You have had to take steps in the course of carrying out your purpose.

At the end of December we presented EuskarAbentura in the Katakrak of Pamplona. We met with the different associations that exist in the Basque world: A meeting point, Council, Centre Agirre Lehendakaria, Youth Council, Unesco Etxea… We wanted them to support us and help us in the promotion. It is no bad thing that we supported them, because we were only ten young madmen. The support of one of them was that of the other. With the symbolic help of the latter, we went to the institutions to request a grant. As 110 young people are going to be, we estimate that we are going to need EUR 133,000, because young people are going for sins, who pay nothing. We sponsor BBK, Colegio Euskadi-Aquitaine, the Vice-Ministry of Linguistic Policy of the Basque Government, the City of Getxo, the foral deputations of Euskaltel, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, the municipalities of the capitals, the Euskaraldia itself… On the other hand, the municipalities of the towns will allow us to attend

Young people between the ages of 16 and 17 will participate.

EuskarAbentura is not for children, nor for those over 20 years. We were looking for a young man who is at the time when his personality develops, because we believe that this experience will mark them. Baccalaureate students usually have the longest summer, are self-employed and we have come to them. We know that when they turn 18 they will make other kinds of trips. We are 16-17 years old. Josu from our group has been in school at the center making live presentations. And of those presentations, we've been joined by young people.

How have you selected the participants?

They have had to do a job – some have decided to do audio-visual, others have done crafts – and they have also had to write a letter of motivation. Accordingly, we have assessed the applications, with the help of Eusko Ikaskuntza. We have received very nice work. There were 140 young people enrolled and we finally selected 110 people. They are young people with a special curiosity, as we've seen in the letters. We're eager to meet them, because we don't know them yet. We feel they're going to give us a lot.

What are the objectives of EuskarAbentura?

The first is to influence the use of Euskera through a positive experience. Secondly, the creation of a network of young people. This network of young people will obviously be created in Euskera, and every young person will be an active agent in their village. EuskarAbentura can be a way of making “guai” and naturally betting on Euskera. On the other hand, the deepening of the knowledge of the heritage of the Basque Country also has as one of its objectives, as they will not only know places, but also people. The ultimate goal is to convey positive values. Between 16 and 17 years is a strategic age for acquiring values such as proper waste management, gender equality, environmental care, responsible tourism, etc.

You will delve into the knowledge of heritage.

Tangible and intangible heritage. We want you to know the sociolinguistic reality of Euskal Herria, and that's what we'll talk about. Kike Amonarriz, in Bizkaia Jone Goirigolzarri… There will be talks about different artistic disciplines and we will also propose to live a creative process. Ander Lipus will lead the vocal expression, Miren Amuriza and Odei Barroso will talk about the word, Myriam Pérez, from the Kukai group, about body expression, Jose Ignazio and Kattalin Ansorena about improvisation, and Ximun Fuchs about scenography. Young people will receive two-day training, per couple, and each of them will have to share the training received with the rest. After living the process of artistic creation, on July 30, the objective is that in the plaza del Arriaga de Bilbao a small show is completed, making a collective summary of EuskarAbentura since it has been studied.

In addition, we will try to get you to know other things, from the experience of Auzolan, to the orientation, the sports of Euskal Herria… On 7 July we will be in Taconera with those of Nafarroa Oinez, because they have adapted the schedule so that we can be there. Many people have joined our intention. In Arganzon (Treviño) we are also awaiting. People are looking forward and so are we.

Why have you felt the need to create EuskarAbentura?

We come from Euskalgintza, and it is clear that there is a gap in the use of Euskera among young people. Also among those who are not young, but good! We are young, and we want to make a contribution to the use of the Basque Country, in the format we like and know, incorporating the national perspective, pooling the people of the seven countries and the diaspora.

Is there a relationship between EuskarAbentura and Euskaraldia?

We have already said that Euskaraldia is among our sponsors; we will also show its publicity. When we started to cook the idea, we didn't have any news from Euskaraldia. While we were, we learned about the existence of Euskaraldia. By then, EuskarAbentura was already an initiative to promote the use of Euskera in society. When we knew that Euskaraldia was going to take place, we received a very big push. Euskaraldia will give us tools to strengthen our linguistic practices, and we will use them. For example, Euskaraldia raises a survey at the beginning and end of the campaign, and we will also distribute a survey to the young people of EuskarAbentura to learn their linguistic environment, asking them about their linguistic habits, etc. This information will help us form groups, and as EuskarAbentura advances, to see how and in what way their linguistic behaviors change.

EuskarAbentura is a travelling summer and aims at a certain number of young people.

EuskarAbentura is a dynamic of the activation of young speakers that will take place during the summer, so it has a specific time frame. Soon we will meet in Barria (Álava) all of us who will run EuskarAbentura – monitors, doctors, nurses, photographers… – and we will offer monitors, for example, a training session to ensure the healthy use of Euskera among young people: The motto is “A lot and a pleasure”. Once in Barria, the head of Euskaraldia de la Llanada will visit us, explaining the Euskaraldia project. And the idea is that on the first day that EuskarAbentura starts, Euskaraldia will also be present, and as will be done in Euskaraldia, a team of eleven people will be formed. In this way, we want to make young people understand that they can be ambassadors and agents of Euskaraldia in their villages. In short, they will have the experience that EuskarAbentura has given them, and they usually respond to each situation based on the experiences of each one. On 15 July, for example, we will be in Salvatierra/Agurain, and we have agreed to carry out a concrete dynamic on Euskaraldia.