UM’s First SEA-EU Blended Intensive Programme

In February 2025, the University of Malta hosted its first Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) on tourism sustainability in conjunction with the International Office and SEA-EU Office. THINK Editor Rebekah Zammit caught up with Dr John Ebejer from UM’s Department of Tourism Management to ask a few questions about the BIP.

RZ: What is a Blended Intensive Programme? 

JE: A BIP is the same as any study-unit except that the teaching takes place in a short space of time – hence ‘intensive’. Students who successfully complete the BIP are awarded 4 ECTS credits. BIPs are ‘blended’ as they are required to have both a virtual component and a physical component. For our BIP, we opted for 8 hours of virtual teaching and 20 hours of in-person teaching at the UM campus.

The purpose of a BIP is to encourage connections and collaborations between universities by promoting international mobility for students and academics. BIPs are supported by Erasmus+, which seeks to provide innovative ways of teaching and learning.

RZ: What benefits do students and visiting lecturers gain from a BIP?

JE: It is a great experience for participants as they meet students from other countries and make new friends. Being in a learning environment that is different and welcoming creates a feel-good factor among students and visiting lecturers. When young people meet, they have a knack for creating a fun environment. I would like to believe that more learning is achieved when combined with fun. I encourage UM students to visit the European University of the Sea (SEA-EU) website and get to know about BIPs that other universities are hosting. These are opportunities not to be missed.

I think it is also beneficial to the visiting lecturers. They network with academics with similar interests, thus creating the possibility of collaboration on research and other projects. They also learn from each other’s presentations in terms of content and pedagogy.

For all, it is also great to visit a new destination. In our BIP, we had study visits to Valletta and Birgu. I am also aware that several students and visiting lecturers stayed a few days longer to enjoy other sites on our islands.

RZ: The Department of Tourism Management took the lead in organising the first SEA-EU BIP at UM. What does it take to organise a BIP?

JE: Many months of preparation. There is a dictum in event organisation that says, ‘If anything can go wrong, it will.’ So, throughout the preparations, we simultaneously focused on academic and organisational matters whilst also continually asking ourselves: ‘What can go wrong?’

This was a team effort. Much of the logistics was handled by project officer Isabella Bianco, who did a fantastic job. We consulted each other on all decisions relating to venue, coffee and lunch breaks, study visits, welcome dinners, programming, and communications with BIP students. This continuous process of consultation enabled us to get the logistics right, except for some very minor mistakes – this was great because major mistakes take a lot of time and effort to undo. Apart from the academic dimension, the BIP is also a social event for students and visiting lecturers to meet and make new friends. The BIP logistics require careful attention to ensure that all participants get the best possible learning and fun experience.

On the academic side, head of department Dr Noel Buttigieg played a crucial role as a consultant for academic-related decisions. It was essential that I consult him whenever such decisions were required, which really meant throughout the entire process. Here again, the consultation was crucial to avoid mistakes. 

A lot of work goes into the academic content, and therefore, preparations need to begin many months in advance of the intended commencement date. A new study-unit has to be designed, drafted, and submitted to the Registrar’s Office for endorsement. According to Erasmus+ rules, using an existing study-unit is not allowed.

We carried out searches on the websites of other SEA-EU universities to identify the right academics to teach in the BIP. We sought academics who are knowledgeable in tourism sustainability and who can bring about the learning outcomes listed in the study-unit description. We sent out invitations, and the response was overwhelmingly positive. During the BIP itself, I was delighted to see the visiting lecturers engage enthusiastically not only in their own teaching commitments but also in discussions during the academic sessions. They also participated in the social activities. I consider the active involvement of the visiting academics to be the main factor in our BIP’s success.

We were also keen to involve UM academics.  Several professors at UM are renowned experts in their field and can offer their insights on sustainability. Several agreed to give one-hour presentations to the BIP students. The eventual programme included eight professors from SEA-EU universities and a further seven from UM. With so many academics involved, it was not an easy task to design a programme for both the virtual and physical components, but we got there in the end.

Student recruitment for the BIP is vital because the Erasmus+ support depends on it. Catriona Vella from the International Office handled the task – one that can get difficult as it depends on the cooperation of international offices of partner universities. 

The BIP also involved the cooperation of various UM administrative departments, for which the Department of Tourism Management is very thankful. We did not meet with any major difficulties and that is because the UM has an appropriate institutional setup to get things done.

RZ: What are the benefits of hosting a BIP? 

JE: When we started our first meetings in preparation for the BIP on tourism sustainability, we knew very little about BIPs and even less about the benefits they derive for the university. But now that it is done, I understand that the benefits are substantial. 

The feedback from students and visiting lecturers has been very positive. This is of great personal satisfaction to me and those closely involved in the organisation. But more importantly, the positive experience of students and visiting lecturers gave rise to significant exposure to UM on social media. LinkedIn posts by three visiting professors and one student generated 250 reactions in less than a week. I estimate that this translates to over 10k views, mostly by academics and students from across Europe.

The use of social media was an effective tool in giving positive coverage and exposure to UM amongst our partner universities and the wider audience from European universities. I also put up three posts on LinkedIn – two about the BIP and another about the debate on GenAI which was an additional event to the BIP. Within a week, my three posts had almost 100 reactions and 4.5k views.

As an aside, about 40% of UM’s undergraduate tourism management students are from the EU and other countries. The Department of Tourism Management is keen to build on this success and use social media exposure as a means of increasing the number of international students who choose to study tourism management with us. Of course, increased exposure does not necessarily translate into more overseas students but it certainly increases the chances that an international student chooses our University as opposed to others.

With the presence of professors from SEA-EU partner universities, the Department took the opportunity to organise two additional events during the BIP week. The first was the aforementioned debate about ‘Tertiary Teaching and Learning: The Challenges and Opportunities of GenAI’. The diverse panel ensured a lively discussion; it included two academics from the University of Split and Nord University. The Department is proud to have organised a debate about a subject that, in my view, merits much more discussion. The second was a public lecture on ‘Religion and the Russian Aggression on Ukraine’ organised in collaboration with the UM’s Department of International Relations.

RZ: THINK is informed that other UM faculties are interested in organising a BIP under the auspices of SEA-EU. What advice would you give them?

JE: I think the lessons to be learnt from the tourism sustainability BIP are three. Firstly, start your preparations early – ideally eight months, but definitely no less than six. Secondly, give great attention to detail, especially in the preparation of the programme and in communications with the main stakeholders, i.e. other UM departments, the visiting lecturers, and the BIP students. Attention to detail gives confidence that you are serious about getting it right, and therefore, you will get more cooperation from everyone. Thirdly, try to involve professors from other SEA-EU universities. In our BIP, it was the enthusiasm of the visiting professors that guaranteed success.

The European University of the Seas (SEA-EU) unites nine coastal universities (Cadiz, Western Brittany, Kiel, Gdansk, Split, Malta, Algarve, Naples, NORD) across Europe to offer opportunities for courses, mobilities, and joint degrees. Find more opportunities co-hosted with the SEA-EU European University alliance here. Initiatives are co-funded by the European Union.