Ihobe shares the Basque experience in multilevel governance against climate change in Rotterdam
04/07/2025
Iñigo Urrutikoetxea Alvarez, Ihobe's climate action technician, has participated in the European Urban Resilience Forum in which he presented experiences like the Basque Country’s participation in the European Regions4Climate project, the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project or the Basque network of sustainable municipalities, Udalsarea 2030.
Iñigo Urrutikoetxea Alvarez, Ihobe's climate action technician, participated in the European Urban Resilience Forum on 26 June in Rotterdam (Netherlands), where he presented the Basque Country's experience in multilevel governance for adaptation to climate change. His intervention was part of the 'Climate adaptation from Buildings to Regions: governance and solutions across scales and sectors' panel, which focused on the challenges and opportunities to coordinate climate action from different administrative and sectoral scales.
The forum, organised by ICLEI and the European Environment Agency (EEA) , brought together representatives from local, regional and national governments, as well as professionals and international organisations to exchange best practices on urban resilience.
On the panel, Urrutikoetxea shared the table with Mirjam Wolfrum (CDP Europe), who opened the debate with an introduction on the challenges of climate governance from her experience in accompanying policy makers; Miguel Díaz-Cacho Dafonte (SERGAS - Galicia Health Service), who explained adaptation to climate change in hospital infrastructures; and Sophie Arens (Dortmund City Council), who presented the urban adaptation strategies in her city.
From the regional level, Iñigo Urrutikoetxea explained the governance instruments and mechanisms available to the Basque Country in order to foster climate action, such as the Basque Office for Energy Transition and Climate Change, the Scientific Committee for Energy Transition and Climate Change or the Citizen Assembly, all of which are included in the recently passed Law 1/2024 of 8 February, on Energy Transition and Climate Change in the Basque Country. He also spoke about the Basque Network of Sustainable Municipalities, Udalsarea 2030, as the instrument that structures collaboration with municipalities and disseminates the main tools and methodologies on climate change, waste, circular economy or green public procurement, among others.
He also highlighted initiatives such as the LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project as an example of success in the application of collaborative models of adaptation, based on cooperation between institutions, knowledge actors and citizens. He also mentioned the citizen empowerment plans on climate change recently developed within the framework of the LIFE project, which enable citizens to contribute to the fulfilment of the objectives set at a regional and municipal level.
Txingudi, pilot case in the adaptive governance of the Basque coastline
During his presentation, Urrutikoetxea also highlighted the recovery of marshes in the bay of Txingudi as a specific example of the Basque Government's commitment to Nature-Based Solutions to adapt the territory to climate change. The action is part of the European Regions4Climate project, in which the Basque Country participates along with other European regions. In this area of the Basque coastline which borders France, multilevel governance is particularly necessary as there are many actors with competences. This complexity has led to the creation of a technical-political working group for decision-making.
The interactive session allowed for an exchange with the audience on how to improve governance frameworks in order to address the effects of climate change from an inclusive and territorial perspective.
