Press Release: National Autism Strategy - MSA reaction

The Malta Sociological Association (registered VO) welcomes the fact that a National Autism Strategy is being proposed for Malta for the period 2021-30.

In this regard, the MSA submitted its comments to the Autism Advisory Council within the Ministry for Inclusion and Social Wellbeing. As an Association which advocates evidence-based policy making, the MSA suggested that the proposed strategy and consultation exercise employs a social impact assessment, to ensure greater outreach and deliberation with stakeholders. Such a tool should be a continuous process, and not a one-off exercise.

 

In its official feedback, the MSA submitted a number of features which can be included in the SIA process.

Press Release: Cannabis White Paper requires a social impact assessment - Malta Sociological Association

In its feedback to the Parliamentary Secretariat for Civil Rights and Reforms on the White Paper on Cannabis Policy, the Malta Sociological Association (registered Voluntary Organisation) proposed that  the proposal and consultation exercise employs a social impact assessment process, to ensure greater outreach and deliberation with stakeholders.

 "An SIA could produce valuable evidence for policy formation and implementation.  Various methods, both quantitative and qualitative could be used within social impact assessments. The former refers to generalisable data especially through numbers, while the latter produce in-depth data on matters. Research methods in SIAs may therefore include, for example, quantitative perception surveys and qualitative methods  which involve a deeper look into social realities."

"Besides, elite interviews may verify the advice, concerns and interpretations of persons who are experts or who have experience in the respective field under analysis." 

 "SIAs should involve the participation of different stakeholders, ideally through mixed research methods. Analytic indicators should be provided and the entire process should be subject to peer review by independent experts in the field.  This means that if a study is being carried out by a team of scientists (social, natural etc.), this should be scrutinised by other independent scientists. This could help identify shortcomings and possible improvements to the same SIA."

"Social impact assessments should not be one-off exercises: To the contrary, they should be ongoing processes which engage with various stakeholders and which report back so as to ensure effective policy processes. They should also use complementary research methods so as to ensure reliable and valid data."

In its feedback, the MSA referred to international SIA standards, for example those set by the International Association for Impact Assessment, which is accessible from this link:

 https://www.socialimpactassessment.com/documents/IAIA%202015%20Social%20Impact%20Assessment%20guidance%20document.pdf  

The Sociology of COVID-19: Book launch, Webinar

Press Release

Book Launch webinar of the two Volume Series COVID-19 (edited by J. Michael Ryan)

Volume I: Global Pandemic, Societal Responses, Ideological Solutions

Volume II: Social Consequences and Cultural Adaptations

On Wednesday 24th March, 6pm a public webinar and book launch on the the Sociology of COVID-19 will be hosted by Routledge Publishers, The Department of Sociology (University of Malta) and the Malta Sociological Association.

The webinar will examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals, communities, countries, and the larger global society from a social scientific perspective. It will discuss a timely and critical advance in knowledge related to what many believe to be the greatest threat to global ways of being in more than a century. This webinar represents a response to the imperative that academics take their rightful place alongside medical professionals as the world attempts to figure out how to deal with the current global pandemic, and how society might move forward in the future.  

More details on how to register may be obtained from www.maltasociologicalassociation.com

Zoom Link: Launch Meeting - Zoom

Facebook Event link: The Sociology of COVID-19, book launch, webinar session | Facebook

MSA elects committee for 2021

The Malta Sociological Association has elected its committee for 2021 during its annual general meeting which was held virtually due to the Covid-19 situation.

The committee comprises:

Chairperson: Bridget Borg

Vice-Chairperson: Mariella Debono

Secretary: Jude Cauchi

Treasurer: Roberta Scerri

Public Relations Officer: Michael Briguglio

Events Officer: Joslyn Saliba

Outreach Officer: Aeden Chetcuti

International Relations Officer: Ljiljana Cumura

Training Officer: Brian Chircop

Committee Member: Valerie Visanich

During the coming year, MSA will be working in various spheres to promote sociology as a discipline, as a subject of study, as a policy tool, and as a profession. MSA is a registered voluntary organisation.

One can follow the MSA on Facebook, Twitter and Blogger through the following links:

https://www.facebook.com/SociologyMalta

https://twitter.com/MaltaSociology

www.maltasociologicalassociation.com

To join or renew one's MSA membership, one can check out the following link:

http://www.maltasociologicalassociation.com/2019/10/join-malta-sociological-association.html

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2021

The Annual General Meeting of the Malta Sociological Association will be held on Friday 26th February 2021 at 18.00 on Zoom (An online link will be shared closer to the date). The meeting is open to paid members of the MSA and those interested in joining the MSA. Members interested in joining the meeting should inform us by the 24th February by emailing the MSA.

Members are encouraged to renew their membership. To renew membership or join MSA, please click here.

 

Nominations for specific positions on the Executive Committee may be sent via email to MSA and addressed to the Secretary. The subject of the email should be: Nominations MSA Committee. Nominations will be received until the 19th February 2021. Only members of the MSA may submit a nomination for the Executive Committee.

 

The positions that need to be filled are the following:

 

• Chairperson

• Vice Chairperson

• Events Coordinator

• Outreach Coordinator

• International Relations Officer

• Public Relations Officer

• Treasurer

• Secretary

 

Regards

Jude Cauchi

MSA Secretary 

Open Access - Highly Cited Articles - Evidence and Policy

Evidence & Policy achieved an impact factor of 1.453 in the 2019 Journal Citation Reports. It has created a free collection of highly cited articles. This collection features papers which have contributed to our 2019 Impact Factor and more recent papers. All of the articles below are free to access until 31 August:

Link:
https://policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/journals/evidence-and-policy/highly-cited

Webinar: Small States and COVID-19

Join us on 02 September between 17:00h and 18:00h CEST (Malta) for a webinar on "Small States and COVID-19", held on Zoom and also live-streamed on this Facebook page.

The webinar is jointly organised by the  World Health Organization (WHO)
 Collaborating Centre on Health Systems and Policies in Small States and the Small States Health Platform (SSHP), which are both hosted by the  Islands and Small States Institute - University of Malta.

Speakers will be Professor  Lino Briguglio, Director of the ISSI and world-renowned expert on islands and small states; Dr Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, Director of the Division of Country Health Policies & Systems at the WHO and Coordinator of the SSHP; and Dr Stefano Moncada, Director Designate of the ISSI and Coordinator of the  Climate Change Platform - University of Malta
.
 30 minutes of presentations will be followed by another 30 minutes where you can share your questions and comments on Zoom with the panel.

 Registration for the limited spaces on Zoom can be made until 12h noon (CEST) of Friday, 28th: http://bit.do/ISSI-Webinar-SEP2020.

 For further information, please contact us on islands@um.edu.mt

 You can also visit our website to learn more about our Institute: www.um.edu.mt/issi