Bilbao, with around 350.000 inhabitants, is the capital of Biscay and the economic, social and cultural centre of the Basque Country. Due to the profound crisis in the 80s that affected its fundamental economic sectors (metallurgy, steel and naval), the city needed to reinvent itself and face great challenges: high rates of unemployment, environmental and urban degradation, strong internal emigration and the emergence of social marginalisation issues. Bilbao was able to achieve a transformation thanks to local political management, public-private and inter-institutional cooperation, and its success was acknowledged on the world stage: the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize (2010), the European Public Sector Award (EPSA) 2011 for the project “Political Management based on Financial Rigor and Strategic Budgets”, culminating in the World Mayor award bestowed on mayor D. Iñaki Azkuna in 2012.

Population diversity
The most important ethnic group of Bilbao –people with Spanish nationality– constitutes 91.85% of the city’s inhabitants. People with Spanish nationality could be foreign-born, but national/non-national are the categories used by the Spanish administrations. Only 8.15% are non-nationals: this figure has notably increased in the last 10 years. In 2003, foreign population in Bilbao constituted 3.1% of the city’s inhabitants. There is no minority group that represents 5% or more of the population, although nationals from Latin-American countries represent 48.3% of foreign population. The largest minority groups originate from Bolivia (1.19%), Colombia (0.72%), Morocco (0.71%), Romania (0.67%) and China (0.53%). As of 1 January 2013, the estimated percentage of foreign-born nationals resident in the city was 2.48%.
Profile and activities

Similar to other European cities that have developed successful strategies through the creative management of diversity, the city hall of Bilbao designed and executed the Municipal Plan for Diversity Management BI-OPEN (2011-2013) to construct a city that is educative in values of coexistence and open to diversity. In its evaluation, the result of citizen participation (both natives and foreigners) and the participation of RECI enabled the design of a Local Strategy of Diversity Management, the execution of which is scheduled for the coming years. The final objective: fostering integration, social cohesion and coexistence from an intercultural perspective.

Intercultural Cities Index
Good practice

Back Anti-rumour toolkit for young people

Fight against prejudices and stereotypes at schools and in youth centres

In the framework of the Bilbao Anti-Rumour Strategy, a handbook with anti-rumour tools and exercises has been designed for working in classrooms with young people. Young people represent a priority target group of intervention in this project. However, it is necessary to have specific working tools for young people because general strategy materials are designed for adults (arguments against rumours amongst others) are often inadequate.

This handbook is the result of a work process developed with educators of youth centres in Bilbao and with different professionals who work on the anti-rumour strategy.

The key requirements of the handbook are the following:

  • The need to include some ideas about the phenomenon of the construction and deconstruction of rumours in a relaxed way and with a closed language;
  • Following the work of reflection, to conclude with a product which can be shared with the rest of the young people of the municipality, namely a manual with activities that can be deployed in youth resources.
  • Each of these activities should include a clear description of what needs to be implemented;
  • To have a fun and bright material to help the reader to increase their skills in conversations in which unfounded rumours against people and groups arise. It also serves as teaching material but, above all, invites the reader to role-play, learn and experience in a personal or collective way;
  • To include activities and methodologies that can be used without the mediation of a facilitator. They can be self-managed exercises;
  • To incorporate activities that help the reader to think, including spaces for the management of emotions and action;
  • To have a handbook that can be offered to other municipalities and anti-rumour initiatives. The handbook should be a flexible, adaptable and living resource that can take into consideration the new concerns, activities and proposals from educators and young people.

The handbook includes a compilation of tools and exercises to be self-managed by teaching staff and educators of the centres which are classified according to the following criteria:

1) Depth: Classification that serves to understand the level of reflection about ideas

  • Heating
  • Reflection
  • Deepening

2) Center: refers to the place from which the activity appealed with each exercise

  • Reason
  • Emotion
  • Action

3) Level: responds to the intended scope from the activity

  • Single
  • Collective
  • Context

4) Skills: competencies that you want to train

  • Personal and context awareness
  • Assertive communication and strategies for group pressure management
  • Sincere listening
  • Critical thinking
  • Positive conflict resolution

The handbook includes an evaluation system that incorporates a general questionnaire for young people and a technical questionnaire for educators and teachers who have implemented the activities with young people.

This handbook is the result of a work process developed with educators from eight youth centres in Bilbao and with other professionals who work on the anti-rumour strategy at local level.

From 2017 to 2019
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mayor

Juan María ABURTO

Network - Spain