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Regional innovation policy, and related research, are being pressurized to transform by today's grand societal challenges. Our paper acknowledges the efforts of authors in this field to address this pressure and addresses how new emergent framings of innovation policy can be operationalized in practice. We explore how co-generative research can help achieve this and share the case of a think tank in the Basque Country (Spain) which we describe as a hybrid space because of the way researchers and policy makers work together. The case is then used to revisit the methodology that researchers have used for co-generation (action research for territorial development) and to upgrade this methodology with a new concept, an action research think tank. The final discussion goes beyond action research and the case study, to look at how co-generation can improve learning processes between policy makers and researchers in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Demographic and epidemiological challenges are demanding deep transformation within health systems. The Basque Health System has introduced innovative initiatives to deal with this reality, particularly focused on patients with multiple chronic conditions. This review intends to identify and summarize the existing evidence on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of these innovations developed in the Basque Country focused on complex chronic, frail, and end-of-life patients. Methods: A scoping review of literature was undertaken in PubMed database and gray literature for data published from 2009 to 2016 on clinical management innovative approaches related to complex chronic, frail, and end-of-life patients in the Basque Country. Selected papers were analyzed by study population, reported outcomes, study period, and setting. Results: 12 studies corresponding to 9 initiatives have been included and analyzed in the review. Results show that interventions had been effective in the achievement of their objectives and therefore, care for these targeted patients has improved. Only 3 out of 12 papers report results on cost-effectiveness, 2 presenting it as cost-effective and one not. Conclusions: There is a consistent pattern on the benefits of implementing specific care management programs targeting these complex chronic, frail, or end-of-life patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on how theoretical work developed in deliberative policy analysis (DPA) can contribute to action research (AR) through a better understanding of the policy world. It is based on a programme in Gipuzkoa, Basque Country (Spain) where action researchers have been collaborating with policymakers since 2009. Our paper shows how concepts like pluralism, agonism and escalation have helped to reframe the approach to conflict in action research for territorial development (ARTD). The aim of the case is not exclusively to demonstrate how this can be done at a micro level, but also to show the usefulness of further interaction between the fields of DPA and AR, based on this experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to analyse organisations in the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), working in the field of energy provision, and their contribution to the so-called energy transition from the perspective of social innovation. By showing the practical application of the concept of social innovation and its convergence and synergies with the SSE, we review the extent to which Basque Renewable Energy SSE alternatives are experiences that incorporate socially innovative elements. In addition, we study three cases through these approaches in order to observe the real and potential benefits that experiences based on social innovation can bring to energy transition. The main contribution of our research is to analyse the means by which certain initiatives are implemented through projects framed using the most prominent theoretical models focused on energy transition, social innovation and a social and solidarity-based economy, all aimed at achieving a low-carbon society.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the politicisation process that took place in the Hispanic monarchy towards the end of the Ancien Régime, with a special focus on analysing the actors involved in the Bourbon reformism. Our approach enables us to overcome the "upward politicisation/downward politicisation" dichotomy which is commonplace in current historiography. Based on this approach, we propose to reconstruct the connections between these actors and the circles in which modern forms of politics arose. Said connections transformed these actors culturally, and distanced them from the non-politicised culture of traditional communities. In that sense, throughout the 18th century the reformist endeavours of the crown were a major driver of politicisation but affected only a minority, coming as they did before the age of massive politicisation in the 19th and 20th centuries. We take a detailed look at the case of the traditional societies of the Basque Country and Navarre to demonstrate the scope of this first politicisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forestry industry in the Basque Country has experienced an abandonment of small-sized forests in which native and introduced species tend to regrow if unattended; thus, requiring an intervention under which proper forest management is implemented. This paper evaluates the potential fractionation of lignin and cellulose from six tree species coming from such mixed forests as a value-added use of wood discarded by logging within the frame of sustainable forest management. The species used were Northern red oak, common oak, common ash, Iberian white birch, sweet chestnut, and black locust. The different wood samples were treated with an Organosolv treatment and elemental chlorine-free bleaching to fractionate them to their main components, recovering the cellulose and the lignin. Cellulose was defibrillated via high-pressure homogenization to obtain cellulose nanofibers. The resulting lignin and cellulose nanofibers were analyzed. The results support the idea that this process offers the opportunity to treat different raw materials in the same process, with corresponding possible economic benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the study of the role of public policies in the origins and evolution of clusters. Building on the existing literature, we set up a taxonomy of nine public policies that may have an impact on the emergence and evolution