Emakumeak Zientzian 2025: small actions, big changes
Thirty-five Basque entities, including the Euskadi Technology Park, are jointly organising a wide-ranging programme of more than 60 activities in the 9th edition of Emakumeak Zientzian.
The main objective of this edition is to highlight the concept of ‘Hazia erein / Sow the seed’, highlighting how every small action can make a difference on the road to equality in science.
Registration for the different activities is now open on the website www.emakumeakzientzian.eus.
Thirty-five Basque entities join forces around the Emakumeak Zientzian project, thus ratifying their commitment to the aims of the initiative: to make the activity of women in science visible, to break with the typically male roles attributed to scientific-technical activities and to encourage girls and teenagers to choose scientific careers. With these objectives in mind, the entities are joining forces to organise a programme of activities for the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, which is celebrated every year on 11 February.
Emakumeak Zientzian is a project that, after being conceived for the first time in 2017, has grown and strengthened year after year and, in addition to fulfilling the main objectives of the initiative, makes a deep reflection to advance in a necessary change of scenario in the scientific-technological panorama. Thus, this year ‘we want to highlight the concept of “Hazia erein / Sow the seed”, highlighting how each small action can make a difference on the road to equality in science’, says the organisers of Emakumeak Zientzian. ‘We firmly believe that each talk, workshop or story shared has the power to inspire new generations and to sow a change that transcends beyond just one week a year,’ they add. All of this will be captured in several audiovisual pieces that seek to bring to the public the real voices of those working for change, highlighting gender equality and the role of female role models. ‘The videos include testimonies of people – researchers, teachers, students, those responsible for equality in research centres and representatives of public bodies – who have experienced first-hand the importance of these small seeds of transformation, inviting us to reflect on the power of everyday actions to build a more equitable future’, say the organisers of Emakumeak Zientzian.
The Emakumeak Zientzian 2025 programme will focus on the week of 7 to 14 February. An extensive programme of more than 60 activities has been designed, covering the entire territory of the Basque Country to highlight how small collective actions, persistent over time, generate a transformative impact. ‘From the work of a scientist to the spark of curiosity that ignites in a child, each contribution is a seed that nurtures real, profound and sustainable change’, adds the organisers of Emakumeak Zientzian.
Once again this year, Emakumeak Zientzian will kick off in a festive atmosphere on Thursday 6 February in Bilbao, where the main video of the campaign will be presented, more testimonies will be shared and all the volunteers, as well as the institutional representation, will be brought together. At this event, Maitena Salinas will show how the seed of Emakumeak Zientzian can germinate, with the participation of the different agents.
From that date onwards, there will be activities aimed at the public of all ages. For the general public, in Donostia, Bilbao and Gasteiz, the event ‘Women Scientists of Yesterday and Today’ will bring together leading women scientists working in different fields of research. These professionals will take to the stage to share details of their projects and pay tribute to great female figures in the history of science, narrating their fascinating lives and scientific achievements. In addition to the traditional student visits to research centres and workshops designed for teenagers, this year we will once again be holding the Back to School activity, in which more than 60 female researchers will visit school classrooms to talk about their experiences and encourage scientific vocation among pupils. At the same time, we will continue to work with specific groups, such as women over 55, highlighting their role as transmitters of culture. In this context, the activity The power of experience will allow eight research centres to open their doors to show their work through simple and replicable experiments, bringing science closer to families and the environment. Round tables, thematic workshops, etc. will also be organised.
The full programme of activities is available from today on the website www.emakumeakzientzian.eus and registration for the different activities is now open.
The 35 entities participating in the 9th. The 35 entities participating in the 9th edition of Emakumeak Zientzian are a representative sample of the science and technology fabric in the Basque Country: Achúcarro, BCMaterials, the Centre for the Physics of Materials (CFM CSIC-UPV/EHU), CIC biomaGUNE, University of Deusto, UPV/EHU Computer Science, UPV/EHU Chemistry, Aranzadi Zientzia Elkartea, Basque Artifcial Intelligence Center (BAIC), Basque Centre for Climate Change (BC3), Basque Center for Applied Mathematics (BCAM), Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language (BCBL), BioBizkaia, Biodonostia, Ceit, CIC energiGUNE, CIC nanoGUNE, Cidetec, Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Elhuyar, Kutxa Fundazioa, Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia (FBB), Ikerlan, Ingeniariak-Colegio Oficial de Ingenieros Industriales de Gipuzkoa, Mondragon Goi Eskola Politeknikoa (MEGP), Mubil, Parque Tecnológico de Euskadi, POLYMAT, Tecnalia, Tecnun, UPV/EHU Ingenieros, Vicomtech, CIC bioGUNE, ESS Bilbao and BBD BioPhenix SL-Biobide.
Emakumeak Zientzian 2025 has the outstanding support of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa, the Provincial Council of Alava, Fomento San Sebastian, Bilbao Ekintza, Salto System, the Basque Research & Technology Alliance (BRTA) and Ikerbasque, as well as the collaboration of the following entities and organisations: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Fundación Española de Ciencia y Tecnología (FECYT), Agencia Estatal de Investigación through the Severo Ochoa and María de Maeztu centres adhered to the initiative, Filmoteca Vasca and the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Biook, Skills4Science, Laboratorium Bergara, Emakunde, Lemniksata and the UPV/EHU Equality Directorate.
