Flimkien għal Ambjent Aħjar (FAA), supported by the Atlas Insurance Community Involvement Fund, has launched a blended programme that fosters heritage education, tourism career exploration, and 21st-century skills, coined the Seeding Pride Project. This programme equips young people with valuable skills in tourism, restoration, and communications while cultivating a deeper appreciation of their local history.

In collaboration with the school leadership team at St. Margaret’s History, English, IT and Textile Departments, this project provided students with heritage-based learning through hands-on activities. FAA provided training in guided tours and in developing communication materials through journalistic English and graphic design. The students then researched and created their own guided tour, designing costumes and promotional leaflets.

The programme helped equip students with essential skills in research, communication, public speaking, teamwork, and creative problem-solving. Students were also exposed to new career opportunities through site visits to various sectors, such as tourism, hospitality, and restoration. This included a visit to Atlas offices where they participated in the dynamic day-to-day tasks that an insurance career offers, such as motor surveys and claims handling.

FAA launched the project at St. Margaret’s College last Saturday following a year of dedicated work to build a heritage website game focused on Cottonera’s history, to foster pride in the students’ heritage. Similarly, the students’ guided tour encouraged them to share their knowledge of Cospicua’s history with their families, peers, Local Councilors, the Atlas team and Dr. Lydia Abela. Students also distributed the brochure designs they created and showcased their confidence and research through a captivating guided tour of Cottonera in period costume.

Particularly tackling SDGs 1, 4 & 10 (Zero Poverty, Good Quality Education, Reduced Inequalities), this project aligns with Atlas’ values of empowering members of the community to create a better tomorrow. The Seeding Pride Project is especially relevant to Atlas’ mission since it focuses on education, solidifying values of cultural appreciation and quality education within the younger generation.

FAA has always considered heritage as a public resource that this project harnesses as a means to provide careers that help students break out of the poverty trap and helps foreign students integrate and set roots in their new home. Recognising crucial links between the appreciation of local heritage and self-esteem, between career fulfilment and mental health, FAA aims to gradually extend this project to other youths across different towns. This expansion will foster a deeper understanding of how heritage, environment, and sustainability impact quality of life, empowering young people to become active stewards of Malta’s rich cultural legacy. By cultivating a sense of collective responsibility amongst the next generation, this project aims to address the current lack of appreciation for Malta’s historical and cultural heritage within the wider community.

This project is supported by Atlas Insurance and the Martin Laing Foundation, and in collaboration with St. Margaret’s College and Game-based Learning (GBL4).