Zumarraga is part of the Age-Friendly Basque Country Programme – EuskadiLagunkoia and has been a member of the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities since 2014.

Euskadi Langunkoia – Age-friendly Basque Country – is a cross-cutting initiative that engages citizens, the public and private sectors to create supportive and enabling environments for older people. Euskadi Langunkoia works with a number of communities across the Basque Country, including Zumarraga, to develop a network of age-friendly communities and facilitate the exchange of good practice between them.Consultations with older people across Zumarraga were carried out in 2013 (for details see Zumarraga Lagunkoia – Fase 1: Diagnóstico)

Zumarraga has been participating in a number of age-friendly initiatives spearheaded by the EuskadiLagunkoia Programme. Some of the most important are:

• Time Bank: this is an online tool for the exchange of activities and support between citizens.
• Intergenerational programs: some programs between older people and minors at risk of social exclusion
• Age-friendly shops: this program was created with the aim of including small and large businesses of the neighborhoods in the project, creating a distinctive “We are Friendly” to identify those who commit themselves to participate by making a few small improvements on their premises (ie. have chairs where guests can relax).
• The Legacy initiative across the Basque Country: This is a project of 12 short videos (5 min aproximately) of older person as transmitters of intangible heritage. You can watch them here: http://www.euskadilagunkoia.net/es/iniciativas/legado

More age-friendly practices can be found here: Euskadi Lagunkoia – Age-Friendly practices