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11.04.19 2 NEWS THE Malta Innovation Hub has launched 'Profit with Pur- pose', an initiative which will identify two outstanding social innovation ideas to which the hub will then provide €6,000 worth of support services. e support services will in- clude hot desk access as well as business development consul- tancy expertise. e search for the two social innovation ideas will begin at a two-day ideation event on 8 and 9 May, which will take place at the Malta Life Scienc- es Park (MLSP), of which the Malta Innovation Hub forms part of. e event is open to any in- dividual or organisation with a social innovation idea, particu- larly in, but not limited to, the areas of e-health, sustainable tourism and food technology. Participants will have the op- portunity to discuss their idea with industry, corporate social responsibility and business de- velopment experts, and to then present their idea to the judg- ing panel which will decide on the two ideas that will receive support. 'Profit With Purpose' is being organised together with the Malta Council for the Volun- tary Sector and with Impact HUB Siracusa and Tree. e four organisations are part of project ENISIE – En- abling Network-based Inno- vation through Services and Institutional Engagement Pro- ject Code: C1-2.1-80, a project which was created to enable innovation through services and institutional engagement between Sicily and Malta. ENISIE is supported by the European Union's Program INTERREG V-A Italia Mal- ta 2014-2020 which provides funds for intra-regional pro- jects. In view of this collabora- tion, one of the ideas selected for support during the ideation event in May, will be required to have a Malta – Sicily ele- ment to it. Ing. Joseph Sammut, Chair- man of the Malta Life Sciences Park, said "Social Innovation is a relatively new concept but one which we believe is set for rapid growth as socially con- scious entrepreneurs increas- ingly look to tackle societal and climate challenges through in- novative business ideas." "'Profit with Purpose' will hopefully not only kick start the successful development of two social innovation enter- prises but provide all our par- ticipants with valuable insight and connections to help take more ideas forward," Sammut added. Participation in Profit with Purpose is free but places are limited. More information can be obtained by sending an email to network@mlsp.com. mt or by calling +356 2247 7601 Malta Innovation Hub to support two outstanding social innovation ideas The Malta Innovation Hub forms part of the Malta Life Sciences Park FROM PAGE 1 In comments to this newspa- per, Nationalist Party MP and MEP candidate David Stellini said that it was in Malta's inter- est that Britain be granted an extension, allowing it to reach some form of agreement with the EU, rather than leaving without a deal. He said that, if the UK was open to sincerely collaborating during the exten- sion period, the Opposition fa- voured the Tusk approach. "A no-deal scenario is not good for Malta, nor for countries like the Netherlands, Belgium and Ireland," Stellini said, "I won't go into the length an extension should take, but what is impor- tant is that there is some form of agreement to shape Britain's exit." European Union leaders met at an emergency summit on Wednesday to decide the length of the extension which will be given to Britain to leave the bloc. e talks – which were ex- pected to last into the night and were still under way by the time we went to print – aimed to prevent the United Kingdom from crashing out of the EU at midnight on Friday without a deal, risking economic disarray. It was anticipated that e- resa May would be asking her counterparts to postpone Brexit from 12 April to 30 June, allow- ing time to set up an orderly de- parture, but EU leaders would likely be offering her a longer delay. European Council president Donald Tusk has said that Britain has provided little evi- dence that British MPs would be agreeing to the Brexit with- drawal agreement by 30 June. Last week, Tusk floated the idea of offering a "flexible ex- tension", which would give the UK up to one year to leave the EU. He also emphasised that EU member states should not be out to "humiliate" Britain at the meeting. Before the start of the summit, however, the British premier re- fused to say what course of ac- tion she would take if the delay she was offered is past 30 June. She reportedly told journalists that "as prime minister, I am not prepared to delay Brexit any further". France – which is leading the pressure for Britain to be im- posed with strict conditions if it is given a further extension – said that the risk of a no-deal Brexit was still present, with French government spokesper- son Sibeth Ndiaye highlight- ing that while the UK leaving without an agreement would be the least preferable option, her country was "prepared" for it. German Chancellor Angela Merkel told the Berlin parlia- ment before travelling to Brus- sels that leaders could give their support for a longer delay that May had requested, adding that both the EU and UK should be given "a reasonable amount of time". One of the conditions attached to such an extension is that Brit- ain will have to take part in the European Parliament elections if it is still a member of the bloc on 23 May. Meanwhile, Brexiteer poli- ticians in the UK have voiced opposition to the idea of a prolonged delay, with Tory pro-Brexit MP Bill Cash writing to Tusk to warn that a 12-month extension would face a legal challenge. e MP asked that the European Council takes his letter in consideration during the summit. European Council president Donald Tusk with British Prime Minister Theresa May May still hopeful Britain will leave EU before 22 May

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