Conference on the Meaning of Life  – November 2023

On Wednesday 22^nd November 2023, a conference on “The Meaning of Life” was organised under the auspices of the Ambassador of Malta to Estonia and Finland, His Excellency Dr Kenneth Vella, in collaboration with Mater Boni Consilii St Joseph School Paola, Mindful Education Malta and The Mediterranean Tourism Foundation. The conference was led by Dr Frank Martela, a Finnish philosopher and researcher of psychology specialising in the question of meaning in life. Over 130 participants from different institutions attended the event. Hon. Dr Clifton Grima, Minister for Education, Sport, Youth, Research and Innovation, Mr Evarist Bartolo, former Minister of Education and Former Minister for European and Foreign Affairs, and Dr Josianne Cutajar, Member of the European Parliament for Malta also attended the conference.

 

After the introductory message by Dr Kenneth Vella, in his role as Ambassador of Malta to Estonia and Finland, and Head of School at Mater Boni Consilii St Joseph Paola, the conference was opened by the Hon. Dr Clifton Grima, where he spoke about the importance of offering a meaningful education to our students. Minister Grima also reminded the audience that mental wellbeing is one of the pillars of the newly proposed Education Strategy of Malta 2024-2030.

 

Dr Frank Martela, a lecturer at Aalto University Finland, addressed the audience about the meaning of life. The themes discussed were autonomy, knowing one’s own interest and values, self-realisation, competence, sense of accomplishment and mastery, relatedness to others, our own contribution towards others and our positive impact in society.

 

In the second part of the conference, workshops were held where participants discussed the themes presented by Dr Martela in small groups. In the last part of the conference, a representative from each group shared the groups’ reflections among all the participants. This was followed by feedback given by Dr Martela and Ms Errit Kuldkepp, from Estonia and founder of Positive Inspiring Lifestyle, Estonia.

 

Thanks to Hon. Dr Clifton Grima, Mr Evarist Bartolo, and Dr Josianne Cutajar, for attending the conference. Special thanks to Dr Vella for providing the participants with such an insightful learning experience and also to Ms Ruth Mansueto and Ms Alexia Brincau (assistant heads), Ms Giselle Gatt, Ms Mariella Pule’, Ms Elaine Azzopardi, Ms Maria Depares and Mr Julian Busuttil for assisting in the organisation and for liaising with the participants.