The Elhuyar Zientzia Azoka Fair of 2026 is already underway. It began today at 11:00 a.m., after the official opening. In the inaugural act, the sponsors of the fair, among which the following stand out, participated, along with the agents of the Basque Network of Science and Technology that collaborate in the initiative Maialen Agirre Pinedo, Director of the Department of Science, Universities and Innovation of the Basque Government; Kontxi Claver Zurro, Delegate Councillor for Economic Development, Trade, Tourism and Employment of the Bilbao City Council; Begoña Pacheco Delgado, Head of the Business Promotion and Employment Service of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia; Eneko Elorriaga Astigarraga, one of the founders and Director of Innovation of the company Erabeitia Salyarraia

During the four days of the fair, young people between 12 and 18 years old will show the more than 183 STEAM projects developed throughout the school year. A total of 660 boys and girls will participate in this edition. In addition to young people from the educational centers of the Basque Country, winners of other fairs both in Spain and internationally will also participate: Thus, we will have another 9 clubs from Valencia, Catalonia, Sevila, Galicia, Portugal and Italy.

Elhuyar Zientzia Azoka is also home to young students, research centres and universities from the Basque Country. It is also worth highlighting the commitment that all of them demonstrate each year with this project: at the beginning of the academic year 80 researchers (48 women) from universities and technology centers signed up to work with the students throughout the course.

All these researchers directly help the students to carry out their projects. In this way, boys and girls know the day to day of research work, better understand the scientific methodology and have the opportunity to know first-hand the research that is done in the research centers and universities of the Basque Country. In addition, these relationships allow students to get to know people who are references to science and also help break the gender stereotypes often associated with it. During the days that the fair lasts, researchers also evaluate the students' projects.
Once all the data has been collected, the prize distribution will take place on Saturday, May 9, at 1:00 p.m. The awards ceremony will bring together the winners together with authorities and representatives of various institutions that will deliver them, among which the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the Basque Government, the City Council of Bilbao and Elhuyar stand out. The awards will consist of study grants and trips to attend other fairs both in Spain and abroad. The awards ceremony will be presented by Eleder Iglesias Pérez, journalist and content creator, and Arantza Muguruza Montero, professor and researcher, who will also carry out some scientific experiments. Together with these awards, every day there will be raffles in the research centers that collaborate with the fair.

Erronka Garbia

Elhuyar Zientzia Azoka obtained last year the Erronka Garbia seal from IHOBE. This seal is obtained by the events that apply the Erronka Garbia methodology, whose objective is to alleviate the negative impact that the organization of events generates for the environment and raise awareness in this regard.

In this line, Elhuyar has set itself one more year as objectives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy consumption and that the one consumed comes from renewable sources, reduce the environmental impact of purchases and leased infrastructure and reduce the impact of waste. It will promote, inter alia, the use of public transport and renewable energy, the recruitment of local suppliers and the selective collection of waste. Once the fair is over, the indicators will be analyzed and the environmental impact of Elhuyar Zientzia Azoka will be measured.

Elhuyar Zientzia Azoka for the rest of the year

The objective of Elhuyar Zientzia Azoka is to offer young people experiences related to science, as well as to promote and disseminate scientific culture, not only in this fair that is held in the Arenal, but also throughout the year.

From its first edition in 2013 to date, about 4,500 young people between 12 and 18 years old have presented their projects at the Elhuyar Zientzia Azoka fair held in Bilbao. In total, more than 1,300 research or technological projects have already been submitted.

The Zientzia Azoka initiative, organized by Elhuyar, has the collaboration of the Department of Science, Universities and Innovation of the Basque Government, the FECYT (Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology), the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, the City Council of Bilbao, the Government of Navarre and Erabi.