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Balance sixth edition | 2024
Uhinak 2024: 160 participants and 50 presentations for an in-depth debate on climate change and its impact on the coast
Over two days, a full content of 8 guest talks, 35 oral presentations and 17 posters was seen by 160 participants at the Cross-Border Congress on Climate and Coastal Change held at Ficoba
(Irun, 25 October 2024). The sixth Uhinak Congress, held on October 23 and 24 at Ficoba, attracted marine, coast and climate change experts together with scientists, actors and users, generating productive cross-border debate and information exchange in a cross-border context.
The effect of climate change on the coast and the solutions for mitigating, anticipating and adapting to future scenarios were specifically addressed in over 50 presentations.
One relevant aspect debated was climate boundaries in the oceans and along Spain’s coast. Professor Peter Ditlevsen of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen spoke about the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, an important turnaround event for the climate system, whose future collapse would have a massive impact on the climate in the North Atlantic region, with major uncertainties. Recent studies have shown that this circulation is weakening, and predictions point to a possible collapse halfway through this century if the current trend in greenhouse gas emissions continues.
Extreme events such as heatwaves or wave surges along the Basque coast were another issue addressed at the Congress, creating a focus of debate between the participants due to their major impact.
To tackle these extreme phenomena, worsened by the sea level rise and global warming, the experts highlighted the need for coastal risk management tools such as the proposals of the Regions4Climate European project, which aims to contribute to climate change adaptation by working to improve resilience to climate change in 12 European regions, including the Bidasoa estuary and Txingudi marshes.
Summing up the Congress: the speakers’ conclusions
Peter Ditlevsen, Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute, Copenhagen University: The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is an important turnaround event for the climate system and its future collapse would have a massive impact on the climate in the North Atlantic region, with major uncertainties.
Marta Coll, Deputy Director of the Institut de Ciències del Mar: Managing the marine environment with nature-based solutions would in itself enable sustainable adaptation of marine resources on a future scenario of non-mitigated climate change.
Jon Sáenz, University of the Basque Country: The Bay of Biscay is heating up and marine heatwaves are occurring more frequently.
Matthias Delpey, Rivages Pro Tech, SUEZ Eau France and Roland Garnier, AZTI: The mission of the Regions4Climate European project is to contribute to climate change adaptation by working to improve resilience to climate change in 12 European regions, including the Bidasoa estuary and Txingudi marshes in the region of the Basque Country.
Soledad Vivas, marine environment technical coordinator at the Andalusian Regional Government’s Environment and Water Agency: Seagrass beds are blue carbon sinks and restoring them in deteriorated habitats enables climate change mitigation.
Ainhize Butrón, IHOBE: The Basque Country’s new law on climate change places mitigation and adaptation at the same level.
Aurelie Bocquet, GIS Littoral Basque.: There has been an alert of the recent presence of two species of Ostreopsisa, microscopic algae found in warmer waters that produce toxins affecting human health.
María Calvo, AZTI: A survey has shown that women are more concerned about climate change and have more sustainable habits than men.
María Josep Picó, Journalism professor, University of Valencia: On communicating climate change to society we need to avoid alarmism and catastrophism and send optimistic messages and solutions, keeping society informed.
About Uhinak
Uhinak is a Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change organised by Ficoba and the AZTI Technology Centre and supported by numerous institutions including the Basque Government’s Department of Industry, Energy Transition and Sustainability, through its public company Ihobe, the Gipuzkoa Regional Government (Department of Sustainability), Communauté d’Agglomération Pays Basque and the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region.
This year’s Uhinak is also backed by the Area of the President of the Regional Government of Gipuzkoa, through the IDEIAK 2024 programme for cross-border participatory budgets within the framework of the Etorkizuna Eraikiz initiative.