of clusters. Based on in-depth case studies of six clusters of the Basque Country, particularly representative of the industrial history of the region, we analyse the relevance of the different types of policies both in the emergence and evolution of clusters over time. In agreement with cluster literature, the paper concludes that public policies seem to have played only an indirect role across clusters and over their life cycles. Moreover, it points to the necessity of taking history and context into account, as most of the important policy measures highlighted by cluster literature today do not fit well with the previous policy and economic context. Finally, it also concludes that for cluster policies to be effective, the stages of the life cycle should be taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the relevant data has revealed continuous growth in knowledge of Basque. Formal education has played a significant role in this advance, in which young speakers have been front and centre. Yet the levels of Basque-use, especially in regard to informal and relationship contexts, have not mirrored this increase. Expanding our understanding of this phenomenon is an urgent priority at present. But not the only one. One such concern focuses not only on accessing data and describing the situation, but also on creating understanding from within, by means of young people themselves. Specifically, this paper attempts to go more deeply into the topic via such approaches and reflect on the possibilities that the concept of 'community of practice' (CofP) offers in this regard. An idea that, as demonstrated in the 'D ereduko kirola' project, allows for a research model along the lines of what J.K. Gibson-Graham (2008) terms a 'performative ontological project'. The present work seeks to document the process that led us from analyzing different CofPs to conceiving them as safe spaces in which young people could try out modifications in their linguistic practices at different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we aim at evaluating the role of path-dependent and past-dependent forces in the historical trajectory of clusters. For that purpose, we study the life cycles of four of the main industrial clusters in the Basque Country (paper-making, electronics and information and communication technology, maritime industries and aeronautics) and analyse the factors that account for the origin, development, maturity and, if so, decline of those clusters, considering factors related to both cluster dynamics and the regional environment. Our analysis shows that the existence of a life cycle does not imply a straightforward growth path. Clusters follow multiple growth patterns in their development. The heterogeneity of growth patterns may be, in some cases, due to different initial conditions. However, despite similar initial conditions and/or resource endowments and opportunities for development, we can observe heterogeneous evolutionary patterns. Clusters react differently to the same external shocks (e.g. international demand, global competition and technological change) and evolve differently according to their capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The contribution of rural areas to the advent of globalization has been poorly explored from a historical perspective. In this paper, I explore how rural areas were involved in the shaping of colonialism and industrialization and contributed to globalization. The case study examined deviates from the pattern of self-sufficiency and situates the rural world at the epicentre of key historical processes of the recent past. This paper is primarily based on a farmhouse that played a significant role in these processes, despite its apparent isolation in the hills of the Basque Country, as it produced cider for ships involved in the colonial race and supplied nuts and iron ore for the British Industrial Revolution. With this case study, I hope to provide an example of a rural site that contributed to change in the wider world, while it was also being transformed itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New opportunities for launching media projects targeting minority migrant audiences have emerged in the wake of international migration [Georgiou, Myria. 2001. "Mapping Diasporic Minorities and their Media in Europe. Studying the Media." A working paper for the EMTEL project "Diasporic Minorities and Their Media: A Mapping." http://www.lse.ac.uk/media@lse/research/EMTEL/ minorities/papers/]. However, most start-up enterprises in this category fail to develop effective strategies for establishing a dialogue between the minority audiences they serve and the native-born local populations. This paper, which examines the role radio plays in the integration of newcomers to the Basque Country, analyses the successful programming and outreach initiatives of Candela Radio in Bilbao, Spain, as well as the barriers to multiculturalism that must be overcome in complex societies like the Basque Country, in which deeply rooted traditions and values [Shafir, Gershon. 1995. Immigrants and Nationalists: Ethnic Conflict and Accommodation in Catalonia, the Basque Country, Latvia and Estonia. New York: State University of New York Press] are inextricably bound to language. The results of this qualitative study indicate that publically funded Radio Candela has not only managed to construct an audience that bridges the traditional gap between local migrant and native communities but is also actively fostering the development of a hybrid Latino-Basque identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In January 1917, a very special sports court opened in Madrid. Sixteen women initiated a successful new type of Basque pelota, which was subsequently played professionally by more than a thousand women until it disappeared in 1980. Paired with a system of simultaneous betting, racket pelota became an industry, with more than 30 courts operating in Spain, Cuba, Brazil, and Mexico, and with training schools distributed across the Basque Country, from where most of the players originated. The present article examines the historical and cultural conditions which created the possibilities for this new female sport to emerge and explores its paradoxical development during Franco's fascist regime. This paper also argues that the absence of support for racket pelota under Basque nationalism (and also from feminist quarters) is puzzling, considering the ethnic politics they defended; the lack of interest and protection toward this sport contributed to the strengthening of Francoist discourses, which perceived it as 'inappropriate' for women. Based on archive material and informal interviews, this paper briefly describes the history of racket pelota, in order to address the contradictions between dimensions of success, repression, and oblivion that these female racket players had to confront. