Minister for the National Heritage, the Arts and Local Government José Herrera, together with Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and the Digital Economy Clayton Bartolo, presided over the signing of MoU between the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) and Arts Council Malta (ACM).
This MOU which has been renewed for another three years, targets the areas of Arts and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and seeks to encourage interdisciplinarity between the arts and science, increase cross-sectoral participation in culture, the creative industries, STEM, and raise the profile of these disciplines within formal and informal education.
Minister José Herrera stated that this MoU carries a lot of significance especially during this period of the pandemic. He continued by saying that MCST will surely assist the creative arts sector in creating new technological means of promoting their creativity, whilst on the other hand ACM will assist the science and technological sector in attracting the necessary enthusiasm and participation.
Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and the Digital Economy Clayton Bartolo pointed how creativity and innovation are important ingredients for strengthening the engine of the global economy and it is important to continue incentivising these sectors in order to make Malta a centre of excellence when it comes to research and innovation.
“The economy needs innovators, and the evidence always shows that innovation in any sector is driven by those professionals who are influenced by the arts and science”, said Parliamentary Secretary Clayton Bartolo. He also stressed the need to encourage children from an early age to approach areas such as STEM, art and culture which indirectly help to further grow the economy and enhance our quality of life
“At Esplora we have aligned our priorities to move from STEM to STEAM. When coupled with STEM, the arts provide several key components that many employers, educators, and parents consider as critical for our children to thrive – both now and the years to come, highlighted Deputy Director of Esplora Clayton Cutajar. He went on to say that, “our vision is to cultivate a culture of scientific curiosity and creativity and we believe that this can only be truly and completely achieved through a STEAM approach”.
Arts Council Malta’s Head of Strategy, Adrian Debattista stated that, “the renewal of this agreement signals an important part of ACM’s trajectory as it prepares for its new strategy for 2021-2025. The evidence gathered in the past five years through our research, indicated a stronger need for a cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary approach to how we support the creative and cultural sectors through the formation and development of multiple partnerships with the public, private and voluntary sectors. This MoU aims to continue building upon the successes of its previous three years and expanding and creating synergies with MCST while striving towards encouraging a STEAM approach in education, as the arts is integrated with science and technology in myriad ways”.
