What is the Basque Summer University today?

Legally, a non-profit cultural association with public benefit recognition. That is what the Basque Government did. In addition, the UEU is a reference organization in the Basque Country and the University. It was established in 1973 with the objective of creating a Basque University that influences the university environment, and that is what we are working on. At the time of the founding of the UEU, Euskal Herria did not have a university district, but universities that depended on Zaragoza, and the UEU claimed that Basque society needed a university in Basque. Then came Mondragon Unibertsitatea and the Public University of Navarra, but nobody has prioritized Euskera, and for UEU that is fundamental.

Euskera was not a priority. Right now?

Great progress has been made, greater in some universities than in others. Currently, it is possible to study some degrees in Euskera in their entirety, but if compared to the total, the offer in Euskera is still very scarce and not to say in the postgraduate ones. The EU, for its part, has been based on the Basque Country, and on that road it has worked for the last forty years. And today, he's still working on it, on four broad lines. On the one hand, he is working on the achievement of the Basque university through the Basque University Foundation. On the other hand, the training of specialists in Euskera in the field of academic activity, the training of teachers, the holding of informative conferences, conferences, postgraduate and seminars… On the other hand, we have the editorial production, both books and journals, since the university needs written material. Finally, we are incorporating information and communication technologies into our activity in order to offer society various services over the Internet. Here are the Inguma database, the meeting point of the Basque scientific community, unibertsitatea.net (portal of the Basque university community), the cabos (UEU digital book), the e-teaching area and others.

What does the UEU have to do in the Basque line developed by the University of the Basque Country?

UEU courses have been a perfect place of training for many UPV/EHU and other universities. Many people have taught their first Basque classes in the EU. On this road the EU has not only acted alone, but has also had much to say by the groups of professors of Elhuyar, Uzei and Leioa and the university of Donostia. They certainly made each other. They made a great effort to prepare their work in Basque, to create material and progressively integrate training in Basque at the university. The people who did so were members of the UEU, but there were also professors from the UPV/EHU.

What are the similarities of the current EU and the one that began its work in 1973?

The seed in favor of the Basque university is then. We are their heirs. Then it was a small meeting point, coming from a few cultural weeks in Iparralde. The Basques met to work with Basque culture and society and religion. The political situation at the time must also be taken into account. It was forbidden to study in Basque! In 1975, after the death of Franco, also in Hegoalde, several options were opened to speak in Basque, both at the university and at many levels of society. Since UEU bet on the university in Euskera, it put the seed in Baiona, and since then the UEU has expanded greatly. Forty years have passed and they have not gone in vain. At that time, several volunteers came together to launch the project, and today, the EU has a different structure.

Among others, it is based in this Markeskoa Palace.

It is based in Bilbao and here in Eibar, the Colegio Mayor. In addition, we do activities throughout the year, not only in summer. At that time it was a week, two, which were done in summer. Today, and despite being called Basque Summer University, we are working throughout the year on the four lines of work mentioned above.

What did the courses that were held for years at the Larraona College in Pamplona contribute to the UEU? Was it a special time, a golden age perhaps?

Special time, yes. The golden age -- we always say it's about to come. We hope it will be better. The time of the Larraona courses was massive, the specialties were reinforced and the publications multiplied. The first four editions of the UEU were held in Ipar Euskal Herria, where nearly two hundred people met. Wanting to bring more people together, they brought her to Hego Euskal Herria. The first intention, however, was to carry out the courses in different territories, but the obtaining of the permits was quite complicated, as the authorization of the Spanish Ministry was needed, and thus, the summer courses of the UEU were set in Pamplona, without having that objective. The situation forced him to do so.

What are the milestones on this road, as it is written on the history and functioning of the EU?

It was a historic moment, for example, the seminar held in 1984 in San Miguel de Aralar, a reflection on the path of the EU. The UPV/EHU summer courses had just begun and we started thinking about how to incorporate them into the two. The Aralar session was very important, as the road was marked, as the directors decided to continue around. Thus, in 1986, the EU acquired the legal status of cultural association. Another milestone, the 1995 Congress, the first of the EU. There the figure of partner emerged and the UEU was structured as a partnership of partners. The partners are becoming more and more, today we are more than 1,200 partners. In 2002-03, the UEU held its second congress, and as society has changed, it has been adapting and adapting its role and its path.

