The Zarautz municipal gardens were created in 2009 and, although the project began more as a social initiative to provide leisure for retired and unemployed people, some aspects of it are being reconsidered over time. Firstly, the aim is to make it compulsory to cultivate the vegetable gardens in an ecological way. In this sense, courses have been held with Biolur (an association for the promotion of organic production in Gipuzkoa) and, in 2013, a collaboration agreement was signed with Biolur and with ENEEK (Basque Council for Ecological Agriculture and Food) to receive technical advice on the ecological management of orchards.
Furthermore, the aim is to encourage the self-organisation of the people who use the municipal vegetable gardens. This new approach should allow for greater participation of the users in the operation of the project, relieve the municipality's technical staff of their work and encourage the implementation of training and visibility activities for the vegetable gardens.
In addition, a meeting space was created among baserritarras,
technical staff and some city councillors. This is part of a new policy line that wants to value the primary sector, local food and organic production.
In 2013 a budget was set up to make the world of baserri visible among a community that tends to always look to the sea. The municipal plenary unanimously approved an institutional declaration of recognition for the work carried out by the people who work in the hamlets of the village. A special market was organised for San Isidro, a permanent exhibition was installed in the municipal market, a small publication was published and a programme of school visits to the hamlets was created.
The activities in 2014 focused on the issue of baserritarra women and family agriculture.
- Familiarising and reflecting
- Planning
- Kick-starting
- Creating networks
- Local institution