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MT 12 March 2017

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 MARCH 2017 Events 43 Spring in the air! Experiential Learning at Buskett Most of us have childhood memories of school outings. Besides looking forward to not having a "normal" school day, we all looked forward to spend- ing time out in the countryside doing things which we hardly ever had time to do at school. Time and research have shown that experiential learning is by far one of the most effec- tive ways for children to grasp and retain new concepts in a fun and adventurous way in a non-formal setting. It is related with active learning, adventure learning, free choice learning and cooperative learning among others. This is one of the many ways Buskett is serving its purposes especially since the Life Saving Buskett project started in July 2013. Numerous school visits are being held in this lovely and unique Maltese woodland dur- ing which students are being given the opportunity to tour around this beautiful forest and learn through hands-on prac- tice and from the experts them- selves about the various plants that grow. School children are also be- ing given the opportunity to learn about the various aspects of woodland life including for- est fires and woodland lichens while at the same time identify- ing trees and measuring their age, girth and height, learning about plant pest control and countryside rules for visitors visiting the place. School chil- dren could also participate in the growing of saplings at school to be later planted at Buskett. Thanks to this project which is now at an advanced stage and which is expected to be complet- ed by May 2018, school children are being supported to appreci- ate the hard work being done by the personnel working at the PARKS Directorate to even re- build rubble walls which over the years had collapsed or subsided making the place look run down and pretty unsafe in comparison to the way it is being transformed now. School children are also being taught about alien species and the need for these to be removed or controlled because of the harm they are causing when spreading very fast, settling and controlling new areas thus endangering na- tive natural vegetation. Through all these initiatives and more, students are being introduced to the concept of biodiversity and the irreversible impacts of al- ien plants, unless addressed in a timely manner. Going back to our initial argu- ment about experiential learn- ing, the above mentioned con- cepts being taught to school children are much harder to teach in a normal class setting as opposed to having the children actually seeing and appreciating with their own eyes and experi- encing with their own hands the hard work and dedication of all those involved in maintaining our parks. This is also witnessed by com- ments that the teachers have left on behalf of the students after having visited the place and seen the outcome of the events under- taken by the students. To learn more about the Life Saving Buskett Project, visit the website http://lifesavingbuskett. org.mt. Schools interested to organise a school visit may call Neville Ebe- jer on 7900 0966 or send an email to john-neville.ebejer@gov.mt KSU & Malta Public Transport launch the KSU Transport Fund Following the success of last year's KSU Transport Fund, the Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU) in con- junction with Malta Public Transport are very pleased to announce the launch of the KSU Transport Fund for 2017. The fund is composed of €10,000 which serves the role of incentivising and strengthening the use of public transport as an al- ternative means of trans- port to and from University Campus, rather than the use of private cars. This €10,000 fund is part of the holistic vision KSU has adopted for the future of transport at the Univer- sity of Malta, aimed at not only encouraging those that come by bus to contin- ue to do so, but primarily to incentivise those students that come by car to opt for an alternative means of transport. KSU also deals with the current parking problem on campus through initia- tives such as the revamped carpooling system and the soon-to-be-launched Two Wheel Fund amongst oth- ers. The council believes that through such incen- tives, a change in mentality can indeed occur. Through this sponsor- ship, Malta Public Trans- port believes that it is not only users who will benefit, but also the public in gen- eral, who will experience decreased levels of conges- tion. Based on the feedback received last year, students will now be eligible to a 50% discount applicable over 3 months of travel. The maximum a student can be charged on their tallinja card in a month, is €21. Keeping this in mind, all students who (a) agree to have their parking permit revoked for the duration of three months or (b) do not currently hold a KSU parking permit and agree not to apply for one within the next three months will be eligible for this scheme. Malta Public transport will then be topping up the tallinja card of each student who makes use of this fund, with €10.50 every month for 3 months. It is therefore imperative for each appli- cant to be in possession of a tallinja card. Benefiting from this fund is simple, students already in possession of a tallinja card can simply apply through the KSU website. Only when the permit has been revoked will students' details be forwarded for processing. KSU & Malta Public Transport encour- age students to take up this opportunity and benefit from a 50% reduction on public transport cost. The fund, which is capped at €10,000, will operate on a first come first served ba- sis. Furthermore, the coun- cil will also be launching a feedback system, should commuters wish to voice their concerns on a particu- lar route. Such comments can be passed on through the application itself or may be emailed directly on vice- president@ksu.org.mt. Through this approach, both KSU & Malta Public Transport feel that stu- dents' interests will be ad- equately safeguarded at all times. JAYE Youth Fair celebrates entrepreneurial success SkillMill wins the "2017 iF Design