On November 18 and 19, 2024, representatives from EIT Culture & Creativity engaged in valuable exchanges with representatives from the cultural and creative sectors in Malta.
Led by CEO Bernd Fesel, our team discussed the vast cooperation potential with Malta’s cultural heritage institutions and creative industries under the guidance of CEO Silvio Scerri and Senior Director Omar Cutajar of Xjenza Malta. Xjenza Malta (Science Malta) is a Maltese Government Agency whose mission it is to embed research and innovation activities in all government agencies, with culture and creativity representing a cross-sectoral element among the priority areas of the Maltese government.
Bernd Fesel presented our programs and initiatives across the expanded Knowledge Triangle (education, research, business and public institutions) to the audiences and answered inquiries regarding our activities in 2025 and beyond. Our unique network sparked the interest of attendees and the potential for collaboration in areas such as our Cities and Regions Network or gamification of Maltese Space programs was discussed.
Stakeholders from public entities in cultural heritage and from Malta Enterprise as well as representatives from Maltese private sector creative industries emphasized the importance of deepening institutional relations with mainland Europe and the EIT Culture & Creativity’s community.
Malta’s strong gaming sector was represented by Gaming Malta, highlighting the economic potential for future cooperations in the e-Sports and videogaming sectors with the Gaming Strategic Working Group (STG) of EIT Culture & Creativity, as well as the potential for joint education activities with the University of Malta, where currently some 400 students are enrolled in video game development.
The mission to Malta concluded with a meeting at Malta Film Studios with Film Commissioner Johann Grech, who underlined the great economic relevance of the thriving Maltese film industry as an employer and Malta as a shooting location of renowned movies. Here, we also discussed the collaboration potential of our consortia and were consequently even given a tour of the sets of recent Hollywood blockbusters “Napoleon” and “Gladiator”, both partly filmed in Malta!
Thank you to all the local stakeholders for making our mission to Malta so rewarding!
Text and pictures: Oliver Heerde
