Visits to EU Funded Sites for students

On May 3 and 5, SEM and Europe Direct Valletta organised two visits for secondary school students to EU co-funded sites.

These visits were intended to raise awareness among students on how EU funds are invested in several areas and projects. Students from St Nicholas College Dingli Secondary and St Clare College Pembroke Secondary, visited the Salina Nature Park and BirdPark Malta and experienced first-hand the ways in which EU funds transformed the site.

The visit started at the Salina Nature Park with an introduction on SEM and EU funds. An officer from BirdLife Malta then explained in detail how the nature park was rehabilitated through a €7 million project partially financed with EU funds under the Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2007-2013. The site is home to a number of species of birds alighting in the salt pans to rest during migration. Salina is a protected area forming part of the Natura 2000 network and also a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) because of the endemic flora and fauna which can be found in the area.

Leaving the nature park, heading to the Bird Park, students were given a brief overview of how EU funds were invested to build the Salina Coast Road and other major roads that form part of the EU funded TEN-T network.

At the Bird Park, students had the opportunity to learn about several kinds of species that are found in the park. Students had the opportunity to hear from the owner of the park how EU funds helped him set up the park and install energy efficient systems to reduce the high costs for running such a park.

Students were invited to recount their experience by answering some questions related to how EU funds were invested in the sites they visited, how the projects changed the sites and in what ways does Malta benefit from EU funds.

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