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1. Green volunteering

2. Green production and consumption

Green volunteering

The Youth Activism Scheme

The Malta Council for the Voluntary Sector issues the Youth Activism Scheme that aims to support young volunteers taking an active part in Voluntary Organisations. The scheme is open for young people between 16-30 years old and one of the aims of the scheme is to support Voluntary Organisations in attracting young people to volunteering, enabling them to enhance their capacity with new volunteers and fresh ideas. The scheme specifically mentions organisations in the field of the environment and animal welfare are eligible to apply. The volunteering can happen both nationally or abroad.

Life Projects Co-Financing Grant

The Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning (MECP) issues the Life Projects Co-Financing Grant to support volunteers engaged in environmental conservation and its promotion by providing financial assistance in recognition and support of the voluntary contribution they make in the sector so as to incentivize further environmentally-beneficial volunteering project proposals. The purpose of this LIFE Co-Financing Grant is to provide financial support towards the National co-financing contribution for projects that would be eligible to the Scheme within the 2021 LIFE programming framework.

Environment Fund

The Environment Fund is a financial support to voluntary organisations engage in environmental conservation and its promotion, to incentivize the to undertake further environmentally-beneficial volunteering project proposals.

Green production and consumptions

The Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change (MESDC), along with its departments and agencies, undertakes various initiatives to incentivise the public, including young people, towards more sustainable production and consumption patterns through specific campaigns on effective waste separation management and reduction of single-use plastics, amongst others. 

In this respect, the Government organises numerous educational campaigns and events to promote green production and consumption. The main outcome of these campaigns is to make citizens, in particular young people who can effectively create change, more aware of the negative impacts that waste can have on the environment, thus highlighting the importance of switching to green consumption and production patterns within the concept of a circular economy. By means of these and other initiatives that are in the pipeline, the Government will continue to make it as easy and cost-effectively as possible for consumers to make consumption choices that conserve natural resources in everyday life.

Environmental Education regarding waste management can help a country to continue its move towards sustainable waste management. It will also help young people to make the complex connections between environmental issues on a local and global level, economic prosperity, benefits to society and our own health. Educating children from a young age is the first step to continue this necessary change. WasteServ Malta offers the below services to all educational institutions:                         

Activities held at Primary Schools

• Story Telling about waste management and waste separation exercises
• A quiz about waste management in the Maltese Islands
• Interactive sessions using PowerPoint presentations
• Activities held at Secondary Schools
• Drama sessions for forms 1 and 2
• Quiz about waste management in the Maltese Islands
• Interactive sessions using PowerPoint presentation about waste management
• Site visits

Activities held at Post-Secondary and Tertiary Schools

• Systems of Knowledge Project
• Dissertations
• Activities held at the Visitor Centre in Marsaskala and Tal-Kus in Xewkija Gozo
• Activities held at Adults and Day Centres
• Activities for persons with disability
• Activities at different entities including hotels, NGO's and government departments
• Site Visits of facilities
• Summer Clubs
• Waste Reduction Guidelines for a Whole School Approach

Wasteserve also organises organises the European Waste Reduction Week in Malta. The aim is to encouraging a wide range of audiences, including young people, to come up with practical solutions and activities that help to reduce waste or increase recycling, and promote these actions amongst peers. 

The Thematic Focus for 2017 “Give it a new life”, which encourages reusing and repairing rather than throwing away.  Behind this topic is the need to shift from a throw-away attitude towards more appreciation for products and the resources used. This year the EWWR will open your eyes about how easy it is to find value in something you thought had become useless.