This week, Bilbao Exhibition Centre organised an educational environmental volunteering outing for its entire staff. Thus, while the team from the Basque site participated in cleaning waste in an urban section of the River Castaños in Barakaldo, they  also had the opportunity to learn about the river’s ecosystem and the need to protect it, as well as the Recovery Plans for the Castaños-Galindo area. Awareness-raising is a key aspect of working on sustainability both externally and internally, and this is how Bilbao Exhibition Centre sees it.

The clean-up was held on the banks between the Hierros Barakaldo and Montero factories, where a total of two sacks of waste were collected. All the participants described the outing as an opportunity to get actively involved in conserving the area’s natural heritage. The route ended at Tellaetxe Park, where BEC staff learnt more about the Recovery Plan, a long-term initiative aimed at restoring and protecting the natural beauty of the river and its surroundings. By renaturing the riverbed and promoting reforestation, the aim is to improve water quality, preserve biodiversity and create a healthy environment for local flora and fauna. This commitment has gained momentum and recently the City Council obtained a grant of two million euros from the Biodiversity Foundation of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge.

Moreover, in the same vein, last June Bilbao Exhibition Centre organised a training andawareness-raisingsession on sustainable events for the entire staff. The talk was given by the company Grunver Sostenibilidad, which is responsible for providing technical assistance to manage the Erronka Garbia certificate held by Ihobe, the Basque Government’s Public Environmental Management Company. Grunver has managed the certification of more than 300 events, including events such as Expovacaciones and Egurtek, organised by BEC. Steel Tech, Congress & Expo, which will be held next October, is in the process of obtaining it. The session shared knowledge on the definition, impact and benefits of greening events, along with the success story of Expovacaciones 2022 as a responsible trade fair that has a positive impact.