Award" Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Malta Foundation (JAYE Malta) will organise a National Youth Fair on Sat- urday 18 March at The Point, Sliema. This is the first time that JAYE Malta is bringing together 150 participating students from post-secondary and ter- tiary entrepreneurship programmes to sell and exhibit their products cre- ated during the course of their entre- preneurship education programmes. The Company Programme (CP) and Start Up Programme offer youth the opportunity to design, create and pro- duce their own businesses over a peri- od of eight months. The Fair provides these youth the chance to engage with the public, customers and potential investors in their business idea, ena- bling the further growth of these bud- ding entrepreneurs as they enter the final stage of the competitions. At the end of each competition, win- ners will be elected by an independent panel of judges to represent Malta at two separate European Competitions in Helsinki and Brussels this summer. This Year JAYE Malta will also be organising activities for primary and secondary students throughout the day in what is sure to be an entrepre- neurship extravaganza. Together with dedicated volunteer mentors, they will also immerse into the world of solving problems they face on a daily basis. Training activities for primary school students will be taking place in the morning, focusing on build- ing a relationship between primary students, the participating teams and the subject of entrepreneurship. In the afternoon, an activity for secondary school students will be based on un- derstanding how businesses can also give back to their communities. During both activities, students will interact with other participants to gather information and learn from their experience as part of the chal- lenge at hand. This interaction is at the heart of JAYE's 'learning by doing' experiential model that helps build bridges between the various pedagogi- cal objectives and real life outcomes of a youth's developmental pathway. A total of 17 CP teams from MA Refalo Sixth Form in Gozo, Verdala International School, St Aloysius College Sixth Form, De La Salle Col- lege Sixth Form, St Martin's College Sixth Form, Giovanni Curmi Higher Secondary School, GF Abela Junior College, 24 December Libyan School, MCAST + 8 SUP teams from the Uni- versity of Malta and St Martin's Insti- tute for Higher Education will be par- ticipating in the event. Three f loors at the Point will be set-up with stalls and entertainment provided directly by the teams. JAYE Malta will also be running a quiz throughout the day for the general public with prizes awarded to those who complete the puzzle after engag- ing directly with the teams. Prizes include vouchers and gifts kindly do- nated by sponsors and collaborators. For more information contact: info@ jayemalta.org or 2124 5054 or visit fa- cebook/jayemalta Technogym SkillMill has been award- ed the German prestigious design prize: "2017 iF Design Award". Each year since 1953, the iF Interna- tional Forum Design GmbH organises one of the world's most celebrated and valued design competitions: the iF De- sign Award. Recognized as a symbol of design excellence around the world, the iF Design Award welcomes over 5,500 submissions from 60 countries every year. The IF award international jury se- lected SkillMill, the perfect solution to train, feel and perform like an ath- lete. SkillMill defines a completely new product category: the only non-mo- torized product that combines power, speed, stamina and agility training. SkillMill is the ideal training solution for sports professionals and for those every day athletes who are dedicated to their fitness and improving their sporting performance; it allows users to experience the full speed-resistance spectrum by offering the possibility to switch from resistance-free running to an all-out sled push. As official supplier to six Olympic Games, including Rio 2016, and part- ner to some of the world's best per- forming teams and athletes, Techno- gym has first-hand experience in the training methods and requirements of thousands of worldwide sports cham- pions in over 100 disciplines. This experience is fundamental to Athletic Performance Training, Technogym's complete training methodology which was created with the Wellness brand's Olympic heritage at its heart. This completely new and highly ef- fective training discipline, epitomised by SkillMill, has been designed to improve the performance of everyday athletes and gym-goers by allowing them to: Expand Work Capacity – to achieve the most effective results and benefits for the main physical skills of Power, Speed, Stamina and Agility, this princi- ple focuses on using SkillMill for High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). • Enhance Abilities – this new train- ing discipline also improves the body's ability to carry out complex and dif- ficult movements that require neu- romuscular coordination, from basic gradual progression, to advanced fun- damental movements. • Ensure Full Safety – preventing in- jury and avoiding health risks through poor posture, incorrect form and wrong movements is a critical aspect of the Athletic Performance Train- ing methodology and is embraced by SkillMill's ergonomic design. The on- board console also displays vital health statistics. SkillMill is capable of training all the body's energy systems in a single solu- tion, from sprinting to power develop- ment, for efficient metabolic condi- tioning and it is fully integrated within mywellness, the Technogym cloud based training platform. The solution includes a variety of training programs and tools to offer users training guidance, to monitor and track their results. Users can ac- cess training programs by scanning SkillMill QR code or by downloading the mywellness app, can monitor train- ing parameters in real time from the on-board console. Alongside the possibility to follow the programs specifically designed, SkillMill is ideal for athletic training inspired classes or small group ses- sions. "Knowing that these seeds will grow into plants and eventually trees makes me feel so happy!"

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