We are pleased to invite you all to the second edition of the Basque Environment and Ocean Week in which the Cimasub is honoured to participate offering two film sessions, the photo exhibition and the Txikiziklo in family with activities organised by the ItsasMuseum.

On the 9th and 10th, Friday and Saturday, at 19:30h. we will offer two screenings in the Itsasmuseum auditorium with more than 20 short films and documentaries from the International Underwater Film Series, the oldest underwater audiovisual competition in the world. On Saturday morning, at 12:00h. in the "Txikiziklo" will be offered the activity Itsaso Maitea, an activity that includes a brief visit to our space "The health of the oceans", a workshop and a screening of short films, all to enjoy with the family. Bookings on the Itsasmuseum website. And throughout the week the photographic exhibition with the best photos submitted to the competition in our last edition will be on display.

This morning Jon Ruigómez, director of Itsasmuseum Bilbao, Alberto Santolaria, president of the Nakusarbe Association for the dissemination of science, culture and the environment, Amaia Barredo, Deputy Minister of Environmental Sustainability of the Basque Government, Amaia Antxustegi, Deputy for Sustainability and Natural Environment of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, and Ignacio Navarro Cameo, Deputy General Manager of the Northern Territory of Banco Sabadell, have presented at a press conference the second edition of the Basque Environment and Ocean Week, BEOW 2023.

A meeting organised by Nakusarbe and Itsasmuseum Bilbao to address the great challenge of the environmental sustainability of our planet and the protection of the oceans, which has the support of the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the City Council of Bilbao, the Port Authority of Bilbao and the Banco Sabadell Foundation.

BEOW 2023's main mission is to disseminate science and environmental awareness in order to try to influence habits and invite people to reflect on the responsibility, both individual and collective, in the conservation of Planet Earth.

In this context, from 5 to 11 June, a week is being organised to bring the latest scientific and technological advances for the protection of the environment and the oceans, as well as other activities to recognise the work carried out by people of all ages, organisations or professionals, which will also include leisure activities such as live music, cinema, children's shows or boat trips on the estuary.

There are many dates throughout the year that remind us of the importance of protecting the environment; 22 March is World Water Day, 22 April, International Mother Earth Day, or 22 May, World Biodiversity Day, in the framework of which the Itsas BiodibertsitARTEAn exhibition was opened at the museum with works created by the Fine Arts students of the UPV/EHU together with a large sculpture that represents the current situation of the planet through the eyes of its author, Jose Ángel Lasa. Coinciding with the BEOW, on 5 June, World Environment Day, and on 8 June, World Oceans Day, specific actions will be carried out.

However, although the conference will begin on Monday 5 June, the BEOW 2023 programme began on 19 May with the conference Knowledge and solutions to tackle plastic pollution in the Bay of Biscay, given by AZTI researcher Oihane Cabezas Basurko, winner of the Banco Sabadell Foundation's Marine Sustainability Award, who will also take part in the Conference for the Planet.

The Planet Days are the cornerstone of this week, a series of conferences and round tables with an informative character on the main scientific advances related to the 9 planetary boundaries, considered a conceptual framework for the evaluation of the state of nine fundamental processes that can endanger the habitability of the planet: climate change, the integrity of the biosphere, the use of water and soil, the nitrogen and phosphorus cycles, pollution, the health of the seas and the ozone layer. These meetings will feature renowned scientists such as Fernando Valladares, a doctor in Biological Sciences known for his work in raising awareness and disseminating knowledge of biodiversity. The conferences can be followed live via streaming on eitb.com and will be hosted on the EITB-Nahieran platform.

On 5 June, World Environment Day, the prizes for the first edition of the Nire Parke Gogokoena initiative (nireparkegogogokoena.eus/) and the Emphathy with Nature awards will be presented.

Nire Parke Gogokoena is a school competition aimed at raising awareness of the need to maintain, protect and care for the parks in our towns and cities, in which more than 400 primary and secondary schoolchildren from 36 schools in Bizkaia took part.

The Emphathy with Nature awards, aimed at people and organisations that work for a healthier, more sustainable and supportive reality through environmental activism, will be two, one per category. The first will be presented by Amaia Antxustegi, Provincial Councillor for Sustainability and the Natural Environment of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, and the second by Isabel Tejada, Dean of the Official Association of Biologists of the Basque Country.

The awards ceremony will be followed by a concert for the planet, Jazz for life, conducted by the renowned musician Joshua Edelman, accompanied by underwater audiovisuals, voice and poetry.

Meanwhile, on 8 June, the oceans will be the protagonists with the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) Un mar de ciencia awards, the presentation of the TREC 2023 expedition, Navegando por un mar de biodiversidad by Ibon Cancio, and a magic show with Mago Oliver, specially designed to raise awareness and take environmental action, which will merge with the Concert for the Oceans, featuring the Earth Song Projects choir, who will perform songs about the four basic elements, Earth, Water, Air and Fire, inspired by the slogan of World Oceans Day: Tides are Changing.

In addition, thanks to the collaboration of the Port Authority of Bilbao, boat trips will be offered by Azti researcher Javier Franco (bookings on 696 508 963) to learn about the environmental recovery of the estuary in recent decades.