Bilbao informs of its participation at the European Week of Regions and Cities

The city will have two speakers in three of the event’s sessions

The European Week of Regions and Cities (EWRC) is on and Bilbao’s municipal website informed the citizenry today about the city’s participation in the event. The Basque economic capital will have two representatives who will participate in sessions on 5, 8 and 13 October and will speak about their city’s progress and contribution to achieving the 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

The annual event usually takes place in Brussels under the patronage of the Committee of the Regions but this year due to the unusual circumstances it is slated to take place virtually.

Although it is called the ‘Week’ this year the event will actually last 18 days

Already on the first day of the EWRC, Bilbao’s Councillor for International and Civic Participation, Oihane Agirregoitia will join the discussion on the role of the local governments in achieving the 2030 Goals. In this meeting, she will be joined by representatives from Bristol, Bordeaux and FAMSI, PLATFORMA, FELCOS and FIIAPP – the latter four being different cooperation developmental agencies with an international outreach.

Mrs Agirregoitia will also speak in a session, this Thursday, 8 October, dedicated to exploring the options for an interchange of best practices between cities, forming new alliances and announcing the opportunities available to speed up the pursuit of the 2030 SDG.

In these two meetings, Councillor Agirregoitia will have the chance to introduce the European community with the numerous projects that are in progress in her city, such as Bilbao City of Values, Participatory Budgets, Bilbao Gazte Balioak Martxan, Bilbao Environmental Strategy 2050, Bilbao Gazte Plana, Bilbao – Senior-Friendly City, Bilbao – Child-Friendly City, Cooperation Plan 2016-2020 and the Equality Plan.

Ane Miren Ibañez, Director of BilbaoTIK, a municipal organization that manages all the IT services for the City Hall and public enterprises, will speak on 13 October at another virtual meeting. She will participate in representing Bilbao as a signatory to EU’s ‘Join, Boost, Sustain’ declaration for the digital transformation of the cities.

This year the European Week of Regions and Cities will offer some 457 virtual sessions treating a large variety of topics which are of concern to the local governments and citizens on the continent.