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family firms represent the backbone of regional economies in Europe. Yet, due to demographic and societal changes, family firm succession increasingly poses a challenge to both firm continuity and regional stability, which is why policymakers look for appropriate ways to support family firms in their succession processes. In pursuit of policies that fit local institutional conditions, we explore the fact that two structurally similar European regions facing the same succession problem have developed different policies to address it. Using the analytical framework of institutional logics and drawing on 67 interviews with family firms and succession experts in the Spanish Basque Country and the German region of Baden-Württemberg, we find that the different policies are coherent with each region's unique constellation of the institutional logics of business, family, and community and thus make up distinct regional policy regimes. The paper offers a framework applicable to other regions for making underlying normative behavioural guidelines visible, and for more precisely assessing the relationship between institutions and policies. It contributes to a better understanding of the regional specificity of institutions as a base upon which place-sensitive policies can be developed, or fundamental attempts be made to re-shape institutions by political measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2000, urban regeneration programmes in Spain have progressively involved greater integration and complexity. As a result, the management of the regeneration process has taken on greater significance. One of the determining factors has been rehabilitation companies. The paper examines the impact of their characteristics on the implementation of the programmes. A comparison of the 22 companies in operation in the Basque Country of Spain shows that more integrated approaches are considerably greater in those municipalities in which the companies are operating. Supra-municipal organizations are more effective than municipal ones in small-scale poly-nuclear urban systems such as the Basque Country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neutron beams are used in a wide range of applications, mainly aimed at determining and understanding the properties of condensed matter. This paper describes one such proposed compact neutron source, ARGITU, a unique and versatile accelerator-driven neutron source being proposed by ESS Bilbao. As aforementioned, the neutron source configured with beryllium target will produce ~10 SP 14 sp n s SP -1 sp , being therefore considered as a medium flux neutron source. [Extracted from the article]

Since the concept of Smart Specialization was launched, an effort has been made to clarify and establish criteria for its implementation. Part of the difficulties in implementing Research and Innovation Smart Specialization Strategies (RIS3) is their emphasis on bottom-up approaches, which are required because there are public and private stakeholders that are better positioned than governments to find the domains in which the region is likely to excel. Regions must shift towards a new generation of industrial policy and the difficulties for advancing in this direction are already visible. Designing and implementing a smart specialisation strategy at regional level: Some open questions. The centrality of entrepreneurial discovery in building and implementing a smart specialisation strategy. Efforts to implement smart specialization in practice – leading unlike horses to the water. The paper is based on four cases related to governance and learning for smart specialization in the Basque Country (Spain) and presents three main lessons learnt. The first has to do with connections between regional and sub-regional governments in order to construct networks of territorial actors that can act as the senses of governments in the territory. The second is about the challenge of handling complexity and conflict and the third is about the integration of social researchers in RIS3 processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cluster Associations (CAs) attempt to promote competitiveness through inter-firm collaboration, and are generally seen as drivers of social capital formation in the region. We map in this paper, by using Social Network Analysis, the cluster policy network of the Basque Country in 2013, which may be considered a proxy of the structural dimension of social capital in the region. Besides, we identify the central agents of this network and attempt to explain the reasons for their centrality and the roles that they play. We take the affiliation of an organization to at least two CAs as a first indicator of the overall pattern of connections within the cluster policy network. Later on, we filter it with data about the Boards of Directors of CAs, and the Basque Contact Points created to concur with the Seventh Framework Programme for Research launched by the European Commission. We contend that those organizations that are present in these three networks form a ‘small world’ that numerous studies have shown to be favourable for creative output, where they might play a dual role of gatekeepers of knowledge and innovation within and between clusters and drivers of bridging social capital formation in the Basque Country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses how events of political violence in the distant past affect the outbreak of terrorism in the present. Civil wars leave a legacy of distrust that can persist through generations, paving the way to violent responses to perceived threats. We claim that part of the explanation for the counterintuitive terrorism phenomenon in a prosperous and relatively egalitarian region such as the Basque Country (and, potentially, other cases of terrorism) lies in the legacies of political violence in the distant past. Those communities where support for Carlism, one of the warring factions in nineteenth-century civil wars, was strong, were more likely to support terrorism a century later. The article also shows that the transmission of these legacies was robust in communities that have remained largely isolated in the century that separates the civil war from the terrorism of the 