The EU has been able to respond to the situation of the time.

Yes, the EU is a dynamic and adaptable organization to the needs and needs of society. Another change in 2010 is the corporate image, reformulate our mission, define our guidelines, what we are, ways of working, commitments…

How has the EU been able to reformulate itself regularly? A lot is incapable…

The EU has always been a process of constant reflection. I have seen this every year as Secretary-General: there has always been a response to the daily work, but there has also been a line of reflection. In 2000, the EU also underwent a major change. Until then we had office in Bilbao, but that year, at the time of Xabier Isasi, we made a qualitative leap. In Bilbao we set up the headquarters. In Eibar, the Colegio Mayor, and in Ipar Euskal Herria and Navarra – Baiona and Asturias-, we opened delegations. This caused the working group to increase from four or five to sixteen in a very short time. In the year 2000, we changed as secretary-general. Until then it was me and since then the secretary general is Ane Sarasua. We also saw the need for reflection and worked on the management model in collaboration with the Elgoibar School of Management. We drafted the EU’s management model and incorporated workers and management. So we've come here.

What are the biggest headaches of the head of the Colegio Mayor at the moment?

Offer of UEU spring and fall courses in Eibar. Moreover, those relating to the management of the Colegio Mayor. Markese is a building owned by the Eibar City Hall, which is used by means of a transfer agreement. The building has different spaces, which we have wanted to offer to society, and there are several institutions that use our classrooms to offer their courses. For a while, HABE taught here the courses, the fourth language profile of the IVAP, the creativity courses of Tekniker, some training sessions of the Federation of Ikastolas…

Organization of courses and management of the Colegio Mayor.

Our goal is to respond to the needs of vasco-speaking professionals who need training in the field of continuing education, and in this way one of the greatest headaches has been invented with the courses. Today, the goal is lifelong training, we have to constantly update knowledge. At one time, the students and professors of the university used to go to summer courses, but today, it comes from 20 to 55 years and we see that we play a role in continuing education. We are therefore trying to respond to the needs of these people. Annual courses are short – 15 or 20 hours – and then we offer follow-up, at least in some cases. In one the basic learning, in the other the advanced courses. At the same time, we are trying to explore new paths. That’s why I’ve said “how to get right”, right to meet people’s desires and formative needs.

You are in contact with the UPV/EHU, you also have cooperation. What about public institutions?

We have relations with the City Hall, with the Council, with the Basque Government… yes. With the Basque Government, we have had the agreement since 1998. In recent years, we have had a nominal item in the budgets, which was interrupted last year. For us it was very important, it ensured survival. The rest of the aid was earmarked for specific projects, but the nominal item was special, it was a major support in day-to-day management.

Was it because of the crisis or because of the argument, so you were taken away from that game?

Arguments, I think. In previous years we had also suffered cuts from all the institutions, we were told that “there is little money”, and it was also up to us to receive less money. But more than trimming, taking away the nominal match was very painful, because we also had a form of recognition. That called the institution into question, we had to take a number of measures – we have lost a number of jobs – but our intention is to try to move on that path. We have signed an agreement with the representatives of Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa. Navarre, for its part, was the first entity to sign the agreement (in 1990), although subsequently, about eight years later, it was suspended. We also have a framework agreement with the UPV/EHU, the Vice-Rectorate of Multilingualism, to work in different areas: materialisation, training, databases…

Since 1973, so much has changed the EU, which has been able to adapt to a seminar and another congress. Where is it going, what is the future of the EU?

In 2003, we held the last congress and followed the road marked there, with the adaptations we have been making. We stress the importance of the role of the EU. We are currently conducting a campaign, “I too UEU”, to raise awareness of the importance and necessity of the organization in society. We see the need to continue building bridges between the Basque Country and the university, and in that UEU has a lot to do. Whatever is in the future will be decided by the partners, as we are in an ongoing process. In our view, the EU plays a role in Basque society and will continue to work on it.

Society is conscious, do you know what outstanding work you do?

We try to communicate it to society, but the truth is that we are a small organization, responsible for communication and we try to make our offer known, but not as much as we would like, because the resources are very limited.