Foundation Talks

The Malta Airport Foundation’s latest initiative, Foundation Talks, is a series of one-on-one interviews with experts and researchers with whom the Foundation has collaborated on a number of projects since its establishment in 2014.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which dealt a blow to both local and global organisations, derailed the plans of the Malta Airport Foundation to unveil completed projects earlier this year, while investment plans for new projects relating to the country’s natural and cultural heritage also had to be scaled back.

However, the Foundation treated these quiet months as an opportunity to explore more innovative ways to continue working towards its goal of preserving and promoting Maltese heritage and the environment, leading it to venture into the digital space for its latest initiative.

“Our aim is to start an accessible conversation about our cultural, artistic and environmental heritage and together learn how to better appreciate and safeguard what makes our islands unique. Through Foundation Talks, we will also be exploring ways in which we can collaborate and be innovative in overcoming the present challenges and enhancing our tourism product,” said Malta Airport Foundation Chairman Josef Formosa Gauci.

In collaboration with experts and researchers in several fields including environmental protection and biodiversity conservation, restoration and preservation of cultural and artistic heritage, the first series of Foundation Talks will pave the way for a broad discussion which will touch upon these subjects.

Follow the discussion below.

In the first one of a series of Foundation Talks, host Valeria Vella and Andrew Schembri from Maltese NGO Żibel talk about marine litter, the Sea Bin, single-use plastics, and how seemingly small day-to-day changes in behaviour and consumption can make a huge difference to the environment in the long run.

In this episode of Foundation Talks, Prof. Alan Deidun shares some insights into the rich biodiversity which abounds in the Mediterranean waters surrounding the Maltese islands, and explains how small actions can help to protect endemic species which are under threat.

In this episode of Foundation Talks, Dr. Stanley Farrugia Randon uncovers the history hidden inside the walls of Torri Xutu, a 17th century watchtower restored by the Malta Airport Foundation in collaboration with Din l-Art Ħelwa, and discusses the impact which the Covid-19 pandemic has had on culture-based Non-Governmental Organisations which are heavily reliant on tourism.

What does it take to restore works of art which date back hundreds of years? Art historian Dr Charlene Vella takes us through the conservation and restoration process which brought a 15th century triptych of the Madonna del Soccorso back to its former glory, with some help from the Malta Airport Foundation, in the latest episode of Foundation Talks.

Did you know that the oldest known shipwreck in the central Mediterranean, found off the coast of Xlendi in Gozo, is currently being excavated by a team of international divers with the support of the Malta Airport Foundation? Project lead Prof. Timmy Gambin delves deeper into the project and gives some insight in the Maltese islands’ rich underwater cultural heritage.

In this episode of Foundation Talks, you’ll be taken on a journey underneath our capital city, Valletta, through war chambers and tunnels whose walls have seen defining moments in Malta’s history unfold. Mario Farrugia, the Executive Chairman of Fondazzjoni Wirt Artna, sheds light on the critical role which the Combined Operations Room, forming part of a 28,000-square-meter wartime complex, played between 1940 and 1977.