Balance fifth edition – 2022
Uhinak 2022 brings together 150 experts and conference participants to debate and advance solutions for the coastal climate emergency
Climate change on the 2050 horizon, extreme events and adaptation measures, climate change mitigation and biodiversity restoration and governance, management tools and communication are among the issues for debate in over 40 talks and presentations
The fifth Conference on Climate and Coastal Change will be held at Ficoba on November 16 and 17
The Uhinak conference, organised by Ficoba and the technology centre AZTI, is set to be held for the fifth time at Ficoba under the slogan “Focused on action and communication against climate emergency”.
The fifth Uhinak is particularly relevant at the present time and is marked by the global context and the climate summit (COP27) currently underway in Egypt (6 – 18 November).
Challenges are important, and the European Green Deal aims to make Europe the first continent with zero net carbon emissions by 2050. By that time, it must achieve carbon neutrality, i.e. emit the same amount of CO2 to the atmosphere as the amount extracted by different removal methods. However, in the next eight years – by 2030 – we have also committed to complying with the Paris Agreement and holding the average global temperature increase to below 2ºC.
To achieve this goal, Europe must make some drastic changes in the way it produces and consumes energy. However, the roadmap for reaching it could be altered by the current context and Russia’s threat to halt gas supplies as a weapon of war.
As we advance towards this progressive decarbonisation, we cannot lose sight of the impacts generated, and we must anticipate the possible consequences of climate change and work on defining the criteria to adapt to them. Major progress is being made in this regard, with initiatives like the Marine Climate Change Observatory on the Bay of Biscay and the Basque coast. This initiative receives collaboration from the Naturklima Foundation and the LIFE Urban Klima 2050 project and is aligned with the Basque Climate Change Strategy for 2050, and it has enabled an integrated system to be implemented for monitoring and predicting climate change and its effects on the sea and the coast and their biodiversity and resources. It is vital for assessing possible impacts and anticipating the consequences of Climate Change, and defining the adaptation criteria to be implemented.
Uhinak 2022
Both in 2015, when the conference was first held, and this year, Uhinak’s aim has been to create a debate forum for the sectors and stakeholders with the ability to reverse or mitigate climate change.
So for another year, political representatives, technicians from the coastal communities and municipalities, competent local authorities, experts from technology centres, research centres, journalists and the companies tasked with addressing the upcoming changes will all be meeting at Ficoba for two action-packed days. They will gather again at Ficoba at this year’s on-site conference on November 16 and 17, to join forces, pull together as a team and advance with the action-taking and decision-making process for slowing down the climate change that we have already begun to perceive as a serious threat.
The conference has four main strategic goals. Firstly, finding out about the work and solutions aimed towards adopting the necessary measures for defending and protecting the coast against climate change.
Secondly, hearing about experiences, learning good practice and collaborating on coastal management and maintenance.
Thirdly, approaching the process of climate and coastal change from a cross-border perspective, to create the necessary synergies to tackle climate change.
And fourthly, discovering the new entrepreneurial opportunities open to the companies that will be tasked with carrying out the necessary work to mitigate the consequences of climate emergency.
Thematic areas and conferences
In a packed two-day schedule and from numerous perspectives, with over 40 talks and presentations,he conference will address the current situation of our coasts, their possible evolution over the next few years, the increase in extreme events and ways of tackling this climate emergency scenario on our coasts.
The content of the fifth Uhinak conference has therefore been organised into four thematic areas: the status of our coasts now and in 2050 against a backdrop of climate change; extreme events and adaptation measures; mitigating climate change and restoring biodiversity; and governance, management tools and communication. Leading Spanish and international personalities will participate in all the areas and have already been posted on the conference website (www.uhinak.com).
Opening talks
Opening. Francisco Doblas-Reyes,, Head of the Earth Science Department of the Barcelona Supercomputing Center, has confirmed his participation and will be giving the opening talk to launch the two days of the conference on November 16, addressing the physical aspects of climate change in the sixth report by the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
On November 17 it will be the turn of Richard Bellerby, a member of the Norwegian Institute for Water Research, who will speak about ocean acidification research geared to nature-based solutions, mitigation and adaptation.
Guest speakers
Prominent figures in the research world and experts that have carried out specific studies on the effects of climate change on the coast will be attending Uhinak this year.
