Guardian of Future Generations

28/03/2026

13/03/2026

I am proud to mark an important milestone following 3-years of collaborative work on the community project “Our Community, Our Spaces – Healthy, Playful and Secure Together.” A project that embodies the Guardian’s vision of implementing a systems-based and sustainable approach to wellbeing, for the present and the future.

This was achieved by carefully listening to the lived experiences of residents in Ħal Safi, Żurrieq, and Ħal Kirkop through 1 year of extensive qualitative and participatory research. More than 220 residents—including children, early teens, adults, parents, older persons, educators, professionals, and community members—shared their perspectives on what , , , , and truly mean in their everyday lives.

Together, and in collaboration with all relevant government organizations, we co-developed the first multi-layered social map that captures places of wellbeing, safety and unsafety, necessity, and meaning across these localities. This will now be presented to the Government to help inform future planning and policy decisions.

Key message: If we want policies that truly serve both present and , we must embed social thinking from the start! Wellbeing, play, health, and a sense of security should not be an afterthought in planning—they should be central to how we design our communities with an equal weight to technical and economic criteria.

This project demonstrates what becomes possible when community voices meaningfully inform policy, helping us move from short-term solutions to long-term, people-centred .

Thank you Gabriel Caruana Foundation for leading the research and all the government organizations that supported the project throughout.

Special thanks go to the people who made this project successful.



Sustainable Development Malta | Sostenibilità | Rachael Scicluna

09/03/2026

It was a privilege to participate in the inaugural Congress for the Right to Well-Being of Present and Future Generations in the Canary Islands—an event that culminated in the launch of the Declaration on the Right to Well-Being of Present and Future Generations and its formal signing by the Minister at the close of the conference.

Convened by the Gobierno de Canarias through IRLab - Canarias 2030, this timely and significant congress demonstrated a clear commitment to forward-looking governance and the protection of the well-being of both current and future generations.

I was honoured to be invited to contribute to the programme and to share my work on the community initiative Our Communiites, Our Spaces - Healthy, Secure and Playful Together. It was a valuable opportunity to exchange perspectives with a distinguished panel of experts on how we can build ecosystems that meaningfully connect community voices with policy, politics, and society to shape healthier, more inclusive environments.

Moments like these remind us that safeguarding the well-being of future generations requires bold leadership, collaboration, and the courage to translate vision into action.

Sophie Howe, Marisa Tejedor, Lourdes Aguiló, Castañon del Valle, Dr Rachael Marie Scicluna, PhD, David Curbelo Pérez, PhD Ariadna Hernando Pérez, Jorge Cruz, Rubén Miranda, Rafael Betancor V., Francisco J. García Rodríguez, Eliezer Marrero Correa, Marta María Domínguez-Herrera, Sustainable Development Malta

Read the Declaration here
https://www3.gobiernodecanarias.org/noticias/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Declaracion-sobre-las-generaciones-futuras-de-Canarias-05032026.pdf

https://www.europapress.es/islas-canarias/noticia-clavijo-rubrica-declaracion-canarias-garantizar-politicas-protejan-proximas-generaciones-20260305185844.html

28/01/2026

There’s nothing more satisfying than seeing Our Community, Our Spaces – Healthy, Playful and Secure Together come to life 💚

After 3 years — including a full year of listening and learning through qualitative research — this community project has reached fruition.

We took time to understand what people truly want and need, and the challenges they face every day in their neighbourhoods.

, , , and became the heart of the project, shaping an integrated that connects Safi, Kirkop, and Żurrieq.

Too often, urban planning forgets and focuses only on infrastructure. But cities and spaces are built for people.

This project shows what’s possible when policy meets community — weaving play, health, and security into a shared vision for the future.

Thank you Gabriel Caruana Foundation for leading the research and all the public bodies that supported the project throughout.

Special thanks goes to the people which without them this project wouldn't have been successful.




Sostenibilità Sustainable Development Malta

19/01/2026

08/11/2025

💡The Guardian is there to safeguard all generations, including those who don't have a vote and who haven't been born yet.

✳️ Our community project - The Coproduction of Healthy, Playful and Secure Spaces is doing just that.

How?

It's giving a to all residents - old and young - to benefit from a better quality of life.

✴️ It's about not . What's the difference?

✴️ has many great faces: “creating , sparking , and building spaces that truly work for everyone.

✴️ It's about making places with communities, grounded in , , and a spirit of “something for all.”

✴️ It's not about looking photogenic, like painting asphalt, crosswalks, or adding decorative coatings. When the paint chips, the colors fade, or car tires grind it into grey dust, what’s left behind?

Sostenibilità Sustainable Development Malta Gabriel Caruana Foundation

07/11/2025

04/11/2025

🎯 Community Projects in Action #2 – Valletta and Valletta & Floriana Community Service

The Guardian has embarked on a new exciting project in collaboration with the Foundation for Social Welfare Services - this time with the Valletta & Floriana Community Service

📍 Reimagining the Urban from an Ageing Perspective in Valletta and Floriana

This collaboration is flipping the script on ageing 👵🏽🧓🏼where together we are shifting the narrative around ageing. Instead of seeing older people as patients or consumers, we're co-creating with them as active citizens—to rethink how our cities support, reflect, and include them.