1970s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Do parties’ position shifts matter for public opinion? In this paper, we would like to compare the discourses of the Basque elites with the Basque public opinion regarding the reinforcement of the Autonomy. So, combining content analysis methodology and survey data we aim to test if a mainstream political party (specifically, the Basque Nationalist Party [Partido Nacionalista Vasco]) cause the public view to shift on one of the most important policy issues in the Basque Country, that is, the territorial dimension. This study validates the top-down model and concludes that elite political discourses actually affect popular opinion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines issues related to the important impact of language policy in the Basque Country in recent decades. Basque, a minority language that was not allowed in the public space until the late 1970s, is an official language along with Spanish in the Basque Autonomous Community. The development of Basque has been most significant in education where it is not only a school subject but also the main language of instruction for most children. The paper briefly summarises this development and then moves to a focus on the use of Basque at the university level. The legal and organisational bases supporting the use of Basque are explained as well as the challenges faced by a minority language in higher education. The paper discusses the tension between internationalisation and the use of Basque for teaching and research in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last 15 years, terrorist activity in the Basque Country has substantially decreased and strategies have changed. Whilst the type of killings has become more specialised (politicians, reporters, etc.), a new phenomenon based on urban guerrilla tactics, and called in Basque 'kale borroka' (street fighting), has emerged, creating an atmosphere of violence in the streets. The contribution of this paper is threefold. First, we create a daily measure of the level of violence in the area. Second, we examine if police action and the repressive policy measures adopted by the government since 2001 have been effective in reducing the intensity of violence. Third, we investigate whether the level of violence has had an effect on the stock market index in the Basque Country. The results, based on daily data from 1 July 2001 to 15 November 2005, suggest that the only effective measure to reduce violence was the banning of Herri Batasuna (HB), the radical party close to ETA supporters. Moreover, there was a decrease in the stock market index as a consequence of the violence in the area during the period under analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports an evaluation carried out from 1999 to 2003 in 55 schools in the Basque Autonomous Community involving more than 10,000 secondary school students. The variables measured include achievement in Spanish, metacognitive skills, learning strategies and variables related to the students' family environment. The measurements were made at three different times in the last year of primary, and second and fourth years of secondary school. The main aim of this research study is to conduct a longitudinal study of the students' achievement using a measuring unit which can be used for the three measurements for all the students. The data reported in this paper focus on proficiency in the Spanish language. Data were analysed using a hierarchical linear model (HLM) with three levels: (1) the three students' measures at three different points in time; (2) individual variables related to the students; and (3) the variables related to the schools. The paper presents a model of change in achievement in Spanish by examining the influence of background variables including socioeconomic status (SES) of the family and the school, gender, and type of school (private or public). The results indicate that there is a linear increase of scores in Spanish along the school grades. D model students with Basque as the language of instruction obtain lower results than the rest of the students. Other variables such as gender, SES (family and school) and metacognition also have a significant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the situation of Basque in education in the Basque Autonomous Community. First, it provides statistical information about four crucial aspects of bilingual education: (1) Parental choice regarding the linguistic model, that is, the use of Basque, Spanish or both Basque and Spanish as languages of instruction over the last 20 years; (2) teachers' proficiency in Basque and the special programmes for teachers to learn Basque; (3) teaching and learning materials including audiovisual and software materials; (4) promotion of the use of Basque at school including some special projects. The second part of the paper compares the situation and challenges Basque was facing in the 1970s before Basque became an official language and nowadays. This comparison shows that even though there have been important achievements regarding the use of Basque as the language of instruction and the number of Basque-speaking teachers at school, Basque continues to be a 'small' language. In the last part of the paper the possible ways to overcome current and future challenges are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the language, culture, and curriculum of the Basque Country in Spain, particularly in the southern part which is the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) and Navarre which belong to the country's autonomous region. Basque has a population of about three million and 91% of which are Spanish citizens. A table which depicts the percentage of language proficiency in the country and shows that majority of the citizens are monolinguals or those who can only speak the majority language, which is either Spanish or French, is included. The country's educational system that requires children to go to school at a young age and the use of the Basque, a minority language in instruction for some or all the school subjects, are also discussed.

