Gaining ground for future preparedness: Spatial Data Integration for the Maltese Islands
Saviour FORMOSA PhD
University of Malta, Msida Campus MSD 2080, Malta
saviour.formosa@um.edu.mt
ABSTRACT
Preparing for the potential changes wrought by climate change can only be grounded in real-data
that is based on a common integrated core. Efforts by various countries to mitigate such
potentialities have resulted in a stepped-approach to data management and integration. Small
island states experience an add-on burden through data dearths, disparate datasets and data
hoarding. This paper reviews the processes employed in Malta that target spatio-temporal
analysis of current and future scenarios aimed at integrating environmental, spatial planning and
social data in line with the transposition of the Aarhus Convention, the INSPIRE Directive and
the SEIS initiative. Concurrently, a series of case-studies are being employed to test for scenariobuilding in immersive environments through the use of gaming technology that allows for social
interactionism. Scenarios include passive climatic effects or short-sharp-shock post-disaster
alternatives resultant from extreme weather events that impact the higher coast-to-hinterland
ratio pertaining to small islands.
Keywords: Climate Change, data dissemination, Aarhus, SEIS, INSPIRE, LIDAR, spatial data,
environmental data, social data, immersive environments, scenario-building