Saturday, September 28, 2024

Gozo Airfield - Sociologists had asked for Social Impact Assessment in 2022

The Labour-led Xewkija Local Council has unanimously voted against the application for the development of an air strip within the limits of the locality.

This is yet another example of the need to mainstream social impact assessments in policy-making. Incidentally during the public consultation process carried out two years ago, on 23 May 2022, the MSA - Malta Sociological Association had asked for a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) on this proposal. The Planning Authority had also asked for a 'Social Impact Study', according to an article in Malta Today dated 16 January 2023.

To my knowledge, no Social Impact Assessment has been carried out.

Update:

The Gozo Regional Development Authority has issued a statement on the airfield issue , where it says that its public consultation process was open to everyone and that economic, social, and environmental considerations were considered. It also refers to the Regional Impact Assessment, published in July 2022. Chapter 7.2 (pp.51-55) deals with social impacts, and states that "the Social Impact Assessment carried out for the proposed project identified certain environmental impacts, that were highlighted in the Regional Impact Statement document, as social impacts." (p.52)

This confirms that no proper Social Impact Assessment was carried out.

Even though one appreciates the efforts of the GRDA, it is important to note that a social impact assessment is not a one-off exercise and has various features, such as those referred to by the International Association of Impact Assessment.

Given that the Xewkija Local Council is now opposing the airfield, this surely must be taken into consideration.

Thursday, September 26, 2024

2 new open access publications on Social Welfare in Southern Europe

With reference to 'Social Welfare Issues in Southern Europe', (Routledge, 2022) co-edited by Maria Brown and Michael Briguglio, the following 2 chapters are now available in Open Access Format:

- Introducing Social Welfare Issues in Southern Europe, by Michael Briguglio and Maria Brown

- An Analysis of Pertinent Issues in Education in Southern Europe, by Peter Mayo, Maria Brown, Michael Briguglio

Both chapters may be downloaded from here


Tuesday, September 24, 2024

One to One enters its second season

Radio discussion programme One To One, hosted by Prof Michael Briguglio, will be entering its second season on Campus 103.7, as from the first week of October. It covers social, political, environmental, and cultural topics, and guests are experts in their respective fields.

Programmes during the 2nd season will be broadcast every Friday at 2pm, with repetitions on Friday at 9pm and Saturday 11.30am. The programmes are also being made available in on-demand format.

A full list of programmes covered in Season 1 can be found here.

To check out updates for Season 2, click here