On November 16 Volker Roeber, leader of the E2S HPC-Waves Chair at the University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour, will talk about his research, focused on developing numerical solutions for operational models of waves close to the coast and applying these models to explain coastal processes.
Also, Carlos Castillo from the Basque Government’s public enterprise Ihobe will be presenting the KOSTAEGOKI project, which aims to provide relevant tools and information on the effects of the mean sea level rise caused by Climate Change (CC) and the impact of waves on the Basque coast. These can be used in planning and managing coastal areas, and they will provide adaptation measures enabling the responsible public authorities to tackle the challenges of this global phenomenon.
He will be followed by Virginie Duvat, a lecturer in coastal geography at the University of La Rochelle-CNRS,who will discuss the important role of extreme compound climate events in the increased impacts of climate change in coastal areas, in order to launch a debate on the climate adaptation strategies that could be embarked on to address rapidly increasing risks.
On the second day of the conference, November 17, Agustín Sánchez Arcilla, the director of the Maritime Engineering Laboratory (LIM) of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC)
and Professor of the UPC College of Civil Engineering of Barcelona, will address risk generation and estimation in coastal and port structures and a comparison of risk conditions on the Basque and Catalan coasts according to the number and intensity of extreme storms on each one.
There will also be a presentation by Miguel Ángel Mateo, the leader of the Aquatic Macrophyte Ecology Group (GAME) of the Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes at the Spanish National Research Council. He will be addressing how the sustained increase in CO2 in the atmosphere has built up interest in the preservation and promotion of biospheric carbon sinks as an aid for mitigating this trend. These include the sinks associated with Blue Carbon Ecosystems (BCE): marshes, mangroves and seagrass meadows.
Andrés Guerra Sierra, head of the Sustainability Department of A Coruña Port Authority, is also set to present A Coruña Green Port: Towards a Decarbonisation Hub, a project aimed at developing the green hydrogen and green ammonia value chain and their integration in industrial petrochemical and logistics activity, experimental deployment of renewable wind marine energies, digitisation and modernisation of the companies based at the port, development of biofuels and energy storage systems, the port’s self-sufficiency and decarbonisation of the industrial activity at the port of A Coruña.
Communication, a key factor in the fight against climate emergency
At this year’s conference, Uhinak wants to highlight communication and its socialising effect with regard to the consequences and challenges of the climate crisis, and it has set aside a space for a talk on this issue. It will be given by Andrea Castro-Martínez, a lecturer and researcher at the Audiovisual Communication and Advertising Department of the University of Málaga, and is entitled Communicating Climate Change Effectively. Good Practices for Communicators, Companies and the Media.
In her presentation, Andrea Castro-Martínez will address the main problems and barriers currently hindering communication on climate change and propose a series of solutions, tools and ideas to help the messages successfully reach their audience.
About Uhinak
Uhinak is a Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change organised by Ficoba and the technology centre AZTI and supported by numerous institutions including the Basque Government’s Department of Economic Development, Sustainability and the Environment through its public company Ihobe, the Gipuzkoa Regional Government (Department of the Environment), Communauté d’Agglomération Pays Basque and the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region.
Balance fourth edition | 2020
Uhinak 2020: “Time to start talking about adapting to the effects of climate change””.
180 people took part over two days in the Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change, held in a hybrid format: in person and online.
Scientists, technicians and managers participated in 11 expert seminars and more than 40 presentations.
El 4 y 5 de noviembre Ficoba se ha convertido en un lugar de diálogo sobre el conocimiento y la gestión aplicados a los desafíos de la emergencia climática sobre los mares, las costas y sus recursos. On 4 and 5 November Ficoba became a place for discussion on the knowledge and management applied to the challenges of the climate emergency affecting the seas, coasts and their resources. The experts, technicians and managers gathered at the 4th Cross-border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change agreed that it is necessary to continue with climate change mitigation measures, but that it is also necessary to start proposing adaptation strategies to avoid the adverse consequences of climate change on our coasts.
