«I hope that Opengela will be a reference for other urban environments and inspire other initiatives»

The 2nd edition of the OPENGELA Newsletter starts with the interview of Miguel de los Toyos, Deputy Minister for Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government.

Miguel de los Toyos took office as Deputy Minister of Territorial Planning and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government last March, after leaving behind the post of Mayor of Eibar, which he had held since 2008. Therefore, his knowledge of the Opengela project is complete, both from a municipal point of view and a wider coming from the responsibilities of his current post.

In this interview, he gives his point of view on the progress of the project, coordinated by his department of the Basque Government, which implements neighbourhood offices to undertake urban regeneration processes and is financed by the Horizon 2020 programme of the European Commission. Otxarkoaga (Bilbao) and Txonta (Eibar) are the pilot schemes, and the process to replicate the model in other places has already begun.

In this edition, you will read more about the following:

• Four more municipalities join the Opengela model
• The first scaffolding in the neighbourhoods
• Opengela lays the foundations for replicating its urban regeneration programme throughout the Basque Country
• Opengela highlighted as an example for implementing the SDGs on the ground