JUSTNature 3rd Local Stakeholder Workshop

On February 16, 2024, the Research Innovation Unit (RIU) representing the Gzira Local Council, in collaboration with the University of Malta (UM), organized the 3rd stakeholder workshop at the Gzira Parish Hall.

During the first part of the workshop, we offered a brief overview of the JUSTNature project and welcomed new participants. Shirley Attard of the RIU and Mohamed Soliman Daoud of UM discussed the project’s challenges and opportunities, underlining the crucial role of the stakeholders in its success. They also shared insights on the significant planned interventions for Sliema Road and the establishment of a CiPel within Stella Maris College, highlighting the potential positive impact of these initiatives.

The participants found the proposed visuals and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) interventions for Sliema Road quite interesting and inspiring. They also shared their own ideas and suggestions. Mohamed Soliman Daoud of UM also discussed planned activities for Stella Maris College, including capacity building, knowledge sharing, and student engagement.

In the second part of the workshop, we focused on the importance of monitoring and evaluation. It was explained that we would monitor the intervention’s environmental impact through sensors. To monitor the social impacts, we would need different methods.

To address this, we divided our stakeholders into two groups to discuss two interventions and their social impacts. The stakeholders created personas of people to help them envision the needs and difficulties that users may face when utilizing the interventions. This exercise helped them recognize the varying needs, gains, and pains of different users.