Finalist

Triple Helix Collaboration of the Year (at least 2 triple helix actors) Award

EIT Climate-KIC Hub Malta & EIT Urban Mobility RIS HUB Malta

Finalist of the Triple Helix Collaboration of the Year (at least 2 triple helix actors) Award

Malta College of Art, Science and Technology (MCAST) - Malta

"Co-creating the Future in Quadruple Helix Innovation Systems: A Community College for All"


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Summary

MCAST through the EIT RIS Hubs fosters the quadruple helix innovation model as it bridges industry, academy and government together with the civil society to work towards sustainable development goals. This is being achieved in the design and implementation of projects and strategies that aim to support the transition to a zero-carbon and resilient Malta. MCAST, being a vocational educational institution is often approached by Ministries to design training with the intention of upskilling current mobility professionals, in alignment with national strategies. This close collaboration with government institutions, and the constant feedback being received from industry is key to boost further innovation in the sectors of mobility and clean technology. Alongside this, we have made it our mission to ingrain an entrepreneurial mindset within the local community and higher education institutions. We believe in the importance of ‘systems thinking’ and ‘challenge-led learning’ as a mindset in order to better understand the interrelations in complex contexts and to develop problem-solving skills in our society especially in our youth – our future leaders. Through our strategic programmes and network, local start-ups, educators and students are challenged to come up with innovative ideas to tackle climate issues head-on. We hand-hold them, supporting them and providing them with mentorship and funding throughout. In a nutshell, we are spearheading the creation of a local innovation ecosystem by gathering quadruple helix elements under MCAST’s roof, with the hopes of boosting our green economy, contribute to the creation of green jobs and fostering just communities.

Key People


Dr. Ing. Clifford De Raffaele
Director of Research & Innovation
Applied Research and Innovation Center (ARIC),  Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST)



Edwin Zammit
Deputy Director of Research and Innovation
ARIC,  MCAST



Dr. Beatriz Camacho Ávila
Ecosystem Manager for the Regional Innovation Scheme (RIS) in Southern Europe
EIT Climate–KIC (Knowledge and Innovation Community) RIS,  European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT)



Dr. Gonca Kara
Senior Research Officer
ARIC,  MCAST



Dr. Andre Attard
Senior Research Officer
ARIC,  MCAST



Dr. Lorna Bonnici West
Senior Research Officer
ARIC,  MCAST



Dr. Massimo Pierucci
Senior Research Officer
ARIC,  MCAST



Dr. Christine Zerafa
Senior Research Officer
ARIC,  MCAST



Maria Ragia
EIT Hub Researcher
ARIC,  MCAST



Francesca Mizzi
EIT Hub Researcher
ARIC,  MCAST



Pelin Uner
EIT Hub Researcher
ARIC,  MCAST



Lisa Theuma
Researcher
ARIC,  MCAST



Sandra Portelli
Lecturer
Institute of Business Management and Commerce,  MCAST


Images

Dr. Tatjana Chircop

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

One of the greatest success stories was a result of the Young Innovators programme we ran at MCAST last year. In Malta, the curriculum is long and heavy, and the education system is exam-based. Not only does this put unnecessary pressure on teachers, but students too are constantly stressed and overwhelmed. The memorisation and numerous exams, rather than providing a rich and fun learning experience, offer very little to equip students with knowledge and skills that they can apply as adults. It instead encourages robotic operations, kills creativity and zero ability to think critically. This is why Young Innovators is so essential, not just in introducing systems innovation, but also help spread the message that the environment matters and offers a fun way to learn, one that can help build confidence too, apart from encouraging creativity and critical thinking. The 120 students engaged in the programme were at Foundation level, meaning that they had failed secondary school and were taking special classes to obtain a certificate. Generally, students at Foundation level come from socially disadvantaged backgrounds and are often stigmatized for struggling academically. In fact, the students in this programme lacked basic literacy skills and were never participating in class or completing their assignments. To our surprise, during the Young Climathon event, these same students were talking and working with peers that they never would have interacted with normally. The students, given that they were introduced to the systems thinking visual tools and practiced using them in the classroom with their lecturer prior to the event, felt confident using them to present solutions to the challenge owners during the Young Climathon. Not only they were applying systems thinking and creative problem solving to local environmental issues, but most importantly, at the end of the day they felt incredibly proud of their achievement and showed a clear desire to participate in future activities. Indeed, this year, the lecturer has reported to our team that these students are now delivering high-quality oral presentations on the Sustainable Development Goals as part of their English class and that are constantly asking her whether they will have the opportunity to participate in similar educational programmes.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

After two years of countless encounters and meetings with stakeholders, without managing to properly engage or achieve tangible and measurable outcomes, this year we are starting to reap the benefits. As they say, ‘good things come to those who wait’. Nowadays, we are being recognized, and specifically approached for collaboration. This is because we have established a position and stakeholders reach out to us for the expertise and for our extensive international network. This was not achieved overnight. On the contrary, a lot of groundwork was conducted to have reached this status. We achieved this, not solely by mapping our stakeholders, but by listening to and understanding their barriers, their needs, and their distinguishing factor. We tried to re-imagine governance, aligning and shifting to a community governance model to allow the proper engagement of all stakeholders and capacity building between all involved. This included developing new avenues of outreach for further community participation and engagement whilst thinking strategically and managing expectations.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

So far, all our initiatives have been piloted in small groups. However, our vision for the future is to bring about a permanent change to all Maltese higher educational institutions which will also have a trickle effect into the local communities. We aspire to bring systems innovation and systems thinking as part of MCAST’s key-skills-unit and to teach it throughout the college’s curriculum, as well as using these tools more often in our management in order to transform bring about an organizational change. If we succeed in implementing this, MCAST will be the first higher educational institution that teaches systems thinking and systems innovation skills as part of its curriculum in Europe. Finally, aligning with MCAST’s strategy of being “a community college for all” implies the need for an entrepreneurial mindset and co-creational tools that can be utilized by anyone willing to innovate within MCAST and its community. All of this is creating and sustaining a good governance model which will ultimately transform MCAST into a unified living lab.

KEY STATISTICS

200+

Entrepreneurs were trained and mentored.

120

Students were engaged within the Young Innovators Programme, and the tools of systems thinking were taught. During Young Climathon event, 24 ideas were generated by the students for 3 challenges given by the industry & ministry.

25+

Stakeholders have been actively engaged with the Hubs.

10

Solutions were proposed to the challenge owners during 2020 & 2021 Climathon events that MCAST organised. 2 of these ideas have been implemented by the challenge owners.

8

Start-ups have been supported.

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

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