This paper contributes to debates about the potential of re-peasantization and its contribution to food sovereignty with a case study from the global North, where such questions are relatively under-studied. I examine how Euskal Herriko Nekazarien Elkartasuna (EHNE)-Bizkaia, a Vía Campesina member organization from the Basque Country (Spain), advances food sovereignty through re-peasantization. I also analyze the motivations of new peasants engaged in agroecology, their understandings of food sovereignty, and the challenges that they face. Using a Gramscian political ecology framework, I argue that whereas re-peasantization contributes to a shift from corporatist to counter-hegemonic struggles, the political-economic and biophysical contexts structure agroecological production in ways that limit the extent to which new peasantries can become ‘agents of their own history’. I conclude that closer attention to peasants’ messy practices of making a living is needed to address questions of political agency. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The present paper reports a study on communicative anxiety of two groups of adult users. The paper aims at exploring the communicative anxiety of multilingual speakers and at analysing the communicative anxiety in second and third languages. This study includes 532 participants who were divided in two groups according their L1. One group of participants (N = 346) had Spanish as their L1 and the other group had Basque (N = 186). Quantitative and qualitative instruments were used to collect the data. Participants completed a background questionnaire and a questionnaire about communicative anxiety. In addition, focus group discussions and interviews were also held with the objective of getting deeper insights from the data. The results indicate that there are significant differences between the two groups of participants (Spanish L1 and Basque L1 speakers) in communicative anxiety and that anxiety is different when the second and third languages are compared. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In late 2011, the Spanish terrorist organization ETA announced the end of armed violence after more than forty years of illegal activity. While the existing literature has already established the negative impact of terrorist actions on international tourism in a particular region, this paper aims to determine whether ETA’s final ceasefire and definitive dissolution had a positive impact on domestic tourism in Basque Country. To that end, a directed gravity model is estimated over a panel data-set of 699 domestic tourist flows between the Spanish regions from 2008 to 2013. Results suggest that the negative impact on visitor flows was localized in the Basque Country. Also, regardless of a permanent ceasefire announced in 2010, only the 2011 ‘definitive cessation of violence’ had an immediate significant impact on the number of visitors to the Basque Country. These results complement the scarce literature on post-conflict tourism analysis and may have implications for regional authorities in affected regions in their efforts to rebuild their destination brands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the creation of the schools called ikastolas throughout the Basque Country from the 1960s onwards. The name ikastola refers to a unique school model whose major characteristic is to teach the majority of subjects in the Basque language, or euskera. It outlines the reasons why some of these schools took a co-operative organisational form and describes their major characteristics. The first part analyses the opportunities created under the Francoist regime for this kind of school, despite the repressive character of the dictatorship in other fields. The second part of the paper examines the important influence of the Mondragón co-operative movement, especially through its financial institution, in the creation of these educational co-operatives. The third and last part emphasises the role played by social mobilisation in defence of the Basque language in the creation of these schools and how this factor tied in with a co-operative governance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Congregation of the Brothers of Christian Schools (the De La Salle Brothers) has grown since its arrival in Spain in 1878, and today it is the second most important Congregation – in terms of the number of students and schools – in the private school sector in Spain. This article aims to present, first, the educational contributions of De La Salle, which are based upon discipline, Catholic schooling and popular education. This pedagogical approach became the foundation of traditional education, and was a success in their schools and a model for other institutions. Second, our study is focused on the situation of the De La Salle schools in the Basque Country during the Franco regime. The case of the Basque Country is very important, because it showed a significant increase in centres for vocational training and secondary education. The paper concludes that the De La Salle schools make up a Catholic school model adapted to the educational and social reality of the Basque Country and that, during the Franco regime, the model went through a period which balanced tradition and modernity regarding educational provision. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper, based on the case study of the aerospace cluster of the Basque Country (Spain), we aimed at analysing how local industries develop a new specialization, that is, how a cluster emerges, and how it evolves over time. For that purpose, apart from considering local factors (both forces that are internal to the cluster and to the territory), we explicitly consider the role of institutional and technological changes, and how they affect industry structure and governance patterns of global value chains (GVCs). We observe that global-scale regulations (deregulation and competition policy) and technological change, together with local factors such as the existence of anchor firms, local policies, related variety and social capital at regional and cluster levels played a significant role in the emergence of the cluster and how it became inserted in the GVCs. Later on, the development of suppliers' capabilities also had a relevant role in the evolution of the governance patterns of GVCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study how globalization impacts on the structure and governance patterns of value chains and on the resilience of local clusters. We study the value chains related to two Basque (Spain) companies in the wind energy industry, Iberdrola and Gamesa, and the local cluster to which they belong. We find that firms within the cluster have different types of relationships with lead companies depending on their competences and the complexity of their products. As a consequence, firms also present different potential for growth and/or resilience: some have the capacity to internationalize their operations and/or shift to the offshore wind