AC4 Director Josh Fisher in Boise, ID to Share Findings from Sustainable Human Development Project

Every five years, the city of Boise, Idaho, welcomes tens of thousands of visitors to the Jaialdi celebration, one of the largest Basque festivals anywhere in the world. At this year’s Jaialdi festival, held from July 28 to August 2, members of the global Basque diaspora gathered in Boise to engage with Basque history, culture, and current affairs.

AC⁴ Director Dr. Josh Fisher was a featured speaker at a conference organized in conjunction with this year’s festival.  Titled “Together or Nothing at All”, the conference brought several hundred attendees to Boise’s Grove Hotel on July 30 to discuss the themes of Basque sustainable human development and self-determination. Dr. Fisher spoke about the essential role of cooperative institutions in the pursuit of sustainable human development (SHD) and shared preliminary findings from AC⁴’s Sustainable Human Development project, part of a collaborative research initiative with the Agirre Lehendakaria Center for Social and Political Studies (ALC). Dr. Fisher also discussed some key findings related to public opinion from AC⁴ and Scensei’s recent study of Basque self-determination and the impact of the civil society organization Gure Esku Dago.

Dr. Juan Jose Ibarretxe, ALC Chair and former Lehendakari (President) of the Basque Government, presented The Basque Experience, his new book analyzing the role of economics, social balance, and peacemaking in the sustainable human development advances made in the Basque Country over the past several decades. The conference also featured a presentation by Gure Esku Dago representative Jon Camio and an introduction by Boise’s mayor, Dave Bieter.

Photo credits: Gorka Espiau (Twitter, @GEspiau)