This practical approach of the conference, showing the reality of the existing problems and the solutions that are being adopted or should be adopted, even touching on the details at the local level, is one of the defining characteristics of Uhinak.
From this perspective, Uhinak analysed the impact of current and future climate change on the coast and on our society: rising sea levels, erosion, risk of flooding, loss of habitats and resources, etc. Another of the central themes of this event, promoted by Ficoba and the AZTI technology centre, was the role that the ocean will play in mitigating climate change: solutions for CO2 capture, ecosystem recovery, circular economy, blue carbon and green infrastructure, etc.
Uhinak has grown in its fourth edition, including valuable contributions to the study of climate change beyond the coast and our nearby seas, evaluating the biological productivity of the Cantabrian and Aquitaine shelf, proposing ecosystem management of the coast, learning about the effects of extreme storms in the Mediterranean with simultaneous wind, waves and torrential rainfall, and including, among others, the ideas and experiences of the World Network of Coastal Biosphere Reserves.
But, not only have the risks we face been analysed, but also the ability we have as a developed society to deal with them successfully. The importance of territorial planning has been further explored: from the LIFE IP URBAN KLIMA 2050 project for the deployment of the climate change strategy in the Basque Country Klima 2050 in the urban setting, the Sectoral Territorial Plans (STP) for the Planning and Protection of the Coast, to the management at a local level, such as the township of Bakio, which is aware of its vulnerability to climate change and is involved in fighting it.
A format that works
One of the new features this year has been the presentation of Uhinak in a hybrid format, combining the presence of the speakers in the Ficoba Auditorium with the participation of the conference participants online.
This format has been a perfect solution to the communication needs and to the sharing of thoughts and discussions at a conference of this kind, which in this fourth edition has had 180 participants.
It is worth noting the growing interest that the conference is generating among the many parties involved in the complex ecosystem of climate and coastal change. Attendees from the rest of Spain now account for 23% of the total, while those from France account for 13%, making the cross-border nature of the conference a reality.
About Uhinak
Uhinak, Cross-border Congress on Climate and Coastal Change promoted by Ficoba and the AZTI technology centre, is supported by a Technical Committee made up of representatives from the Basque Government (Ihobe), the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Community of Agglomerations of the Basque Country, Adegi, CSIC/ESADE/CEAB, Spanish Climate Change Office, BC3, EUCC Atlantic Center, the Association of Civil Engineers of the Basque Country, Naturklima Foundation, IAHR (International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research), the Observatory for Sustainability – Cristina Enea Foundation, the New Aquitaine – Basque Country Euroregion and AZTI.
Uhinak also has the support of many institutions such as the Department of Economic development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government through its public company Ihobe, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (Department of Environment), Communauté d’agglomération Pays Basque and the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region.
The conference attendees confirm the quality of the fourth edition of Uhinak with their evaluations
Uhinak, the Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change, held on 4 and 5 November 2020 in Ficoba, has once again attracted the support of the 180 people who participated in this event, held on this occasion in a hybrid format.
93.6% of those attending the event gave Uhinak a score of 5 points (46.8%) and 4 points (46.8%), with 5 being the highest score and 1 the lowest. This high rating is reflected in the fact that 50.06% of those surveyed confirmed their willingness to take part in the next edition of the congress and 45.5% said they would probably take part in Uhinak again.
Another figure which reinforces the quality of the congress is the percentage of participants who would recommend Uhinak to other professionals in their sector. The figure of those who would do so is 72.7%, while 24.7% say “probably yes”.
One of the differential characteristics of Uhinak is its vocation to be a practical conference in which scientists, public administrations and private companies share how to mitigate the effects of climate change, but also how to adapt the coast to face this new reality. In this sense, it is worth noting that, in this edition too, Uhinak has managed to bring together the different actors involved, with 39.1% of those surveyed being scientists/researchers, 29.7% representatives of public administrations and 15.6% of private companies.