market, others are vulnerable to competition from providers in the emerging countries. Against this context, we discuss how the cluster responds to these challenges and the role of policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's turbulent global environment, using and efficiently managing information is a critical success factor that enables organisations to improve their results. Information capability is a source of competitive advantage and helps companies to achieve higher levels of efficiency. Total quality management (TQM) models are designed to guide organisations in their journey towards business excellence, and they help to identify the role and importance of information as a capability. The aim of this study is to find whether companies with TQM models actually use and manage information efficiently so that they have information capability. In order to achieve this goal, after defining the components of information capability, we reviewed the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) criteria described in the reports of Basque Country Quality award winners to find evidence of these components. In addition, interviews with members of those companies were conducted in order to get additional insights into the findings. This paper presents evidence from organisations at the forefront of TQM practice, showing that many information capability practices are covered in the EFQM model. We found evidence of many information practices, and we saw from the information collected that the most highly developed competence in these companies is the Information Management Competence, while practices related to the information technology Competence and the Information Behaviours and Values Competence are not as evident. Nevertheless, this study is a first approach and is limited by the information shown in the self-assessment reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses efforts by subregional government to plan for and implement language policy (LP). It aims to show that this governance level is key to a more nuanced understanding of the locations within which language policies are created, brought to fruition and evaluated. With this in mind, data from six subregional authorities in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and Wales are employed. Additionally, from the particularity of each region and subregional authority, these data are applied more generally to analyse party political support for LP activity as well as LP interaction across governance tiers. This paper discusses the extent to which regional governments' legislative and fiscal support (or relative lack of support) for overall LP objectives influences, restricts or otherwise engages subregional government LP activity. Understanding the relationship between the first two objectives will help to link local empirical data with the third objective—that of beginning to unravel the role that non-statewide nationalist and regional branches of statewide political parties play as LP facilitators at both subregional and regional level. Party activity in LP is subsequently interpreted as a measure through which to emphasize the values of (often overlapping) identity and solidarity patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Minority language transmission is no longer based solely on family, associated networks and statutory education but is increasingly influenced by the so-called ‘legislative turn’. This paper focuses on some of the side-effects of this latter trend as they appear in two of the most advanced cases in that field (the Basque Country and Ireland). The aim is to identify the reach and significance of the appeal to law and to anticipate some of the more challenging aspects for official language policy in terms of professionalization, juridical relationship between the minority and the majority and between the individual citizen, the language community and the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we discuss a model for pseudo-panel data when some but not all of the individuals stay in the sample for more than one period. We use data on the labor market of the Basque Country from 1993 to 1999 treated through FORTRAN 77 programing. We construct economically reasonable age cohorts for active population and use gender, qualification and social status as explanatory variables in our model. Given the class of data we use, we analyze the properties of the random error and estimate the model through maximum likelihood, finding significant results from an applied point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper estimates the level of projection bias in the issue placement of the main Spanish political parties. We find a different pattern of projection for regional and the main national parties. Whereas assimilation is generalised and homogeneous, contrast is exclusive of the main national parties. We provide indirect evidence that this heterogeneity reflects differences in party acceptability by showing a positive correlation between the party-specific level contrast and the magnitude of non-declared vote. We discuss the implications of our findings for the literature on spatial models and suggest testable hypotheses of why contrast levels vary between regional and national parties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Why are the Basques and Catalans the most left-wing societies in Europe? Treating peripheral nationalism and ideology as two orthogonal dimensions, the literature to date has not yet provided a systematic theoretical account of this pattern. In an attempt to fill this gap, this paper explores how nationalism has marked the meaning of ideology in these regions. Contrary to the left, the right has been treated as the opponent of regional devolution. The findings highlight the need to revise the orthogonality assumption often made when employing these two dimensions in the study of public opinion in Catalonia and the Basque Country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The effect of immigration preferences on electoral outcomes in Spain is understudied. This paper hypothesises that, even in the absence of a radical right party, immigration preferences can be associated with mainstream voting when they are incorporated into established axes of political conflict. The analyses show that the electoral strength of immigration preferences is connected with the strength of the centre–periphery cleavage in Spain. More specifically, immigration preferences are a stronger determinant of the vote for parties with relatively more pro-decentralisation stances, among individuals with more coherent immigration and decentralisation attitudes, and in regions where the centre–periphery cleavage is stronger. