The Basque Government, Danobatgroup and Elhuyar present the Plurilingual Dictionary of the 2030 Agenda, with 3,600 entries in Basque, Spanish and English

• This information is now available to everyone on the website www.2030agendahiztegia.eus
• It is a dynamic tool that can be expanded with comments and suggestions from users
• The dictionary has been made available to the United Nations as another model for strengthening localisation strategies for the SDGs
• In the Basque Country and other parts of the world, actions are being developed to include SDG 18 on cultural and linguistic diversity in the 2030 Agenda
• The preparation and presentation of this dictionary of the 2030 Agenda is part of this process

The Multilingual Dictionary of the 2030 Agenda was presented today by the institutions behind it at a press conference in Donostia. It is a complete dictionary in Basque, Spanish and English, containing terms and definitions related to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The event was attended by Jonan Fernandez Erdozia, Secretary General for Social Transition and Agenda 2030 of the Basque Government; Idoia Bustinduy Arizmendi, Head of Communication of the Danobat Group; Jon Abril Olaetxea, General Coordinator of Elhuyar; and Klara Ceberio Berger, Head of Language Resources at Elhuyar.

Characteristics of the dictionary

To date, the dictionary contains a total of 3,600 terms related to the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. This information is now available to everyone on the website www.2030agendahiztegia.eus.

For each word in the dictionary, users will find the following information: definition, terms and area. Both the terms and definitions and the web interface are available in three languages: Basque, Spanish and English. In addition, the website offers additional information and the possibility of consulting other dictionaries on the subject.

When accessing the website, users will find an appealing and clear interface. Once a term has been selected, the associated concept card(s) will be displayed with information on the terms in the three languages, the field and the definition. In some cases, there is also a reference to consult other concepts related to the searched term.

The dictionary also offers the possibility to share the conceptual data on social networks and to make comments or suggestions on its content. It is also possible to consult the terms directly in other dictionaries: Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Science and Technology, Elhuyar Dictionary and Wikipedia.

Finally, if no answer is found to a search term, the user can make a proposal for its inclusion in the dictionary. This dictionary is intended to be a living, dynamic resource that can be improved and expanded through the comments and suggestions that users can make on the website.

The three institutions promoting the project have made the Multilingual Dictionary of the 2030 Agenda available to the United Nations, specifically to the Secretariat of the Local 2030 Coalition in Bilbao. This is the Basque Country’s contribution to the process of localising the SDGs. A process in which the languages and cultures of each country are crosscutting axes for the transmission of the commitment to the 2030 Agenda.

Genesis of this project

The starting point for this project was the Danobatgroup, an industrial group specialising in machine tools and advanced manufacturing, which, when drawing up its sustainability strategy, recognised the need to work on terminology in this area and created a glossary of terms and definitions in Spanish and English.

Danobatgroup then considered the need to translate this terminology into the Basque language and sought the advice of Elhuyar, which joined the project with its experience in producing other sectoral or professional dictionaries.

The proposal was presented to the General Secretariat for Social Transition and Agenda 2030 of the Basque Government. It coincided with the Lehendakaritza’s lines of action in terms of promoting the SDGs in the Basque Country, and the project took shape as the Dictionary of the 2030 Agenda.

Elhuyar’s technical work consisted of compiling and proposing terms, translating their definitions into Basque, classifying the concepts by sector and designing a website with all the content available to society. The initiative was financed and supervised by the Social Innovation Department of the Basque Government.

In this context, it should be noted that the 17 SDGs do not include a goal explicitly related to culture and minority languages. Both in the Basque Country and in many other parts of the world, different actions are being developed to include an SDG 18 related to cultural and linguistic diversity.

In particular, the Basque Government has initiated a process within the framework of the 2030 Agenda to give specific content to this SDG 18. This process includes the preparation and presentation of this Dictionary of the 2030 Agenda, which aims to enrich and promote actions in the Basque language in the field of the Sustainable Development Goals.