The Basque Country will be a hive of activities to rally citizens against climate change during ASTEKLIMA 2022, the III Basque Climate and Energy Week. This initiative, led by the Basque Government’s Ministry of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, through its public entities Ihobe and EVE, aims to raise awareness among and rally citizens to embrace the climate and energy transition needed. This is all based on one premise: any action, however small, makes a difference.
ASTEKLIMA 2022 will provide the three Basque provinces with a calendar brimming with activities, including workshops, talks, first-hand experiences and games. These activities, offering something for everyone in Basque society, will provide participants with valuable insight into the challenges of climate change and understand the importance of acting locally to address current and future climate and energy challenges.
This will be the III Basque Climate and Energy Week, an initiative that began in March 2019 to raise awareness and rally citizens to make a personal commitment to tackle climate change. Over 6,500 people took part in the 64 events and 47 municipalities with different initiatives during that first week. The International Conference on Climate Change – Change the Change, held in Donostia/San Sebastián from 6 to 8 March, was one of the highlights of the week.
During the second week — cancelled in 2020 and postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic —, the commitment to climate action of 63 local councils, 13 authorities (one supramunicipal council) and an administrative board, along with several associations and the private sector, meant that nearly 200 activities could be organised, in which over 5,000 people participated. These included the official event of the PreCOP26 ‘Urban Klima 2050: multiagent cooperation to finance adaptation in the Basque Country’, which showcased the advances made in the Basque Country’s largest climate change project.
Grants for local authorities
ASTEKLIMA is back again in 2022 and aiming to equal or surpass the participation and involvement both of local authorities and citizens in previous years. The Basque Government’s Ministry of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment, with the support of Ihobe, has earmarked up to €200,000 in grants to help organise activities to rally citizens around the “green transition” of the Basque Country.
Grants will therefore be available for actions such as talks, seminars, workshops, exhibitions, story-telling, films, theatre, video or photography contests, guided visits and open days, that are in keeping with the goals of the Basque Green Deal for just and sustainable development. Any local council, district office, supramunicipal council, group and development agency of the Basque Autonomous Community may apply for grants. Only actions that start after 23 September 2022 and end before 2 October (inclusive) will be eligible for funding.
Applications can be submitted from 30 June to 29 July 2022. Full information on the grant call is available from the following link:
https://www.euskadi.eus/ayuda_subvencion/2022/herrijasangarriak_asteklima2022/web01-tramite/es/
Up-to-date and comprehensive information on ASTEKLIMA 2022, including news of interest and the calendar of activities, will be available on the Basque Climate and Energy Week official website, www.asteklima.eus.
