10 July 2025
Bilbao Campus
On 10 July, the Euskalduna Conference Centre in Bilbao hosted the ceremony for the Eusko Ikaskuntza–LABORAL Kutxa Prize, which since 1995 has recognised the most distinguished careers in the Humanities, Culture, Arts and Social Sciences, and, since 2019, has also rewarded creative or research projects presented by young people. In the 2025 edition, the recipients were, respectively, Dr Xabier Etxeberria Mauleón, Doctor of Philosophy and Emeritus Professor at the University of Deusto, and composer Jon Esnaola Agirre.
The event was attended by a wide range of representatives from institutions and from the cultural, educational and social sectors of the Basque Country, as well as from the universities and organisations that form the jury. Nagore Ipiña Larrañaga, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Education at Mondragon Unibertsitatea, opened the ceremony with the reading of the jury’s decision for the Eusko Ikaskuntza–LABORAL Kutxa Gazte Saria 2025, awarded to the composer from Tolosa, Jon Esnaola Agirre, for his musical project LUUR, in memory of Néstor Basterretxea. The premiere will be on 11 July, performed by the Basque Youth Orchestra at the Jesús Guridi Conservatoire in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
This was followed by the laudatio delivered by Juan José Etxeberria, Rector of the University of Deusto, who praised the career of Xabier Etxeberria Mauleón. “This recognition,” he said, “reminds us that the development of ethical thought is not an academic luxury, but a vital necessity for facing the challenges of our time with clarity, sensitivity and responsibility.” He also underlined the professor’s key role “in shaping a horizon for the Christian-inspired university within the context of an increasingly pluralist society.” Laudatio
The President of Eusko Ikaskuntza, Ana Urkiza, highlighted Xabier Etxeberria Mauleón’s work of reflection and social commitment in three areas: violence and peacebuilding, collective identities in conflict, and groups at risk of exclusion. She stressed that the focus of his work at the Centre for Applied Ethics at the University of Deusto has been to delimit the field of values both in daily life and in relation to human rights and respect for diversity. “Xabier Etxeberria’s call to ethics and to reflection on the values that underpin us,” she said, “is absolutely urgent today. There is nothing more useful, nor of greater worth, than questioning who we are (nor gara?), understanding what unites us as human beings (norekin arituko gara?), and cherishing our place in the world (non bizi nahi dugu?). This is precisely what Xabier Etxeberria’s life and work teach us.”
For Adolfo Plaza, President of LABORAL Kutxa, this year’s award acknowledges “a social contribution of great impact” and a remarkable scientific and teaching career, “always marked by a humanist vocation and the desire to build a more inclusive and better world.” Since ethics is fundamental to social coexistence, he praised Professor Etxeberria’s work in instilling ethical awareness in professionals at the University of Deusto, while also recognising his ability “to go out into the streets and to other parts of the world to live and work with vulnerable groups in defence of their rights.” These, he said, are “tasks that are not only worthy of merit, but absolutely essential in an age particularly in need of guiding human principles,” as also highlighted in the jury’s decision.
Victims of violence, indigenous peoples and people with disabilities
For his part, Xabier Etxeberria Mauleón expressed his gratitude for an award that explicitly recognises two aspects of his career: his reflection on ethics and human rights, closely linked to his educational and civic commitments; and, within the latter, his engagement with three groups in particular: victims of politically motivated violence, indigenous peoples of Latin America, and people with intellectual disabilities.
He stressed that these commitments, deeply intertwined with his academic reflection, have not only allowed him to contribute to those three groups but have also enabled him to learn from them, in what he describes as a mutually enriching process of “responsive receptivity”. Through this bond, he said, “the people from those three groups have called me to justice and to the good.” He concluded: “Precisely because my life has been marked by these circles of responsive receptivity, the recognition expressed today by Eusko Ikaskuntza–LABORAL Kutxa through this prize is also recognition of all the individuals and organisations involved in them.”
The closing address was delivered by the President of the Basque Government, Imanol Pradales, who described Professor Etxeberria as an “agent” in the various fields in which he has been active. In his remarks, he recalled the thinker and writer Joxe Azurmendi, and, like Etxeberria, placed both as figures who have deepened free and critical thought.
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