09 June 2026
Bilbao
As the world moves into the final four years of the 2030 Agenda, one of the biggest global challenges remains how to channel funding to the communities and territories where transformation takes place in real life.
With this strategic challenge as its central focus, on 9 June the University of Deusto hosted the Bilbao Bootcamp II: Scaling and Building Bankable Territorial Solutions, an event bringing together around 200 leaders from governments, development finance institutions, impact investors, philanthropic organisations, the United Nations system and local authorities to unlock new financing pathways for sustainable development at territorial level.
This three-day international forum (9-11 June) is co-organised by the Government of Spain, the Basque Government, the UN Joint SDG Fund and the UN Local2030 Coalition, whose global secretariat is based in the capital of Biscay. The priority objective is to transform local development priorities into projects capable of attracting large-scale public and private funding.
Ethics and territorial development
At the opening session, the Rector of the University of Deusto, Juan José Etxeberria, highlighted the active role of academia in these global governance and investment flow forums, structuring its contribution at two complementary levels: applied science and ethical stewardship. In his view, "the localisation of the SDGs is not a technical detail; it is recognition that no global goal is achieved in the abstract. Hunger is tackled in a specific agricultural basin, the green transition is decided in a specific region, and dignity is built in a specific neighbourhood.”
He added that "finance is always a means, never an end. Money is not the objective; the objective is the dignified life of people and the health of the planet. Efficiency without ethics is a lever without direction. Every financial architecture is also an architecture of values.” The Rector also evoked the iconic Bilbao estuary and the Pedro Arrupe Footbridge, which connects the campus with the city, as “the clearest metaphor for what we are here to do: build bridges between global ambition and local action; between capital and community.” Full speech.
The Mayor of Bilbao City Council, Juan Mari Aburto, and the Minister of Finance and Treasury, Noël d'Anjou, also took part in this institutional opening of Bilbao Bootcamp II. A second edition of an initiative that significantly consolidates and expands on the results of the pilot phase held in 2025, which supported eight countries and succeeded in mobilising 23 million US dollars in catalytic capital, with an average leverage ratio projected at over 1:8.
This year, the event is extended to 12 countries—Cambodia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Guatemala, Kenya, Mauritania, Mexico, Mozambique, Senegal, Serbia, South Africa and Thailand—backed by 36 million US dollars in catalytic financing and with a projected mobilisation of more than 340 million US dollars, reaching an average leverage ratio of 1:8.5. Sixteen UN entities participate in the initiative, supporting countries in the development of bankable territorial solutions aligned with the Localization Blueprint of Local2030.
From design to investment commitment
The meeting will take place in three phases. The first will focus on designing the territorial financing architecture and identifying innovative investment mechanisms. The second will enable national teams to refine their proposals through technical sessions and direct meetings with potential funders. Finally, the third day will conclude with a project presentation session before development finance institutions, impact investors and philanthropic organisations to explore financing and partnership agreements.
The choice of Bilbao as host city for this second edition reflects international recognition of the Basque model of territorial transformation, based on a long-term strategic vision, collaboration between institutions and social stakeholders, and robust multi-level governance. In addition, the Basque Country is home to the Secretariat of the United Nations Local2030 Coalition, a platform that coordinates global efforts to translate the Sustainable Development Goals into action at local and territorial level. This position has made the Basque Country an international benchmark in decentralised cooperation and in promoting public policies aligned with the 2030 Agenda.
Expected outcomes include the identification of up to 200 million US dollars in co-financing opportunities, the development of twelve bankable territorial solutions, the creation of more than thirty international strategic partnerships, and the strengthening of a global financing architecture aimed at accelerating progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals from the local level.