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines successful policy network (henceforth PN) practices in the Basque Country over an 18-year period, in relation to Cluster Associations, Quality Promotion and Local Agenda 21 Promotion. Basing our work on the Basque experience and on previous multi-disciplinary knowledge regarding learning processes, networking management and marketing, we contribute new insights that help to understand how PN management evolves. The need to analyse PN from an evolutionary perspective has been pinpointed by the various traditions of network research as one of the main gaps in the study of networking. Our research shows that expertise in PN management is generated through a long, performance-oriented dilemma-solving process that takes place in time and space. The first experiences provide initial knowledge and absorptive capacity, both of which improve through new and diverse experiences of increasing complexity. Step by step, a quantity of tacit and codified knowledge is created and shared, mainly through face-to-face contact, within the territory. Finally, the knowledge achieved is substantially similar to the normative knowledge that, though sparse, can be found in various networking literatures and needs to be brought together. But we also suggest that more emphasis on PN marketing is needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper identifies an “innovation gap” in the (in)efficient relation between innovation structures and production systems in SME-based economies and, by elucidating an implicit aspect of key theoretical contributions from Lundvall and Cooke, among others, sets the basis for a policy focus that may help reducing those margins of inefficiency. In this work, we identify three interdependent drivers of innovation: the “critical mass” of firms in a specific geographical location; the formation of “organizations” devoted to the creation and diffusion of knowledge and innovations; the ignition of “learning processes” within the production system that help catalyse significant innovations within the local economy. We suggest that the importance of processes of codified knowledge flows needs to be complemented by interactive flows of tacit knowledge that help overcoming the “innovation gap” that often exists between firms and knowledge institutions. Since this gap represents the inefficiency of the innovation structures, we suggest that it should be targeted by policy-makers and business associations as a central issue for innovation promotion through actions that intensify interactions and learning processes through bottom-up initiatives. These elements are analysed in a furniture cluster in the Basque Country and are highlighted on the basis of successful micro-territorial experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public policies (often at the regional level) favouring pre-competitive research and cooperative research and development have played a decisive role in the development of technology centres in Europe and all over the world. The technology offer model gave priority to the creation of technology transfer organizations and structures, but there is increasing evidence that this model did not attach enough attention to the needs of small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs) and in particular, to their capacity to take in knowledge. In this paper, based on qualitative research, we show in detail some of the main issues involved in the relationships between technology centres and SMEs in the Basque Country, a region that has developed intensive policies favouring technology transfer organizations over the years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Statistics for small areas within larger regions are recently required for many economic variables. However, when adding the estimates of the small areas within the larger regions, the results do not match up to those obtained with the appropriate estimator originally derived for the larger region. To avoid discrepancies between estimates benchmarking methods are commonly used in practice. In this paper, we discuss the suitability of using a restricted predictor versus a traditional direct calibrated estimator. The results are illustrated with the 2000 Business Survey of the Basque Country, Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we will present the main principles behind language planning in the Ikastolas (Basque medium Schools), where a plurilingual school model has been developed as a way of promoting minority languages in a globalised world. We will start by contextualising the Ikastolas' language policy, briefly tracing their history from their beginnings as schools which ensured the right to education in the minority mother tongue (forbidden at that time), to the current Integrated Plurilingual School model, which involves the teaching and use of four languages. This model started as an Integrated Language Curriculum for language teaching, and it is now facing the challenge of creating a global framework - the School Language Project - which considers the various domains of language use within the school context (i.e. classroom management, break times, administration, school-family relations, etc) as active factors in the development of the communicative competence of the students, and therefore subject to a comprehensive school language planning policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the experience of many years of teaching in two or three languages, the Basque speech community needs to know not merely how much students achieve in each language and what level of proficiency they attain but also which language they use, how often they use each language, and the relationship between language use and other variables. This paper reports on a study, the 'Arrue Programme' conducted during the 2005-2006 academic year on student language use in the school context and the factors affecting it. Participants were students between the ages of 10 and 11 who were in the sixth grade of primary education in 50 schools in different areas of the Basque Autonomous Community. The data include the observation of language use by 1325 students both in the playground and inside the classroom. In addition, data on other student variables were collected through questionnaires and written work. The two sets of data are used to suggest a model of the principal background and situational variables that determine the