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4 books launched by scientific contributor at ½ñÈÕºÚÁÏ's Faculty for the Built Environment

Prof. Perit Rebecca Dalli-Gonzi launches four books in relation to resilience, public governance and modelling structures. A team of international reviewers and speakers composed of Prof. Reuben Grima, Prof. Simon Grima, Rev. Prof. Stefan Attard from the University of Malta and from the University of Piraeus, Greece unveiled the launch. Through this work, Prof. Dalli-Gonzi explores the interconnected themes of sustainability, governance, risk management, organisational resilience, and public well-being. Each publication builds upon the previous one, extending both the theoretical foundations and the practical implications of her work strengthening the DALI model research. Taken together, these studies address one of the defining challenges of our time: how governments, organisations, and society can govern effectively in an increasingly uncertain world while promoting sustainable development and improving our quality of life.

The first publication, , lays the conceptual foundation for Prof. Dalli-Gonzi's research agenda. Here, sustainability is presented not simply as an environmental issue, but as a multidimensional concept encompassing economic, social, political, environmental, and institutional dimensions. A central message emerging from this work is that these dimensions cannot be managed independently.

Instead, they should be understood as interconnected parts of a complex system. The second publication, Public Sector Leadership in Assessing and Addressing Risk, takes this conceptual framework a significant step further. Here, the focus shifts towards governance and leadership. Prof. Dalli-Gonzi argues that effective risk management is far more than a technical exercise or a compliance requirement. Rather, it should become an integral component of organisational governance.

This idea of resilience continues to evolve in the third publication, Greening Our Economy for a Sustainable Future. As editor of this multidisciplinary volume, Prof. Dalli-Gonzi demonstrates academic leadership by bringing together researchers from different disciplines to explore pathways towards sustainable economic transformation.

The fourth publication, Construction Contracting in Malta During Wartime: Seeking Opportunities During a Time of Economic and Environmental Distress, represents a particularly significant research trajectory. Prof. Dalli-Gonzi translates her broader theoretical work into a highly specialised applied setting. Using historical archival evidence alongside contemporary management analysis, the study investigates how the Maltese construction industry adapted itself during the Second World War. Rather than presenting history simply as a record of past events, the research asks a much more important managerial question: What can today's organisations learn from periods of extreme uncertainty? The study shows that crises should not be viewed solely as periods of disruption. Instead, they can also become opportunities for innovation, organisational learning, resilience, and sustainable development.

Attendees included friends, members of Government and Public Policy, Directors at the Institute of Sustainable Energy, members of the Faculty for Economics, Accounts and Management, and members from the University of Piraeus Greece as well as guests from the University of Thrace, Department of Management Science and Technology, Kavala. The event was held at the Convent Gardens, Balzan and a donation was made to the Good Shepherd Sisters for their pastoral and philanthropic work.