The Today Public Policy Institute Peter Serracino Inglott Award for Civic Engagement, 2016 was today awarded to Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti for its outstanding services to Malta in the cultural heritage field over the last twenty-four years.
With two excellent finalists for the Award - Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti and the HSBC Water Programme - Catch the Drop Campaign - the Judging Panel faced an extremely difficult choice.
After very careful consideration by the Judging Panel, however, the winner was Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti. The Deputy Chairman of FPM, Dr Giovanni Bonello, received the award of a glass statuette from Mr Martin Scicluna, the Director General of The Today Public Policy Institute.
The citation for the Award was as follows:
"Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti was formed twenty-four years ago to bring to the attention of the Maltese people (and the world) the impressive scale and breadth of cultural heritage riches to be found in Malta. It was essentially about the democratisation of Maltese cultural heritage bringing culture and hidden treasures to the general public by a means of exhibitions, publications, conferences and museums.
The exhibitions which the Foundation has mounted have covered a range of hidden treasures of Malta, from the Maltese tal-lira clock to sedan chairs, to silver, costumes, furniture and jewellery, the paintings of Gianni and Edward Caruana Dingli, and others.
Moreover, through the outstanding medium of the quarterly "Treasures of Malta" magazine, the foundation has been responsible for collecting, documenting and disseminating information and research into every aspect of Malta's cultural and historical heritage. The magazine is packed with every kind of well-written, well-researched article about Malta which the intelligent reader could possibly wish for. It has also published an outstanding list of beautifully presented books on every aspect of Melitensia.
The outstanding restoration of Palazzo Falson in Mdina (which will forever stand as the bench-mark for what can be done in this field) has achieved a standard of excellence, organisation and presentation second to none".
In his speech, Martin Scicluna warmly congratulated the winner, whose Award had been so richly deserved for Fondazzjoni Patrimonju Malti's quarter century dedicated service to Malta's cultural heritage. He also stressed however that "in reality there were no winners or losers, only hard-working and deserving participants". He said that "HSBC's Catch the Drop Campaign contribution to educating schoolchildren and the wider Maltese community had been outstanding and had made an enormous contribution to civic society in Malta."
Civic engagement is defined as the process of working together to make a positive difference in the life of our communities and developing the combination of skills, knowledge, values and motivation to enhance our quality of life.
The Today Public Policy Institute, which was responsible for initiating this Annual Award in honour of the memory of Father Peter, is Malta's only independent think-tank. It was formed nine years ago with the mission of promoting wide understanding of strategic issues of national importance and to help in the development of sound public policies.
In that time, the think tank has produced 16 reports ranging across a whole host of important national issues, from the environment to immigration, from the sustainability of our social security system to the constitution of Malta, to broadcasting, divorce, civil unions and the nation's health, energy security and water policy, and many others. They have been well received and in most cases have been responsible for shaping government thinking and policy.