The fourth edition of Uhinak was held in a hybrid format, with over 140 people following the congress in an online format. The congress participants also gave a high rating to both the sound quality (90.8% between 4 and 5) and the image quality (92% between 4 and 5).
Balance third edition | 2018
The third edition of Uhinak, Cross Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change, closes with a positive outcome
For two days, the conference on climate and coastal change, Uhinak, brought together in Ficoba about 45 speakers and 150 participants who shared ideas
and reflections to design the right context for addressing climate change and its effects on the coast from a pluralistic, transversal and multidisciplinary perspective.
Experts from different fields who have in-depth knowledge of the problems of climate change on the coastline, from a local, regional and global perspective, have debated with administrations, companies and managers about how to tackle the search for solutions to the effects of extreme climate and adaptation to climate change in the Atlantic Arc.
For those interested in further studying the contents of the conference, AZTI has published a special issue of the Marine Research Magazine which includes practically all the conference lectures.
The evaluation carried out by the participants in the conference was highly positive. The quality of the presentations and the possibility of sharing information between all the areas involved in the fight against the effects of climate change on the coastline were particularly appreciated: administrations in different regions of the Atlantic Arc, scientists, technicians, managers and users.
The participants also appreciated the new space reserved in Uhinak for exhibiting companies. An innovation that has been launched and is expected to gain more weight in future editions of the event.
The companies that inaugurated this exhibition space were Zunibal (Derio-Bizkaia) which develops electronic products and services for application in the marine sector; Hércules Control (La Coruña), a technology-based company focused on the design, manufacture and marketing of hydrographic technology products; Tecnoambiente, marine and environmental consultancy with headquarters in Barcelona and Cadiz; the Department of Environment, Territorial Planning and Housing of the Basque Government through its public company Ihobe; and the Communauté d’ Agglomération Pays Basque
Next edition
Uhinak seguirá manteniendo su carácter bienal y celebrará su próxima edición en 2020. Próximamente se reunirá el comité organizador del congreso para determinar las fechas de la cuarta edición de Uhinak.
About Uhinak
Uhinak, Cross-border Congress on Climate and Coastal Change promoted by Ficoba and the AZTI technology centre, is supported by a Technical Committee made up of representatives from the Basque Government (Ihobe), the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Community of Agglomerations of the Basque Country, Adegi, CSIC/ESADE/CEAB, Spanish Climate Change Office, BC3, EUCC Atlantic Center, the Association of Civil Engineers of the Basque Country, Naturklima Foundation, IAHR (International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research), the Observatory for Sustainability – Cristina Enea Foundation, the New Aquitaine – Basque Country Euroregion and AZTI.
Uhinak also has the support of many institutions such as the Department of Economic development, Sustainability and Environment of the Basque Government through its public company Ihobe, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa (Department of Environment), Communauté d’agglomération Pays Basque and the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region.
The third Uhinak congress receives a high score from participants once again
As in previous years, a survey was conducted among the participants of the third Uhinak Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change, held on March 6-7 at Ficoba, with very high scores being received once again for the different aspects evaluated.
On a scale of 1 – 5, where 1 is the lowest and 5 the highest, 95% of the respondents gave the general organisation and planning of the conference a score of either 5 (68.3%) or 4 (26.7%).
As regards their general degree of satisfaction with the Uhinak conference, 98.3% rated it either satisfactory or highly satisfactory, This rating was reflected in the answers to the question of whether the participants planned to attend next year’s conference: almost 50% confirmed their intention to return and 43.6% said they would probably be back. These figures are also reflected in the fact that around 65% of those who attended said they would recommend it to colleagues.
The cross-cutting approach of the congress is also of note, as shown by the data on the type of people attending: 44.4% were researchers and 29.6% were from the public authorities, while 18.5% represented private companies. These figures demonstrate Uhinak’s clear commitment to continue building a network between sea and coast experts and managers and users, to help them work towards finding solutions for the effects of extreme climate events and adaptation to climate change in the Atlantic Arc regions.
| Very satisfied | 5 | 43,30 % |
| 4 | 45,00 % | |
| 3 | 9,70 % | |
| 2 | 3,33 % | |
| Unsatisfactory | 1 | 1,67 % |
Balance second edition | 2016
The third Uhinak Congress is announced after the consolidation of its debate on the coast and climate change
More than 100 participants and 30 speakers from Spain and other countries attended the two-day Ficoba congress on the consequences of climate change in the Atlantic Arc coastal regions.
