This article was translated by John R. Bopp
We don’t believe it’s necessary to explain the fundamental importance that we give to the Basque Community Abroad, its role in the future in the Land of the Basques, or the need to integrate it more effectively, tightening the links between the Basques “at home” and “away”.
The fundamental role that we think the Basques of the diaspora have can be seen in the number of entries we’ve dedicated to the Basques in the World. We’re lucky, as a society, to have a community distributed throughout the world who still feels a strong connection to their roots, enough to feel part of our country even if they’re the descendents of the descendents of the migrants.
But, as we’ve said on many occasions before, we also think that despite such strong structures as the euskaletxeak, there is an ever greater separation between the Basque of the diaspora and the Basques at home. This could end up causing an unlinking in the medium term, and loss of a part of the richness of the bonds between so many individuals and society as a whole. That’s why we were so happy to hear about the Basque Government’s new project, developed by the Secretary General of Action Abroad: a social network called Basque Global Network (BGN). The goal of this linking and collaboration tool is to become an element that allows all the people of the Basque Community around the world to connect, as well as anyone who’s interested in anything Basque.
BGN is structured into five thematic areas, or subnetworks: institutional, business, cultural, educational, and cooperative development. These areas are answers to the different lines of work that the Basque Community is currently developing internationally. Participation in this network requires only a petition with a personal identification linked to one of these areas.
People who make up this global Basque web will also be able to network and to create common interest groups, manage and share events, calendars, and documents. The idea is that all the users of this network can be agents to contribute ideas and knowledge, and create mutually-beneficial interconnections. Also, every member can also determine their degree of privacy on the network.
It’s already been running in beta, and already has 210 users from at least 20 countries, and to start with, is active in Basque, Spanish, English, and French, though there are no limitations on other languages being used.
The initiative was presented by the Secretary General of Action Abroad, Marian Elorza, and the Director for the Basque Community Abroad, Asier Vallejo.
We think that this will be a great tool to help create links and bonds amongst Basques worldwide. But it would be great if it weren’t used only by Basques abroad, but also by a significant number of users who operate “within the country”. We think that that way would be the only way to make it fulfill its role of integrating.
We’ve always said it: there is so much to learn from the Basques spread across the globe that their contribution is fundamental for the future of our nation.
We’ll leave you with a link to the network, which we really strongly encourage you to check out and join and actively participate in. We’ll also leave you with the introductory video available in the four languages of the network.
Access to Basque Global Network
Introductory Videos
Last Updated on Dec 20, 2020 by About Basque Country