The Basque diaspora online

HanHemen (“there-here” in Basque) is the same network in a second life, under the full name HanHemen, Basque Global Network. In 2022 it presented itself as a global digital platform for Basques all over the world to share projects, events and experiences, and as a platform built by listening to the diaspora.¹⁴¹⁵

The 2022 consultation of the diaspora

That listening took the form of an open consultation, between January and March 2022.¹⁵ Its conclusions were published in July. Of those who answered, 80% wanted to go on keeping up their ties with Euskal Herria, and 70% believed that the Basque Government’s support could improve. And 30% said they did not feel part of the diaspora.¹⁶

How the platform has been developed

Two months later, in September 2022, the Basque Government commissioned the user experience study, the content architecture and the launch plan for the platform.¹⁷ HanHemen has also been developed as a research project, in the hands of the researcher Igor Calzada, who describes it as being in beta and published his results in 2023 in the journals Globalizations and Futures. That work feeds into the new Diaspora Law planned for 2026.¹⁸