The second Uhinak congress, held on September 27 and 28 at Ficoba, attracted marine, coast and climate change experts together with actors and users to generate productive cross-border debate and information exchange. The congress featured over 30 lectures, mainly focused on the effects of climate change on the coast. Topics included sea level rise and how it could worsen the effects of extreme events such as the recurring Cantabrian storms, gale-force winds, flooding, storm surges or heavy swell hitting beaches and breakwaters, or the propagation of other changes such as ocean warming and its effect on the ecosystem and marine resources and the uncertainty of these scenarios.
Guillem Chust, an expert on climate change and its impact on marine and coastal ecosystems and a member of AZTI and the Uhinak Technical Committee, explains that“the debate focused on the adaptation measures required to prevent future damage to our coast, seeking innovative alternatives, for example, such as natural solutions increasing the resilience of systems traditionally exposed and made more vulnerable by human activity”.
The Director of Ficoba, Ander Sarratea, highlighted Uhinak’s capacity to blur borders and encourage cooperation between different countries to meet the challenge of climate change.Mr. Sarratea affirms that Uhinak“has swept away borders, facilitating information flow between local governments in different regions of the Atlantic Arc and knowledge flow between scientists, technicians, actors and users”.
Uhinak 2016
This year’s Uhinak congress, co-organised by Ficoba and AZTI, the expert Technology Centre for Marine and Food Innovation, received over 100 participants who attended a total of 31 lectures by 10 guest speakers and 21 speakers chosen to take part after an open call.
Uhinak has succeeded in bringing together an array of prominent speakers and institutions to guarantee the content and quality of the debate: CSIC, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas; Puertos del Estado; IDDRI, Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations; AZTI; CEDEX, Centro de Estudios y Experimentación de Obras Públicas; CESER de l’Atlantique, Agrupación de Interés Científico Litoral Vasco; BC3, Basque Centre for Climate Change; UPV; IFREMER, Institut Française de Recherche pour l’Exploitation de la Mer; San Sebastián City Council; Cerema Sud Ouest, Centre d’Etudes et d’Expertise sur les Risques, l’Environnement, la Mobilité et l’Aménagement; Rivages Protech-Suez Eau France, Cardiff University, University of Pau and Pays de l’Adour; La Rochelle University, Universidad Politécnica de Catalunya, Surfrider Foundation and the companies TYPSA (specialising in gravity foundations in the offshore wind power field) and Telespazio France, among others.
Uhinak is supported by the Basque Government, the Gipuzkoa Regional Government, the Nouvelle Aquitaine Region and the Southern Basque Country Conurbation, together with San Sebastián Tourism & Convention Bureau and Basquetour. These institutions foster participation in the event as they believe that the measures required to combat the consequences of coastal climate change could be a sustainable development opportunity for the conservation and utilisation of the coast.
Uhinak participants rate the conference highly for the second year running
The assessment survey answered by the participants in the second Uhinak Cross-Border Conference on Climate and Coastal Change, held on 27 – 28 September at Ficoba, has shown very positive results.
On a scale of 1 – 5, where 1 is the lowest and 5 the highest, 98% of the respondents gave the general organisation and planning of the conference a score of either 4 (35.6%) or 5 (62.7%).
A similar score was obtained for the general degree of satisfaction with the conference, with more than 92% considering the second Uhinak event to be satisfactory or very satisfactory. This rating was reflected in the answers to the question of whether the participants planned to attend next year’s conference: This rating was reflected in the answers to the question of whether the participants planned to attend next year’s conference: Also, 59% said they would recommend attending Uhinak to other sector professionals and 40% affirmed that they would probably recommend it.
