About the project

Euskal Diaspora Gunea is a project by Mikel Moreno, who studied Social Anthropology at the University of the Basque Country and then took a master's degree in Research Areas in the Social Sciences. Since then, Moreno's path has moved between two places that are perhaps not as far apart as they seem: culture and communication.

The Basque diaspora appeared very early on that path. It was the subject of Moreno's bachelor's thesis and, later, of the master's thesis. Dinámicas identitarias de la diáspora vasca conectada a Facebook asked what happens to identity when the homeland is far away and people find on the internet new ways to meet, recognise one another and keep their ties.

That research led to a Basque Government grant to work for a year, between 2016 and 2017, in the department for Basque Communities and Centres Abroad, in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The work there meant writing reports, working on content and communication and, above all, getting to know Basque communities spread across different parts of the world.

Over time, that interest in culture also found its place in Moreno's professional life, built since then in the cultural and creative industries, on projects in communication, digital marketing, data and technology.

Euskal Diaspora Gunea was born, in a way, where those two paths meet. From a way of looking that began in anthropology and, over the years, also learned to research, organise and tell stories through communication.

This portal began more than ten years ago, even if it has taken all this time to find its shape.

The idea was born during that research on the Basque diaspora connected to the internet. It has stayed there ever since, like one of those things you never quite let go of.

Now it returns as a personal, non-profit project. It does not set out to close a piece of research, but to open a place where stories, data and memory can come together; to make more accessible a part of Basque history that lies scattered across many parts of the world.

It is driven by curiosity, by interest and also by affection. Because behind every Basque centre, every community and every story of migration there are people who, one way or another, found a way to take a part of Euskal Herria with them.