BirdLife Malta and the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology (MCAST) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding aimed at strengthening the two organisations' collaborative relationship in order to enhance student knowledge about the environment.

The official signing took place at MCAST's main campus in Paola. The MoU was signed by the president of the MCAST Board of Governors Dr Silvio De Bono on behalf of the College, and by BirdLife Malta president Darryl Grima on behalf of BirdLife Malta. MCAST principal and CEO Stephen Cachia, vice-principal Ing. Vincent Maione and BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana together with BirdLife Malta Education manager Sarah Brady were in attendance.

The signing marked the organisations' commitment to provide informative and engaging opportunities for students to connect with nature, in turn aiming to inspire a generation of environmentally responsible individuals.

BirdLife Malta and MCAST have a history of utilising their experience and expertise to work together in delivering effective initiatives for young people, including the highly successful Lifelong Learning through Nature project which came to a close last August as well as delivering ongoing field visits for students.

Grima said: "BirdLife Malta has always believed that education is one of its main pillars and I am sure that everybody agrees that our role in this sector has been instrumental in delivering environmental education. While BirdLife Malta might be strongly associated with primary education, we have developed initiatives at secondary and more recently at post-secondary level, including at MCAST in which we are working to provide more young people with opportunities to learn more about our environment. I am very pleased to be signing this MoU with MCAST and I am confident that it will be beneficial to both parties and beyond."

De Bono stated: "I am very pleased with this new agreement with BirdLife Malta as it contributes to the holistic education of our students, which MCAST gives a lot of importance to. Our ongoing partnership also includes research and apprenticeships with BirdLife Malta which we consider as a win-win situation for both sides."