EXPERIENCES

The need to coordinate programmes and/or actions of awareness and stimulation arose at a time of reassessment and reflection on the process of stimulation and promotion in rural areas. It is true that there are different structures that meet the needs for support and assistance that are requested from those in rural areas for the implementation of development projects, both personal and collective.

However, we observed that there was an important gap when it came to covering the phase prior to the emergence of any idea or project, that is, the stimulation and enhancement of human capital. In rural areas, this void is exacerbated by the very nature of their populations.

Berpiztu is a programme for the promotion of rural areas in the ACBC, which is applied in a previously defined territory and which pursues the creation of an Autonomous Development Dynamic through the revitalisation and capacity building of social fabric. Berpiztu aims to create participation channels for the people of rural areas in which the programme is being applied. This will enable the recovery and generation of ideas and proposals for action and their transformation into projects.

Hazi launched this programme in February 2002, opening it up to 5 previously selected areas. Both the Town Councils and Rural Development Associations (ADR) involved and the Hazi consider the "BERPIZTU" programme as an important tool for the revitalisation and development of rural areas and therefore consider it necessary to promote the continuity of this programme in a coordinated and shared manner.