These excellent scores have ratified the decision of the conference organisers, Ficoba and AZTI, to hold the third Uhinak event next year.
Overall rating
Overall satisfaction congress
| Very satisfied | 5 | 37,3 % |
| 4 | 54,2 % | |
| 3 | 5,1 % | |
| 2 | 3,4 % | |
| Unsatisfactory | 1 | 0 % |
Balance 1ª edición | 2015
After the success of the first Uhinak event, the Conference on Climate and Coastal Change confirms it will continue.
At the two-day conference, Spanish and international speakers assessed the consequences of climate change on the Basque and Aquitaine coasts
Uhinak has taken its first steps, backed by Ficoba as a conference promoter and organiser, and the success of the first Climate and Coastal Change conference, co-organised with AZTI, has ensured it will be held again in future years. The objectives of the future Uhinak conferences, the frequency of which will shortly be confirmed, will include growth to incorporate new geographical areas affected by climate change, new speakers and special emphasis on the involvement of the business sector, which will ultimately have to implement the measures defined to combat sea level rise, and on further enhancing the involvement of the institutions.
In the words of AZTI’s Marine Research Unit Value Manager Adolfo Uriarte at the close of the congress, “in the current context it was difficult to organise a conference like Uhinak, with so many sea-related events on the agenda, but we felt it was the right time to take a serious approach to climate change”. Ficoba’s Manager Ander Sarratea affirmed that one of the many positive aspects of the congress was its cross-border nature. “The climate change phenomenon knows no boundaries, which is why we decided to welcome this cross-border event with a wide-lens approach.
The theme of Uhinak was obviously a reason for this, but we have also received collaboration from institutions on both banks of the River Bidasoa. I think we can say it has been a cross-border event in every way.”
Uhinak, the two-day Conference on Climate and Coastal Change at Ficoba, brought together more than 140 national and international experts who took an active approach to analysing the measures required to prepare the Basque and Aquitaine coasts for the anticipated effects of climate change over the coming years and the creation of synergies and collaboration dynamics for coast management and maintenance.
Institutional support
Uhinak was subsidised by the Basque Government and the Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa (Gipuzkoa Regional Government), together with the French bodies Conseil Général des Pyrénées Atlantiques, Conseil Régional d’Aquitaine and Agglomération Sud Pays Basque, and also by the San Sebastián Turismo&Convention Bureau and Basquetour. These institutions encourage participation in the event as they are aware that the measures for addressing the consequences of climate change on the coast may represent an opportunity for sustainable development geared to conservation and use of the coast.The first Uhinak event is rated highly by participants
After the Uhinak Conference on Climate and Coastal Change held on October 6 and 7, a survey was conducted by the organisers, showing the attendees’ high level of satisfaction. On a scale of 1 – 5, where 1 was the lowest rating and 5 the highest, 85% of the attendees gave a score of either 5 (51.2%) or 4 (34.9%) to their general level of satisfaction with the congress. Around 60% responded that they definitely intend to return to Uhinak in the future and 35% said they would probably make a repeat visit.
The content of the lectures also scored highly, for both relevance and content. Both aspects were rated positively (4 or 5) by over 80% of the respondents.
The ratings were also high in response to the questions on the event’s organisation, the attention received and the quality and comfort of Ficoba’s facilities.
65% considered the organisation and planning of the congress to be highly satisfactory and 30% regarded it as satisfactory. The staff’s attention was valued positively in almost all cases, with 83.7% of respondents rating it as highly satisfactory and 11.6% satisfactory.
Lastly, the scores for the quality and comfort of Ficoba’s facilities were also notably high. Almost 80% rated them as highly satisfactory, and more than 20% as satisfactory
Overall rating
Overall satisfaction congress
| Very satisfied | 5 | 48,8 % |
| 4 | 36,6 % | |
| 3 | 12,2 % | |
| 2 | 0 % | |
| Unsatisfactory | 1 | 2,4 % |
