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17 EVENTS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 24 APRIL 2019 WE face a future that is in- creasingly unstable and dif- ficult to predict: ever-more- complex global challenges demand a new approach to education and people from diverse backgrounds to work together to identify innovative and holistic approaches for more sustainable societies. As an exercise, the EU pro- ject SciCulture (led by the University of Malta) brought artists, researchers, educators and entrepreneurs together in an intensive five-day course this month in Greece. These diverse participants were guided by experts from around Europe to tangibly im- agine what and how education might be in 2050. Over the next couple years, the SciCulture project hopes to develop this course to ef- fectively combine the various disciplines to facilitate critical thinking and dialogue. These skills are needed to guide decision making to ar- rive at solutions for the com- plex challenges society faces. By facilitating a network of SciCulture ambassadors, this project has the ambitious goal of engaging thousands of indi- viduals over the globe with the idea that transdisciplinarity is the way forward. This year's intensive course showed how challenging and rewarding it is for groups with diverse backgrounds to work together. Participants were purpose- fully placed with other indi- viduals who shared differing expertise, creating a space where highly philosophical and practical minds needed to find a way to create and build on ideas together. Despite the inevitable hic- cups in these challenging working groups, participants produced highly creative and innovative projects. Their ideas ranged from a posthumanist vision for edu- cation to an education model with continuous learning where the school is the com- munity. The transdisciplinary ap- proach worked to envision a different future that tries to make small strides to improve society. SciCulture's next course is in Norway in November to con- tinue to improve the approach with grants soon open for Uni- versity of Malta students. SciCulture is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme with support from the European Commission and partnered with the following institu- tions: University of Malta, Sci- ence View, University of Ex- eter, University of Bergen and TU Delft. Envisioning the future of education in 2050 Recycled manuscript cover attributed to Notary Giorgio Zelivo, covered in parchment containing Byzantine text from Ephrem the Syrian, dated to the twelfth century BEHIND each routine analysis of blood cholesterol levels, to the processing of biopsy tissue and analysis under the mi- croscope, from the detection of a throat infection, to the choice of the best an- tibiotic therapy, from the study of the population's genetics to the screening of cancer, from infertility to allergen testing, from the diagnosis of leukaemia to the matching of blood products dur- ing surgery, there are always the hands, hearts and brains of a Biomedical Sci- entist. A group of over 400 individual pro- fessionals, both from private and state entities, unite daily as a dedicated team of scientists working from be- hind the scenes, but carrying vital an- swers in one of the broadest areas of modern sciences, not only in the diag- nosis of disease and result interpreta- tion, but also in continual research to provide and deliver excellence to our patients. Biomedical Scientists, also known as Medical Laboratory Scientists, are re- sponsible for more than 70% of diagnosis nationally within Mal- ta's healthcare system, as well as internationally around the globe. This 'hidden profession' han- dles more than 10 million tests a year locally and thanks to their skills, knowledge, passion, dedi- cation, varied expertise and end- less work, the Biomedical Sci- entist saves lives by providing priceless information to doctors in planning best treatment and management plans to patients, thus being at the centre and core of all medicine. 15 April marked International Biomedical Science day and the Malta Association of Biomedical Scientists - MABS, takes pride in raising public awareness as well as promoting and celebrating the vital role of this profession and its Biomedical Scientist mem- bers in healthcare. This year, to help celebrate this annual event, the NGO associa- tion MABS, will be organising a half day symposium at the Fac- ulty of Health Sciences at Mater Dei Hospital on 27 April 2019. The day will be highlighting the role of the Biomedical Scien- tist in Screening, Detection and Treatment in relation to Non- Communicable Diseases includ- ing diabetes, cancer, cardiac con- ditions as well as thalassemia. The public as well as other healthcare workers are invited to join MABS in this event by vis- iting wwww.biomedicalscience- malta.org or MABS Facebook page, to get more information and apply online. Biomedical Science Day - celebrating the 'Hidden Profession'

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