Science in the City 2021: EU Corner

Europe in Green - EU Corner on the European Green Deal at Science in the City festival

SEM and Europe Direct Valletta have for another year partnered with the European Commission Representation in Malta and the organisers of European Researchers’ Night in Malta to promote the EU’s work and initiatives to address climate change.

Four performances on the European Green Deal were held on September 24 and 25 at the City Theatre in Valletta. Following a performance by playwright, theatre professional and director of More or Less Theatre, Malcolm Galea, Head of Communications and Outreach at SEM, Joe Sciberras, delivered an interactive and engaging discussion with the audience on how to be agents of change through actions that contribute to a better and healthier future for our planet.

Through the European Green Deal, the EU plans to transform the EU into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy, ensuring zero net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and economic growth decoupled from resource use.

This is possible when we work together to transform the way we live, work, consume energy and move from one place to another. When everyone plays their fair part, everyone will reap the fruits of the transformation to a greener future. 

During the sessions, children and adults alike, were asked to give their views on how they would like to see Europe in the Future when it comes to the environment and climate.

The following were the main contributions:

• Vehicles should run on hydrogen, not on batteries. The disposal of lithium-ion batteries still damages the environment, apart from serious issues related to the extraction of lithium
• Plant more trees, grass and flowers
• Create more open spaces, nature parks and nature reserves
• Hold politicians personally liable for the damage they do to the environment, eg when building roads and tunnels, they must see that the environment incurs the least possible damage and resultant materials are disposed of and recycled properly
• Introduce new and more stringent laws for big companies to reduce emissions and waste
• Ban the production and use of plastic completely
• Every city shall have its own power-house to increase energy efficiency
• Replace the use of toilet paper to water
• Initiate awareness campaigns to respect one another and the environment
• Use AI more to replace human activity that pollutes
• For every car that is manufactured, a bicycle or a scooter should be produced
• Promote the use of bicycles by making cities more bicycle-friendly rather than car-friendly
• Give more incentives to schools to take action for climate.

These contributions will feed into the Conference on the Future of Europe – a Europe-wide initiative to gather the views and ideas of Europeans on what the priorities for the European Union should be in the coming decades.

Those who are interested to give their ideas on the future of Europe may log in on the Multilingual Digital Platform of the Conference and have their say on any topic of their choice.

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