday I was fortunate enough to be present at the launch of the Social Enterprise Project at Maria Regina Col- lege in Wardija, which project is being financed by HSBC. Apart from celebrat- ing the entrepreneurship efforts of the students, I strongly feel that I was also celebrating the work of the teachers and all those involved in the administra- tion of the Dun Manwel Attard Young Adults Education Resource Centre. The centre caters for the needs of youngsters with different abilities at post-16 level. Entrepreneurship Educa- tion is an integral part of our school educational programme to the point that the school is continuously promot- ing and assisting initiatives ranging from self-employment to social enterprises and cooperatives aimed to target the disability sector. Students' efforts and experiences in this regards are also be- ing certified and officially recognised through national and international ac- creditation bodies. In fact, the school has managed to get several local and European awards that recognise its efforts in the sector. Ad- ditionally the school has involved itself directly in various projects that promote entrepreneurship activities within a Social Enterprise aspect. Honey, oil, pottery items, lavender pouches, bath scrubs and bath salts are just a few of products that are produced by the youngsters. I acknowledge and thank the HSBC Malta Foundation for the help and support that they have given to the Dun Manwel Attard Young Adults Education Resource Centre. This project is entirely funded by the HSBC Malta Foundation and they have partnered the resource centre in providing a creative and inno- vative approach of improving the quality of life of people with disability. These youngsters have been given opportunities where they can recognise their abilities through an entrepreneuri- al way. Without such help, it would have been far more difficult to achieve these results. During this visit, students with differ- ent abilities demonstrated a remarkable show of entrepreneurship. One particu- lar project that deserves special mention is the creation of a range of aroma- therapy products using Maltese herbs and other ingredients. These goods were even packaged with their own label 'Wardija" and they are now even making their way into the local retail market. The Wardija resource centre adopts a holistic approach which emphasises care, respect and responsibility. The dedicated staff work as a team, providing discussions about behaviour, communication difficulties and other needs that students have from time to time. The school promotes and supports initiatives that help give these young- sters pride and a greater sense of owner- ship on projects initiated and carried through, at the resources centre in Wardija. It is an excellent initiative and a best practice model that should be followed in all secondary schools. These opportu- nities provide an added encouragement to parents to help their children and/or youngsters to further their education, consequently helping them prepare bet- ter for life and employment. Venice flooding is getting worse, and the city's grand plan won't save it THE spectacular centrepiece of Venice, St Mark's Square, now floods more than 60 times a year, up from four times a year in 1900. Recent storms report- edly helped cover over 70% of the city in water, which rose by up to 156cm above its normal level. Upcoming research con- ducted with our colleagues at the National Research Centre of Venice (CNR) shows that, without intervention, within 50 years this kind of flooding could occur with nearly every high tide. In fact, some experts have argued that Venice will be gone by the year 2100. The increase in flooding in Venice is due to the combined effects of land subsidence caus- ing the city to sink, and climate change causing the global sea level to rise. But the city's cho- sen solution to the problem, an unfinished scheme of 78 storm gates known as MOSE, is likely to cause damage to the ecologi- cal health of the surrounding lagoon and, in the long run, could have no effect on Venice's preservation. Venetians have been managing Venice lagoon with engineer- ing since the 12th century. The city is built on 118 small islands drained by a network of canals and located within a tidal lagoon sat between the Italian coast and several barrier islands known as the Murazzi. Interventions have included diverting six major rivers away from the lagoon to stop its waterways filling with silt, rebuilding and extending the Murazzi and reducing the inlets between them from the original nine to three. Venetians have also combated flooding by periodically rais- ing pavements and walkways and building embankments, but this is no longer possible without damaging the city's architecture. So in 2003, the MOSE project was launched as a way of protecting Venice from the worsening floods. But the Venetian scientific community is divided over the impact of the project on the lagoon given how much worse the flooding could become. Records held in the city show the Venice sea level has consist- ently risen by a total of 26cm since 1870. Around 12cm of that comes from the fact that Venice's islands are subsid- ing because of the amount of water removed from the aquifer beneath Venice lagoon. Further measurements show that sea level is still rising 2.4mm a year. As a result, with a sea level rise of 50cm, the MOSE storm gates will need to close almost daily in order to protect the city from flooding. The problem with this comes from the fact that some of the Venice's untreated sewage flows directly into the lagoon via the canals and pres- ently is flushed through the inlets into the sea within a week. Shutting the inlets every day could cause increased microbio- logical pollution and eutrophi- cation in the lagoon. This is where the water becomes so full of nutrients that it spawns excessive growth of plants and algae at the expense of other wildlife. Lagoon at risk This would follow other damage to the lagoon's ecosys- tem caused by the loss of salt marshes and tidal flats (and the reclamation of tidal flats in other areas for fish farming). Meanwhile, seabed erosion from dredging and illegal clam harvesting has increased the central part of the lagoon's depth by 50cm since 1970. There are major concerns among the scientific community of Venice that further enclosing and restricting the lagoon will further compromise its ecologi- cal health. The other problem with MOSE is that it doesn't ad- dress the issue of the rising sea level, which is already damag- ing the city's buildings with salt and damp, despite widespread renovations of foundations and canals. The conservator of St Mark's Cathedral has shown that sea water has risen several metres through the church's foundations walls. Several alternatives to the MOSE project have been proposed, including pumping water back into the ground to raise the city up, but none have received widespread acceptance by the scientific community. There is agreement that the salt marshes and mudflats that once surrounded Venice should be returned to their former extent in order to preserve the ecologi- cal health of the lagoon. But this will certainly not solve the problem of rising sea levels. If the sea level rises above a sustainable water level there will be no other choice than to permanently cut off the lagoon from the Adriatic Sea. Clearly, this can only be done if the problems of pollution, sewage and port activities have been resolved. In this case we will have a fresh water lagoon, different from the one we know, but preserving the city of Venice within it. Carl Amos & George Umgiesser Prof. Carl Amos, University of Southampton and George Umgiesser, Senior Researcher, Insititue of Marine Sciences TheConversation.eu