This year, the Araba Ekinean initiative will have its 21st edition, embarking on another decade of its career, in order to maintain its role as a reference organization in the field of entrepreneurship in Araba and continue to strengthen this role. The Provincial Council of Álava, the City Council of Gasteiz, the Basque Government through the SPRI Group and the BIC Araba organization, and the Vital Foundation today presented at the press conference this special edition of the project that will be developed under the title "Let the enterprising spirit help you".

With this main idea, the Araba Ekinean initiative wants to emphasize that entrepreneurial activity has a personal dimension and, at the same time, an important social dimension. Along with energy, effort, dedication and a particular commitment, certain external elements must be activated that will allow this entrepreneurship to be carried out. In this edition, we want to make use of that intangible element related to entrepreneurship, that way of being, thinking and dealing with situations that entrepreneurial activity requires, and, with that, and in particular, that network of relationships - collaborations - necessary to be able to work successfully in entrepreneurship.

The councilor for Economic Promotion, Employment, Trade and Tourism, Maria Nanclaresek; Deputy for Economic Development and Innovation of the Provincial Council of Álava, Saray Zaratek; The Government's Director of Digital Transformation and Entrepreneurship, Leyre Madariaga; and the executive director of the Vital Foundations, Ainhoa Pereita, today explained the details of this edition launched on January 30. The School Business Fair was held that day and today they announced the main events related to it.

The main actions of the 2024 Araba Action initiative will take place in May this year. As we mentioned, the presentation of the finalist ideas of the 20th edition of the "Your ideas count" competition will take place on May 6th at the Europa Palace, and the entrepreneurs will have a 5-minute interval to explain their ideas in front of the public and the jury and, in this way, show that their projects deserve to win the prize. The event will be open to all citizens, but they must register in advance through the website alavaemprende.com.

A few days later, on May 23, in the Francisco de Vitoria room of the same palace, a new edition of the Ekin Day initiative will be held, the main day of the project, where the prizes of the "Your idea is valid" competition will be announced and distributed, as well as the 2024 Araba Ekinean Awards. which are given to a young entrepreneurial initiative and to a complete professional career in the field of entrepreneurship, respectively.

New format for the Ekin Day event

As every year, the Ekin Day event will be the main day of the initiative in Araba Ekina, and it will become a place to meet, inspire and carry out networking with a view to entrepreneurship. This time, the conference will change its format to better adapt to the main spirit of the edition and, together with the prize distribution and the last inspirational speech, the Ekin Day event will have a first part called Crossing the Way, where entrepreneurs can exchange ideas and needs with other entrepreneurs, as well as from the territory also with entrepreneurial agents. There will be a pre-registration exchange and networking session, details of which will be provided later.

The public can attend for free, as long as they have registered in advance on the website of the Araba Ekinean initiative. The full program of this conference will be announced in the coming weeks.

Idea competition with 2 new special prizes

The presentation was also useful in launching the 20th edition of the "Your ideas count" competition, a project that rewards the best entrepreneurial ideas and projects in the territory. There will be 10 prizes totaling more than 9,000 euros for the awardees, and these prizes are distributed thanks to the support of the sponsoring organizations: Fundación Vital Foundation, Aclima (Basque Cluster of the Environment), Gasteiz ON, Eroski, Michelín Foundation, i+Med, RPK, University of Deusto and Mobility Lab Vitoria-Gasteiz.

This year, the competition will have two new special prizes, on the one hand, from the University of Deusto, to reward the best presentation of the event's finalist ideas, and, on the other hand, from the Mobility Lab Vitoria-Gasteiz pole, to award the prize to the project that makes the best contribution to innovation with regard to the energy transition.

The prizes are:

• The Fundación Vital Foundation Award given to the best idea: a prize of 1,000 euros.
• The Aclima award given to the most sustainable idea. A prize of 1,000 euros.
• Good Gasteiz Award for Commerce and Tourism: a prize of 1,000 euros.
• Ero awarded to the best initiative in the agri-food sector ski prize of 1,000 euros.
• The Michelin Award for the best industrial initiative: a prize of 1,000 euros.
• The i+Med award given to the best initiative in the field of health: a prize of 1,000 euros.
• In addition to the main categories, two other special prizes are also awarded; that is, in addition to the previously listed prizes, the projects can also win the following: Special RPK prize for the social transformation of companies: 1,000 euro prize.
• Vitoria-Gasteiz Mobility Lab Special Award given to energy transition innovation: 1,000 euro prize.
• Special Prize of the University of Deusto for the best project presentation: 1,000 euro prize.
• Special Audience Award: The finalists are chosen by the people attending the event to present their ideas. It has a value of 300 euros.

The application period is now open and will be extended until 14:00 on March 15.