We returned from Brussels with the ARIA 2025 Award still warm in our hands, after celebrating International Basque Language Day there, talking about territory, language, community, and the importance of continuing to live and create in rural areas. And almost without unpacking our bags, we received another award that touched our hearts: the Bizkaia Gara 2025 Award, presented in Zalla, which celebrates those who weave neighborhoods, care for life, and sustain communities.
At the gala, Joseba wanted to say a few words that come from the same place as our projects: roots, commitment, school, transmission. Because in addition to milking, shearing, herding, and selecting wool, he works every day at the Karrantza Institute, defending public education in rural areas. And he wanted to share some news that for us means the future:
👉 next year, the Institute will offer
This is historic, a quiet victory that guarantees that young people will not have to leave to study, that they can grow up in their valley, in Basque, close to their farms, their mountains, and their stories. Because education and herding, culture and wool, language and territory go hand in hand when they are cared for.
That is also Mutur Beltz.
Not just wool—but a future.
Not just tradition—but life that continues.
Not just awards—but a community that pushes forward.
Thank you to everyone who makes this collective adventure possible. This recognition belongs to you, the people who get up early, who accompany us, who believe in us, who commit themselves to us. We continue to weave—in Basque, with roots and with horizons.
Aupa Enkarterri, aupa Karrantza, aupa Ondo Bizi.
Aupa public education and those who support it.
📖🌿
