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MESSAGE BY THE HON. LOUIS GALEA, MINISTER OF EDUCATION, ON THE LAUNCHING OF THE IKONOS PROJECT BY THE MALTA CENTRE FOR RESTORATION, BIGHI - FRIDAY DECEMBER 7TH 2001
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07/12/2001
07/12/2001
| Your Excellency the Head of the Delegation of the European Commission, | the Director of the Italian Cultural Institute, Chairman and Members of the Board of Governors of the Malta Centre for Restoration, it is a great pleasure for me to have this opportunity to be present at the public launch of the IKONOS Project by the Malta Centre for Restoration. |
| Barely thirty months have passed since the Malta | Centre for Restoration was set up on the 3rd May 1999. It is difficult to believe that, since then, more than ten thousand square metres of historic buildings have been restored and furnished with state of the art equipment to become an operational laboratory and teaching space. It is even more difficult to believe that more than 400 students have since gone through four editions of the Preparatory Course, or that 40 students are now spread across the first three years of a new four-year degree course in conservation, while close to another forty are following newly-developed vocational courses in stone conservation. |
| I would normally like to dwell on these matters a | little more since they are no mean achievement but today’s event is almost just as significant and I feel that one should not deflect attention from the main event that we have met to witness this morning. |
| When, on the 26th April 1999, Cabinet | approved the setting up of the Malta Centre for Restoration it encharged MCR with a dual role: that of being a regional centre as well as Malta’s national centre. This is a modest but reasonable ambition. Malta’s strategic position and rich cultural heritage make it ideally suited to take on a pivotal position in the development of cultural heritage conservation in the Mediterranean. |
| It is very encouraging to note that the MCR’s Board | of Governors has risen to the challenge by setting a blistering pace and by devising creative new methods to position itself as a regional centre. The IKONOS Project, whose objectives we have just heard the Chairman describe, is the MCR’s first major international project which promises to help the Centre move closer to fulfilling its regional vocation. |
| By putting together a consortium of eleven | institutions from eight countries MCR has demonstrated its ability to take on a leadership role in a very short while. This is perhaps due to its ability to harness the power of modern information communication technologies in an innovative manner, which promises to be both cost-effective and sustainable. |
| Using satellite technology to broadcast conservation | courses at various levels is not a totally new idea – Rai has, for some time been broadcasting distance learning programmes in conservation using its fixed up-link systems for Nettuno broadcasts but it has never attempted to achieve this through live inter-active video conferencing. Nor has it embarked on an ambitious programme of achieving this high level of interactivity with scores of different students attending lectures in seven different countries. |
| IKONOS promises that within a few months, two rooms | in this block will be equipped with the most modern equipment to convert them into a broadcasting studio. Thus, from just down this corridor, MCR should be able to broadcast its own carefully developed lectures to students coming from many different cultures. Meanwhile, also within the IKONOS Project, sub-projects on Training of the Trainers as well as all types of cataloguing and documentation will be facilitated through the constant availability of inter-active video conferencing. This will also lead to greatly improved levels of communication and much less cost for project steering committee meetings. At other times, the satellite network may be used to broadcast lectures from other project partners thus saving MCR the cost of lecturers who have no need (or wish) to catch a plane to perform their duties in Malta. |
| In order to reap these huge benefits, a hefty | investment is needed for the hardware, software and human resource development. MCR’s success in IKONOS is a clear example of the positive results of the Government’s policy of accessing European funds for infrastructural development. Through IKONOS, the Malta led consortium has attracted over 3 million Euro to the Project and this was possible thanks to the Government’s decision to again renew Malta’s application to join the EU. |
| I must conclude with a word of thanks to all members | of the MCR team: the Board of Governors, members of management and the rest of the staff whose hard work has made today possible. Without their commitment and dedication very little would have been achieved to date. |
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