ĊINE’AMBJENT #2 — Transport and Sustainable Mobility

Friends of the Earth Malta is hosting their first Environmental Film Club. The 2019 Environmental Film Club will centre around thematic documentary and film screenings linked to current environmental justice issues. It is taking place every Friday from 18:00 to 20:30, starting on the 22nd Feb and run into May 2019.

Shedding light on the local context, speakers actively working on the local dimension of specific environmental matters will be presenting each of the thematic screenings.

Transport and Sustainable Mobility — 1st March

Having to face gridlock on a daily basis is taxing not only on the environment but also on our physical and mental health. Mobility is a necessity since we all need access to education, work, healthcare, goods and services. We should therefore look at designing a transport system that provides equitable, affordable and efficient mobility options. Despite the obvious need to move away from car-dependent transport, current infrastructural choices are jarring, with headlines notifying the public of constant road widening projects.

For the second session of the film club, we will be screening Bikes vs Cars, a documentary that travels around different cities and tells the story of how some municipalities were able to create a transport model that serves people’s needs while others are still struggling.

Bikes vs Cars (2015) – Fredrik Gertten

Bikes vs Cars depicts a global crisis that we all deep down know we need to talk about: climate, earth’s resources, cities where the entire surface is consumed by the car. An ever-growing, dirty, noisy traffic chaos. The bike is a great tool for change, but the powerful interests who gain from the private car invest billions each year on lobbying and advertising to protect their business. In the film we meet activists and thinkers who are fighting for better cities, who refuse to stop riding despite the increasing number killed in traffic.

Panel Discussion

The film screening will be followed with a panel discussion. Joining us on the day will be:

Suzanne Maas — PhD Researcher, Institute for Climate Change & Sustainable Development, UoM

Suzanne is currently working with the University of Malta as a PhD researcher on the topic of sustainable mobility and cycling and is also a member of the Friends of the Earth Malta board. She loves to spend time outdoors, whether it’s working in her garden to grow veggies, hiking in the countryside, swimming and snorkelling in the beautiful Mediterranean, or going around on her bicycle. She dreams of a world in which we live happily within our means while respecting our planet’s boundaries. Suzanne is active locally in the fields of tree and nature protection, (beach) clean ups and resource management, and advocating for more sustainable means of transport.

Steve Zammit-Lupi — Public Relations Offier, BAG

Raised in the traditional town of Ħaż-Żebbug, the bicycle was Steve’s companion throughout his childhood years. Aged 22, he graduated from the University of Malta with a degree in European Studies, and works as a freelance videographer. Since a young age he took great interest in the natural environment, in particular birds and later on trees. As he grew older he understood the importance of a healthy environment to our wellbeing and took interest in current local challenges that affect our quality of life, mainly transport and the sustainable co-existence of man with the natural environment. As Public Relations Officer he is committed to put forward his energy and ideas to move bicycle commuting in Malta forward. The potential is huge, and so can the change be.

Mike Rosner — Vice President, BAG

Mike cut his cycling teeth in London and enjoys touring, shopping, commuting, etc by bicyle. In Malta he has biked to work as a Lecturer at the Dept Artificial Intelligence at University and is also a cycle courier for Fetchit, a local delivery company. He dreams of when cycling is simply taken for granted by citizens and government, when laws and infrastructures guarantee safe and enjoyable cycling, when children cycle to school and shoppers cycle to shops: a time there is no further need for bicycle advocacy. In BAG his contribution has been to promote local cycle rack schemes, and to establish BAG as a member the European Cycling Federation. In future he hopes to facilitate BAG’s participation in collaborative EU projects.

Adding to the discussion will be, James Gabaretta from NextBike, Joseph Florian from Green Roads Malta, Nicole Klaesener-Metzner from Project Aegle Foundation and Sebastian Ripard from Fetch it. Representatives from Transport Malta and Malta Public Transport have been invited to the screening.

The screening is free but places are limited. Submit in the form below to reserve your seat. 

The film club will follow with the following thematic screenings:

• Densification and People-Centred Urban Planning
• Environmental Activism
• Food Systems
• Water Scarcity
• Waste
• Air Pollution
• Climate Change and Island States
• An alternative vision for the future
• 2 open sessions – An opportunity for participants to curate either with their choice of film or topic of interest.

The film club is co-curated between Friends of the Earth Malta, Kinemastik, and the presenters of each session.

If you are interested in presenting one of the sessions, assisting in the curation or the organisation of the film club, get in touch with Anastasia on anastasia@foemalta.org.

This session is organised in collaboration with Kinemastik and the Bicycle Advocacy Group and supported by Arts Council Malta – Creative Communities