By co-creating with communities in Valletta & Floriana, the project explores how older people can shape urban life—ensuring design, policy, and public spaces truly reflect all generations. And of course, not this generation not to remain invisible and side-lined by gentrification.

🧠 Key questions:
🔹 How can we reimagine ageing in the city?
🔹 What does an inclusive, age-friendly urban future look like?

🗣️ How can we:
✨ Design cities that see older people?
✨ Shift the narrative from “ageing crisis” to “ageing reality”?
✨ Make urban life better for all generations?

🎯 From community stories to playful design ideas, this project will shape real solutions for planners, architects & policymakers.

Let’s make sure no one is left behind 💡🏙️

Let’s build cities where everyone feels seen. 🌍💬

Sustainable Development Malta Sostenibilità

06/10/2025

Imagine a neighbourhood where every doorstep, every park bench, and every shared pathway works together to solve the community’s biggest challenges.

🌐 What Is a Social Map?

A is a visual tool that displays the relationships, interactions, and networks among people, groups, or organisations within a community or system. It shows who is connected to whom, the strength or type of each link, and adds context such as roles, locations, or interests to reveal how social dynamics shape behaviour and influence outcomes.

📖 Why Use a Social Map?

Humanity is relational – meaning is created through the web of social ties.

It lets us track perceptions of place while eliciting memory-telling stories that give a neighbourhood its character.

By walking with residents, conducting “walking interviews,” and running art‑based workshops, we capture intimate, near‑real‑time experiences of daily life.

🔍 Why It Matters for Design, Planning & Infrastructure - Insights and Impacts

1️⃣ Community issues are inseparable from the design of individual homes and public spaces.

2️⃣ Systems‑based thinking shifts professional focus from solely focusing on the hardwire of infrastructure to the social & cultural fabric that gives it life.

3️⃣ Inclusive, rights‑based design provides a concrete solution to demographic change, fostering liveable, equitable cities for everyone.

A Social Map turns complex social reality into a clear, visual language that helps planners, architects, and policymakers design more humane, inclusive, and resilient environments.

Sustainable Development Malta| Sostenibilità| Gabriel Caruana Foundation| Transport Malta| Malta | Project Green | ERA - Environment & Resources Authority | Foundation for Social Welfare Services| Ħal Safi Local Council | Local Council | Local Council

29/09/2025

👉 What happens when communities don’t just get consulted — but actually lead the design process?

This is what makes the Guardian's project different and distinct within a Maltese context.

The project is an example of how lived experiences can be interwoven within structures demonstrating how “infrastructure of care” can be achieved through a data-driven .

🌱 We placed people at the centre — their voices, concerns, and aspirations shaped both the design and the process. Over a year of slow, in-depth research, we co-produced a social map that guided real, lasting change.

🤝 Residents — especially early teens — were not “consulted” but treated as equal collaborators. Their lived experience informed decisions on wellbeing, equity, and the everyday use of space.

This wasn’t about “Instagrammable” fixes or surface beautification. It was about embedding rights, play, and greening into neighbourhoods — linking the natural and built environment to health, security, and quality of life.

✨ The result, based on our vision and its core values:

✔️ Justice as a rights-based approach to all to live in a more just and harmonious way where everyone’s well-being is safeguarded - injustice is in itself a type of trauma.

✔️ Accountability and prevention to foster transparent decision-making processes, inclusivity and resilience.

✔️ A systems-based model connecting three localities

✔️ Public investment reframed as investment in wellbeing

✔️ Social Cohesion aims to build stronger community ownership and support a flourishing environment

✔️ Equitable Action makes equitable improvements within our national systems and policies that impact us now and in the future

✔️ Spaces designed for daily use and intergenerational wellbeing

Instead of — projects that look shiny but hollow — this was genuine : rooted, sustainable, and forward-looking.

🌱 Real change happens when people lead the process.

👉 For me info: https://sustainabledevelopment.gov.mt/guardian-of-future-generations/

👉 is a term coined coined by Bassam the author of The Gendered City

Sustainable Development Malta| Sostenibilità| Scicluna, PhD Gabriel Caruana Foundation

22/09/2025

Here's a glimpse of what the Guardian has been up to over the summer period!

✔️Closing Phase 2

🌱Building Playful, Inclusive Communities Together

After a year of qualitative research in Ħal-Safi, Ħal-Kirkop, and Żurrieq with all residents, we have concluded the second phase of our community project — celebrated through an exhibition led by local teens at with the support of Foundation for Educational Services (FES), the Community Police and the research team from Gabriel Caruana Foundation.

Together, and co-created a through walking interviews and art-based workshops, exploring and from , , , and perspectives.

The community map identifies gaps in existing infrastructure — cultural, social, and physical — ensuring that the often-overlooked needs of children and all residents are placed at the centre of future planning.

Teens in Żurrieq further tested and evaluated the prototype map, reinforcing the importance of collaborative governance, active citizenship, and participatory governance.

✨ The next steps:

✔️ Phase 3 - the community-designed social map will be co-produced with government partners including Project Green, Transport Malta, Malta, ERA - Environment & Resources Authority, Ħal Safi Local Council
Zurrieq Local Council Ħal Kirkop Local Council and Foundation for Social Welfare Services - for Community and Therapeutic Services (ACTS).

More to come...stay tuned!

Sostenibilità | Sustainable Development Malta| Marie Scicluna, PhD