Press Release
Noise Pollution - Sociologists query definition of Environmental Noise
The MSA referred to the International Principles for Social Impact Assessment, which defines SIA as being “the processes of analysing, monitoring and managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projects) and any social change processes invoked by those interventions”.
"An SIA is an interdisciplinary process, and should employ various methods, both quantitative and qualitative. 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," concluded MSA.
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Date: 6 December 2022
To: Valletta SUMP Public Consultation, Transport Malta
Risk Management, Policy and EU Affairs Department
With reference to the consultation in question, the Malta Sociological Association (registered VO 1323) proposes that the entire policy process employs social impact assessments in an ongoing process.
The International Principles for Social Impact
Assessment defines SIA as being “the processes of analysing, monitoring and
managing the intended and unintended social consequences, both positive and
negative, of planned interventions (policies, programs, plans, projects) and
any social change processes invoked by those interventions”.
An SIA is an interdisciplinary process, and should employ
various methods, both quantitative and qualitative. 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.
In this regard, you may
refer to international SIA standards, for example those set by the
International Association for Impact Assessment, which is accessible from this
link:
Reference: (2003) International Principles For Social Impact Assessment, Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 21:1, 5-a12, DOI: 10.3152/147154603781766491
Online Public Seminar, Malta Sociological Association:
Solidarity in Times of Crisis - Verena Fink / Vanja Petrovic
Date: Thursday 15 December 2022
Time: 7.30pm (CET) via Zoom
To register kindly send an email to: maltasociologicalassociation@gmail.com
As part of its “Visibility of the Invisible” series, during December, the Universal Human Rights Month, the Malta Sociological Association (MSA) is organizing an online public event to mark the 75th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as International Volunteer Day, Human Rights Day and International Human Solidarity Day.
Our guest speakers will be:
Ms. Verena Fink, educator and trauma therapist (Greece)
Title: “Solidarity as an answer to the economic crisis and people on the flee in Greece”
Ms. Vanja Petrovic, journalist and PhD candidate (USA/Serbia)
Title: “Cooking in solidarity as a decolonial feminist practice”
Moderator: Ms. Ljiljana Cumura, Chair of the MSA Academic Sub-Committee
About the speakers:
Verena Fink was born 1973 in Germany some km close to the French borders. Did not get to know the grandparents from Ukraine and Russia. Education: M.A. LMU University Munich/Germany (Drama studies, German language, Art history), Pedagogy studies (Theatre pedagogy / educational play, University Munich), Experiential education / Outdoor Training (Pedagogical Academy Linz, Austria), Integrative Trauma Therapy (Institute for Trauma Therapy MIT, Munich, Germany), Training in Sociocracy (Diploma as Sociocratic Facilitator, Certified Sociocratic Expert). After 25 years in Munich /Germany now since 2017 in Thessaloniki/Greece. Educator (cultural and political seminars), trauma therapist, Sociocratic facilitator and Expert. Convinced European and freelancer, climate activist and strong believer in solidarity. Firmly decided not to learn a 4th foreign language. As a volunteer in different antiracist projects, member of the coordination team of Ecopolis, a social space in Thessaloniki for solidarity and ecology, responsible for food / clothes distributions and still writing a blog, speaking around Europe about what is happening in Greece with the refugees.
Vanja Petrović is a PhD student of social work at the University of Belgrade. She is also a recipient of Circle U’s mobility grant for early career researchers. As part of the program, she is working with professor Eivind Engrebretsen and other colleagues at the University of Oslo’s Center for Sustainable Healthcare education on exploring cooking as an ethnographic methodology. The act of cooking together or of cooking for someone immediately connects us across racial, gender, political, economic, and other lines. Looking into this act can help “bring the researcher down a peg” on equal footing with the researchee. This idea was born out of Vanja’s experience as an organizer of the Novi Sad Kitchen of Solidarity. Through her work in the kitchen, Vanja also developed an interest in exploring how feminist goals can be accomplished and principles maintained in spaces that were not explicitly feminist or “feminist-forward.” This led her to thinking about the “end user” or “beneficiary” of such non-hierarchical spaces, though they may be difficult to pinpoint, particularly his or her positionality in such a deeply idealistic project, which is the core of her current PhD thesis work.
#StandUp4HumanRights
You are invited to the MSA Christmas Get-Together on the 27th December 2022, 7.30pm at the Gillieru Restaurant, St. Paul's Bay. Friends welcome!
Kindly make your reservations via email to maltasociologicalassociation@gmail.com by the 22nd December 2022.
The Malta Sociological Association is closely following the current debate in Malta's parliament and public sphere on abortion and reproductive health.
MSA is conscious of the divergent positions on the matter, sometimes even within the same groups, organisations and institutions. We therefore strongly urge for parliamentary consensus in favour of a national process of deliberation on the issue, involving not only political parties and civil society organisations, but also experts in various fields as well as other stakeholders, including those who do not necessarily have high visibility in the public sphere. This process of deliberation can also recommend possible ways forward on this sensitive matter, including on how decisions can be taken in the legislative and policy processes.