varieties of language use that we observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present the facts and results of the 2005 autonomous election in the Basque Country. After a review of the political context and the campaign, we present and analyze the results at electoral and institutional level and the main reasons behind the apparent stability of the polarized multiparty system and its ideological basis. We finally discuss the implications of the results for the political system at Basque and Spanish levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on bilingual education in the Basque Country. The main achievements of the Basque educational system are to be found in the progressive expansion of more intensive linguistic models, the social acceptance of teaching through and in Basque, and the positive academic results of pupils. The main problems associated with bilingual education are: (1) the difficult situation of Basque in Navarre and the French Basque Country; (2) the contradictions involved in what we refer to as linguistic model A (Castilian) of the education system, as well as the need to completely reassess it; (3) the uncertain future of Basque language use at the secondary and tertiary school levels, especially in vocational training and at the Universities; (4) the large gap between schooling and competence in the Basque language (on the one hand) and its use in everyday life (on the other); (5) the existence of two comprehensive plans for the revitalisation of Basque, and the introduction of a plurilingual programme (Basque -- Spanish -- English), and the extent to which generalisation is suitable; and finally (6) the need to review all existing bilingual educational systems to transform them into genuine intercultural programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The acquisition of Basque as a second language by adult speakers in the Basque Country presents some specific characteristics related to the minority status of Basque and its limited use in everyday communication. This paper reports a research study on the effect of individual and contextual variables on the acquisition of Basque by adult learners in the Basque Country. Participants were 411 learners, aged between 17 and 72, who were attending Basque classes in nine different specialised schools for teaching Basque to adults. They were asked to complete several questionnaires so as to obtain background information and measures of metalinguistic awareness, anxiety, learning strategies, attitudes and motivation. Participants also completed tests of Basque language proficiency. Once the data were collected and recorded, statistical analyses were carried out so as to identify the relative influence of several individual and contextual factors on second-language proficiency. The results indicate that metalinguistic awareness is the strongest predictor of Basque proficiency and they also show that the influence of other variables. The results are discussed taking into account both the characteristics of second language acquisition by adult speakers and the specific sociolinguistic context in which the acquisition of Basque takes place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In linguistically diverse contexts, language learning and the building of quality relationships are key – and intertwined – educational goals. These aspects are particularly important in learning communities where the language of instruction may represent an additional language for most students. It is, therefore, essential to identify activities that promote quality interactions in the language to be learnt. Interactive Groups (IGs) is an educational action that aims to create conditions conducive to promoting relationships of solidarity, collaborative interaction, and effective participation for all learners. There is a need to investigate how IGs may be most beneficially used with languages of instruction that represent minority languages within the given sociolinguistic context and are a second language for most students, as is the case with the Basque language in the Basque Country. This exploratory case study sought (1) to explore the influence of IGs on the learning of Basque (a minority language and the language of instruction at school) as a second language for most students, and (2) to investigate the IGs in relation to students' collegial relationships. Data were collected via a total of 14 interviews with students, teachers, school staff and volunteers, along with the consideration of material from 28 IGs. In-depth qualitative analyses were conducted. Analysis suggested that the increased opportunities to communicate in the classroom during IGs bolstered the levels of collaborative language learning interactions. In addition, the scaffolding and supportive exchanges between students contributed to the development of collegial friendships. In our small-scale study, interaction in Basque and friendly collaboration between students developed and was enabled within the IGs. This highlights the potential of IGs to foster the learning of additional and minority languages, as well as to promote the growth and flourishing of positive relationships between students involved in the activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social housing users are generally more vulnerable due to age and socioeconomic conditions and have to deal with specific problems related to vulnerability to poor indoor environment exposure. The current housing model does not respond to the diversity of family structures and their needs, and it is, therefore, essential to integrate residents' perspectives into the process of improving their quality of life, health and comfort. This study aims to analyse the factors that influence the perceived Indoor Environmental Quality and comfort of public rental housing. It also aims to study occupants' perceived comfort in relation to the characteristics of the dwellings. To achieve the objective of the study, a multifactorial approach has been applied to a sample of 283 dwellings in 16 buildings of the public rental stock in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain, with data obtained in a survey conducted in the winter. The analysis of the incident variables in the perceived indoor environment supports the idea of the influence of occupants' perspectives and the subjectivity of their responses in the comfort analyses and provides new insight into the relationship between the physical characteristics of social housing and households' perceived comfort. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]