The Basque Country (Spain), one of the first sub-national governments in the world to adopt a consistent, multi-level and multi-stakeholder localisation strategy for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), constituting a pioneering exercise on the establishment of what can be defined as an “SDG ecosystem”, has recently approved the Basque Programme of Priorities for the 2030 Agenda to lead the work plan for 2021-2024.
The Basque Government is mentioned as the first non-State government to publish a Monitoring Report in 2017 and is placed at the top of the list of territories with the highest number of reports produced. Moreover, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) strategic report A Territorial Approach to the SDGs benchmarked the Basque Country for its work on mainstreaming the SDGs into regional policies and as a best practice example of pioneering cities and regions.
The Basque Country is a small, densely populated region (7,234 km2, with a population of 2,1 million - 4.6% of Spain’s national population – and a population density of 300 inhabitants / km2) located in the northern coast of Spain, close to the French border., with very strong urban-rural connections and a strong demographic pressure due to demographical change. Additionally, the Basque Region has high exposure to climate change, since a vast extension of its territory is at risk of floods and droughts.
In April 2018, the cabinet of the Basque Country approved the first Euskadi-Basque Country 2030 Agenda, which incorporated specific cases of involvement and cooperation between different institutions, social partners and Basque Government Departments, such as the 2050 Climate Change Strategy, the Basque Urban Agenda (Bultzatu 2050) and the Euskadi Open Government Partnership, among others.
After the approval of the Euskadi-Basque Country 2030 Agenda (EBCA), the Basque Government’s budget was aligned to the 2030 Agenda and the SDGs, and resources for the EBCA were tied into those of the General Budget with a direct link to the SDGs. Additionally, Sustainable Bonds were issued to raised resources that are being used to finance programmes that address some of the social and environmental challenges identified in the EBCA. The EBCA included a system of indicators for its government programme associated to each of the 17 Goals of the Euskadi-Basque Country 2030 Agenda so that it is actually aligned to the 2030 Agenda.
The report SDG localisation and multi-level governance: lessons from the Basque Country, developed by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission’s science and knowledge service, describes the various actions and initiatives developed in the Basque Country for the local implementation of the 2030 Agenda. From this experience, the report draws recommendations useful for other regional authorities. It analyses the Basque “SDG ecosystem” from a territorial perspective providing a clear interpretation of its different levels and interlinkages. Moreover, it proposes a sub-national approach for SDG governance and suggests a Decalogue for the next Voluntary Local Review (VLRs) generation that should take into consideration the territorial approach.
From the initiatives carried out to promote a multi-level, multi-stakeholder effort for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, it is important to highlight the collaboration held with local authorities through an alliance with EUDEL (Euskera acronym of Association of Basque Municipalities), to reflect the contribution of the Basque Network of Municipalities to the SDGs, and the guide for the SDGs implementation through Udalsarea 2030. In addition, the Basque Government promoted the 2030 Gure Udal Agenda Service, allocating funds to advise Basque municipalities on the promotion of the 2030 Local Agenda - Udalsarea 2030.
For the private sector, Spri Business Development Agency and the Global Compact launched a project to assist Basque companies in addressing the SDGs. As a result of this alliance, in which the three Basque Employers’ Associations, ADEGI (the Business Association of Gipuzkoa), CEBEK (the enterprise confederation of Bizkaia) and SEA (the enterprise association of Álava) collaborated, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) now have a practical manual with which to implement actions for sustainable development in their businesses. In addition, companies can now access a platform with a training and management itinerary. This project was reissued through the Global Compact-SPRI collaboration so that Basque clusters could act as prescribers of the on-line platform for training and management of the 2030 Agenda.
In terms of public-private-civil society collaboration, Euskadi 2030 Gunea, a pilot working group made up of 17 Basque organisations from different fields, was set up to draw up a Practical Guide for Basque Organisations on how to implement the 2030 Agenda and contribute to the SDGs.
In this regard, the General Secretariat has developed The Basque programme of priorities for the Agenda 2030, an action plan for 2021-2024 that establishes the Basque Government’s list of priorities for the 2030 Agenda. It comprises an assessment and evaluation of what has already been done, the foundations underpinning all the Secretariat’s plans, and the Work Plan.
The Basque Government is now at a new stage in the process of implementation of the 2030 Agenda, with already sound foundations upon which to build. An important part of the actions to be taken during this next government period will consist of giving continuity to what already exists and has worked well, in other words, what they consider in fact as the primary strength of the Basque 2030 Agenda: a “Shared Commitment”, the internal and interdepartmental commitment of the Basque Government, together with the commitment to inter-institutional collaboration; the “System for aligning with and monitoring the 2030 Agenda”, the “Experience of alliances and governance structures created for the implementation of the 2030 Agenda”, such as the Interdepartmental Commission for Foreign Affairs or the Inter-institutional Commission for External Action and Euskadi 2030 Guinea; and “International benchmarks” to link global and local transformation.