ASTEKLIMA 2021 features almost 200 activities to highlight the challenge of the energy transition to the Basque population

21/10/2021

• The second Basque Climate & Energy Week featured actions by 61 municipal councils, one supra-municipal council and one administrative board, along with associations and private-sector bodies.
• The official PreCOP26 event ‘Urban Klima 2050: multi-agent cooperation to fund adaptation in the Basque Country’ was attended by over 300 people and showcased the progress made in this, the Basque Country's biggest climate-change-related project.
• Here is an outline of events at ASTEKLIMA 2021, to coincide with next Sunday's International Day Against Climate Change.

From 24 September to 3 October there were climate-related actions in every corner of the Basque Country to mark the second ASTEKLIMA Climate and Energy Week. Commitment to climate action on the part of 61 municipal councils, one supra-municipal council and one administrative board, plus several associations and private sector bodies, enabled almost 200 activities to be organised (up from 64 in the first edition of the event), in which the public took the campaign slogan to heart: ‘Every action counts, however small it may be’.

People in the Basque Country can choose between a wide range of activities in the form of workshops, talks, guided outings and games themed around the challenges of climate change and the importance of local action in tackling the challenge of the climate and energy transition.

ASTEKLIMA 2021 also covers sustainable mobility (with events such as the 4th Bridgestone Charity Bike Ride along the Arenal Boulevard in Bilbao), educational projects such as ‘2030 Baso Magikoa’ (an initiative by the Zumaiena Ikastetxea school based on the value of nature and sustainability in setting up a venue for learning, sharing and educational activities), workshops on biodiversity, water and public initiatives to combat climate change, outings and trails to help people understand the environment and cultural events such as plays, story-tellers and mural painting.

The second Basque Climate & Energy week is staged to coincide with next Sunday's International Day of Climate Action.

Official PreCOP26 event

One of the main activities at the second ASTEKLIMA was an international seminar under the title ‘Urban Klima 2050: mutli-player cooperation to fund adaptation in the Basque Country’, staged at the el Palacio Euskalduna centre in Bilbao on 30 September. Held in a mixed face-to-face and online format, the event was attended by over 300 people, who had the chance to learn about the main progress made in the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 European project, the biggest climate-action scheme in the Basque Country for the coming years

The seminar was part of the official programme for PreCOP26 All4Climate-Italy 2021, the forerunner event for the Climate Summit to be held this year in Glasgow on 31 October - 12 November, where the Basque Government will reiterate its commitment to climate change mitigation and adaptation as set out in its road map, the Basque Green Deal, a model for fair, sustainable economic development with industry and technology at its heart.