Author: Amariei Alexandru

MALTESE Training has successfully concluded after four days of practical learning, collaboration, and hands-on work on digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable rural development.
During the final sessions, participants refined and presented their Business Model Canvas ideas, applying the tools and concepts explored throughout the training.
The three winning BMC topics were: GrowBox, Just AgriConsultations Malta and MD Smart Eco-Pond Farm Model, these ideas reflecting strong engagement with rural innovation, circular economy thinking, and practical solutions for Malta’s agricultural and entrepreneurial context.
A sincere thank you goes to all participants. Their presence, active involvement, and contributions made the training possible and meaningful. No matter how carefully an activity is prepared, its real value comes from the people who take part in it.
The training proved to be a valuable success, bringing together motivated participants, practical tools, and concrete ideas for future rural development.
During the wrap-up discussion and training evaluation, one clear conclusion emerged: activities of this kind should be repeated, especially in the field of agricultural digitalisation. Participants highlighted the importance of practical, hands-on learning opportunities that help farmers, young people, entrepreneurs, and local stakeholders better understand and use digital tools in real agricultural and rural contexts.

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The MALTESE Training successfully started yesterday, 05 May 2026, bringing together participants in Malta for a practical learning experience focused on digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable rural development.

The first day was dedicated to the presentation of the MALTESE Prototype, introducing participants to the project’s integrated digital ecosystem and its role in supporting rural innovation through smart, accessible, and practical tools.

Participants explored the three main pillars of the MALTESE digital approach:

JackDaw GeoAI Chatbot, presented as a smart advisory tool supporting users with guidance, location-based information, and practical decision-making support.

Map Whiteboard, introduced as a collaborative mapping and planning tool designed to support visual thinking, local challenge identification, and community-based planning.

E-Market Platform, presented as a digital marketplace concept helping rural producers and entrepreneurs connect more directly with markets and consumers.

Each session included practical demonstrations and interactive use of the tools, allowing participants to better understand how the MALTESE Prototype can support real-life rural development, entrepreneurship, and circular economy initiatives.

The training continues over the following days with further hands-on sessions on community planning, circular economy practices, smart irrigation, business model development, and participant-led project ideas.

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The MALTESE project will organise its upcoming Training in Malta from 5 to 8 May 2026 in Sliema. The programme will focus on digital tools, entrepreneurship, community planning, circular agri-business, smart irrigation, and mentoring, while giving participants hands-on experience with JackDaw, Map Whiteboard, and the Rural-Urban E-Market.

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Potential Synergies with Greenfit Project

Supporting greener farming in Malta through digital skills and practical training

Towards the end of February 2026, the PoliRuralPlus Malta Pilot 9 Team at AcrossLimitsparticipated in the GreenFit Project’s focus group at the Valletta Design Cluster in Malta, organised by Malta Youth in Agriculture (also a former implementer of a PoliRuralPlus cascade project – AgriTech Ideathon) and Merill Rural Network.

The event created an important space for dialogue around the realities facing Maltese farmers today, especially as they work to adapt to growing environmental, economic, and technological pressures. One of the clearest messages to emerge from the discussion was the need to make digitalisation more accessible and affordable for the farming community. Farmers highlighted that while digital tools can play a major role in supporting greener, more resilient, and more efficient agricultural practices, the cost and accessibility in adopting these technologies remain a major barrier. From precision farming solutions to data-driven planning tools, many innovations have the potential to improve sustainability and productivity, but they are often out of reach for small-scale producers unless the right support mechanisms are in place.

This is where PoliRuralPlus pilots can complement all these efforts.

Through the project’s Malta Pilot 9, AcrossLimits will organise a series of training sessions and events in Malta and Gozo between April and July, also in collaboration with the ongoing MALTESE Poliruralplus Cascade project financed through the Develop Call. These activities are designed to support farmers and other rural stakeholders in exploring practical pathways towards more digitisation within agriculture. The sessions will focus on three key areas:

• identifying funding opportunities that can help farmers invest in innovation,
• introducing digital tools that are relevant and usable in the local context,
• and promoting sustainable practices that strengthen resilience while responding to environmental challenges.

By combining knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, and stakeholder engagement, the Malta Pilot aims to ensure that innovation is not only discussed but translated into practical value for rural communities. The goal is to help farmers better understand the options available to them and build confidence in using tools and approaches that can support their long-term sustainability.

The Greenfit focus group also reinforced a wider message that is central to PoliRuralPlus: successful rural innovation depends not only on technology itself, but on the ecosystems that enable people to access, understand, and apply it. Training, collaboration, and targeted support are therefore essential if digitalisation is to deliver real benefits on the ground.

We are pleased to see these conversations taking shape in Malta and look forward to continuing the work with local actors over the coming months.

Stay tuned for more updates from the Malta Pilot and the wider PoliRuralPlus community.

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On 27 January 2026, the MALTESE partners completed the second day of the Kick-off Meeting in Vienna by turning plans into a concrete delivery roadmap. The consortium agreed the approach for incubation activities and stakeholder engagement, refined the MVP scope and first technical sprint for the Digital Hub, and aligned on KPI tracking and monitoring arrangements. The meeting concluded with an updated milestones calendar and confirmed next steps for the first implementation phase.

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Today, 26 January 2026, the MALTESE consortium met in Vienna for Day 1 of the project Kick-off Meeting. Partners aligned on the project’s objectives, governance and coordination routines, and reviewed the initial workplan across the work packages. The afternoon focused on the Digital Hub roadmap and the structure of the training and communication activities. The day closed with an agreed list of actions and responsibilities to launch the first implementation phase.

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PAMEA participated in the PoliRuralPlus JackDaw Code Camp 2026, held in Prague on 13–15 January 2026 and hosted by the Faculty of Information Technology at the Czech Technical University in Prague. The three-day event brought together developers, geospatial experts, and applied AI practitioners for an intensive development sprint focused on advancing the JackDaw platform and extending the GeoLLM concept to new regions and application domains.

During the Code Camp, PAMEA engaged with the technical community around geospatial AI and natural-language interaction with maps and spatial datasets, exploring how relevant components and working methods can inform MALTESE implementation planning. Key takeaways will feed into the next steps of MALTESE, including the Digital Hub roadmap, data and tool integration priorities, and the preparation of training content connected to practical use cases.

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As we are closing 2025, we thank to all partners and stakeholders for your trust, energy, and contributions since MALTESE started. Every meeting, activity, and piece of feedback helped strengthen the project and its results.

We wish you and your teams health, progress, and good news in 2026. See you in the new year with fresh updates and next steps.

MALTESE Team

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We are very proud to announce that our proposal “Malta Agro-Leadership & Tech Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Empowerment – MALTESE” has been invited to GRANT AGREEMENT preparation inside the call launched by the PoliRuralPlus project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101136910.

The Evaluation Summary Report (13,5 points out of max. 15) confirms the strong alignment with the call, a coherent plan, and a well-composed consortium (PAMEA, SELFHOOD & SEMABLU).

MALTESE will support rural – urban integration in Malta through a practical digital hub that brings together the:
– JackDaw GeoAI advisory chatbot,
– participatory Map Whiteboard, and
– Rural-Urban E-Market for producers and consumers.
All solutions are open source and include a replication toolkit so other regions can reuse what works. The project follows New European Bauhaus (NEB) values by pairing sustainability and inclusion with good design.

We highly appreciate the trust placed in our MALTESE consortium and we are eager to begin the implementation in Malta and enlarge it further across Europe.

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