Denis Itxaso and Juan Carlos Abascal will be participating in the 23rd Euskal Hiria Kongresua and the 3rd geoEuskadi-JIIDE Congress, which is being organised by the Department of Housing and Urban Agenda.

• Both events will be held in parallel at the Europa Congress Palace in Vitoria-Gasteiz on 13, 14 and 15 November.

• The 23rd Euskal Hiria Kongresua, a forum for debate on cities and territory in the Basque Country, and the 3rd geoEuskadi-JIIDE Congress have the backing of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat).

• Itxaso and Abascal view this as “a distinctive chance to share experiences, develop knowledge and progress towards a more sustainable and equitable urban future in the Basque Country.”

The Regional Minister for Housing and the Urban Agenda, Denis Itxaso, and the Deputy Regional Minister for Territorial Planning and the Urban Agenda, Juan Carlos Abascal, will attend the 23rd Euskal Hiria Kongresua and the 3rd geoEuskadi-JIIDE Congress, which will be held from 13 to 15 November at the Europa Congress Palace in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The events have been organised by the Department of Housing and the Urban Agenda. "It is a privilege for us to be present at these two events, which offer a unique opportunity to share experiences, generate knowledge and contribute to a more sustainable and equitable urban future in the Basque Country," they both stated. Itxaso will be responsible for the opening ceremony on Wednesday 13, accompanied by Maider Etxebarria, Mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz; Emilio López Romero, Director of the Autonomous Body National Centre for Geographic Information (CNIG); and Dyfed Aubrey, Chief of Office, UN-Habitat Office for EU. The event will conclude on Thursday 14 with a closing address from Abascal, in collaboration with Ana Beatriz Jordao, Chief of the UN-Habitat Office for Spain.

The 23rd Euskal Hiria Kongresua, under the slogan 'From Data to Territory', will bring together hundreds of experts and professionals from the territorial and urban planning sector to reflect on the integration of data in territorial and urban planning and the importance of information in planning processes. The programme invites participants to consider the new issues, approaches and challenges that arise in territorial and urban planning processes, particularly considering the large amount of data available (Big Data) and the analysis tools for different objectives.

The 3rd geoEuskadi-JIIDE Congress, under the slogan 'The Value of Geospatial Data', will address key issues related to new technological trends for data accessibility and reuse, as well as current techniques of observation and representation of the Earth. This year’s Congress will be held in conjunction with the Iberian Spatial Data Infrastructure Days (JIIDE) to capitalise on, accelerate and promote activities related to geographic information in all sectors. The meeting will address issues related to the standardised publication and accessibility of geographic data, as well as those associated with the production, processing and exploitation of geographic data.

The organisers are optimistic that the combination of both congresses into a single event will foster interdisciplinary collaboration and the formation of synergies between the various stakeholders engaged in urban planning and development in the Basque Country. The involvement of experts from a range of sectors, both public and private, will add value to the discussion and help to develop comprehensive solutions to current challenges.

Registration Open

With the commencement of both congresses just under a month away, registration is now open for the event. We are expecting many gbbvas<professionals from the sector, institutional representatives, academics and members of the public interested in the evolution of our cities and territories to attend. Those interested in attending the geoEuskadi-JIIDE event can register their details via the following link: https://www.jiide.org/web/portal/inicio.

For the Euskal Hiria Kongresua event, please register your details via the following link: https://www.euskadi.eus/euskalhiria/.

You can also register by emailing euskahiria@euskalhiria.eus.

To get comprehensive information regarding both congresses, including details about speakers, panels, round tables, and other details, please refer to the official websites of the Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda area of the Basque Government (https://www.euskadi.eus/gobierno-vasco/planificacion-territorial-agenda-urbana/ available in Basque and Spanish) and geoeuskadi.jiide.org (available in English and other languages)