With the lights off and under an insinuating voiceover , the 2010 Naider Action and Commitment Awards began with the following statement:
“The Age of Aquarius will bring with it an age of twinning rooted in reason, where social problems will be solved fairly and equitably. step to an intellectual and spiritual improvement, since Uranus, the planet that governs the sign of aquarius is associated with intuition and the perceptions of the heart…”.
To take the reins of this new era of Aquarius, the Naider team chose three personalities such as Ángel Iglesias, President and founder of IKUSI, Juantxo Lopéz de Uralde, Director of Greenpeace Spain and Adela Cortina, Director of the Étnor Foundation, which contributes to setting criteria in society.
The first to receive the 2010 Naider Action and Commitment Award in the category of Innovation and Smart Economies from the Director of Tecnalia, Joseba Jaureguizar, was the businessman Angel Iglesias. In his speech, he highlighted the need to create companies to improve the economy and the importance of education to train tomorrow’s leaders. He also spoke of the need to be efficient, of the loss that having so many unemployed people entails for a country in economic and personal terms, when they could be a huge source of wealth for the economy as a whole.
The entrepreneur from San Sebastián was preceded by Juantxo López de Uraldewho received the award in the field of Sustainability and Climate Change from his excited friend and member of Naider,Antxon Olabe.
The activist and Director of Greenpeace made a very personal intervention about his own career. He shared with the attendees how chance and urgency led him to join a Greenpeace ship for the first time to prevent the burning of spills at sea. The same urgency that led him to put himself in the front row to carry out the action at the Copenhagen Summit, of which we have heard so much. He also had time to be critical of the inability of political leaders to act and to remember the walks in the mountains with his grandfather, the mountains that invite you to think “what have we done!”.
The third award went to Adela Cortina who was presented by the former mayor of Vitoria-Gasteiz, José Ángel Cuerdawho had been awarded the same award three years before. .
The Valencian philosopher made a light but very accurate review of the ills that afflict the moral springs of our society and appealed to the need to revitalize the value of justice and solidarity in all fields of life. In particular, he referred to the public powers and how current events tell us that we are facing “very bad news” in these times. But according to Adela: “public powers are not the only ones involved in achieving a more just and equitable society”, and she also addressed the role that companies must have as social organizations and that of the citizenship in a more balanced society.
The awards ceremony took place as part of a show directed and produced by Oier Garamendi and Rocio Amaro who put together a protest musical theater for the occasion where the ills of today were reviewed and the need for a change at all levels.
After the theatrical performance, the host of the gala, Ane Barrenetxea, encouraged those present to take part in the transformation of the hall. And so, almost by magic, the auditorium became an open room where everyone present had the opportunity to enjoy a drink with friends. Among the attendees, most of whom were representatives of the public administration and Basque businessmen, were Juan Ignacio Goicolea, Deputy Minister of Innovation and Technology of the Basque Government; Santiago Rementeria of the Arteche Group; Isabel Sánchez, Councilor for Citizen Relations and President of Bilbao Tourism of the Bilbao City Council; Pedro Luís Arias, Deputy Minister of Universities and Research of the Basque Government and Elena Pérez, Deputy Minister of Public Administration.
From Naider we would like to thank all of you who attended the event and say that it was a pleasure to be able to meet again with great and some “old” and other “not so” friends of the project.
Milesker denoi Naider Sarietan part hartzeagatilk!
And thanks again Ángel, Juantxo and Adela for your Action and Commitment!