On 16 and 17 October, the Basque Country will host the XV Forum of the Autonomous Communities on Contaminated Land, a technical meeting that brings together experts from the autonomous communities to share progress, challenges and experiences in soil conservation. 

This will be the third time that the Basque Country has hosted the technical meeting, organised by Ihobe, after the events in 2010 and 2011. The aim is to foster collaboration between autonomous communities in the field of soil contamination. This annual technical is based on the model of the Common Forum on Contaminated Land in Europe, a meeting that is held annually in Europe with representatives of different countries and regions.

Over the two days, technical representatives of the autonomous communities and of the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge will discuss key issues, such as the brand new European directive on soil monitoring and resilience, inter-administrative coordination to roll out Royal Decree 665/2024 on point-source pollution of underground water, the reuse of excavated materials and sanitation technologies. 

Around thirty experts are expected to take part in a hybrid format that will allow the sessions to be followed both in person and online. The forum bolsters the Basque Country’s role as a benchmark in soil conservation and collaborative environmental management.