FAQ – All you need to know

The Bay Awards is an opportunity to mobilize the exchange of pioneering and disruptive knowledge on how to best address the urban challenges of our century, guided by the following objectives:

• Developing an innovative international network that is rooted in the cutting-edge knowledge of renowned experts and institutions that work on the great urban challenges of the future.
• Promoting world-class urban strategic thinking that bridges the disciplines and boundaries involved in constructing cities.
• Fostering public-private-civic collaboration ecosystems to create synergies and build bridges that allow for the development of transformational projects of a strategic nature and greater impact.
• Growing a network of leading innovative nodes to prototype and develop transformational projects that test cutting-edge solutions for global challenges.
• Celebrating pathbreaking projects from across the world.

Bilbao Metropoli 30 is a non-profit public-private association, created in 1991, which reflects on the future of the Bilbao metropolitan area. Its main purpose is to carry out planning, promotion and study actions aimed at revitalizing the area.

On this first edition, The Bay Awards Summit is organized in partnership with Resonance.

Bilbao Metropoli 30, with the collaboration of the following partners: the Basque Government, the Regional Government of Biscay, Bilbao City Council, the BBK Foundation, Bilbao Port Authority and Petronor.

This initiative is also supported by other organizations and international networks.

October 8, 9 & 10, 2024 at Euskalduna Conference Centre, Bilbao.

October 9 at Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

You can get your ticket now. 

Download the full agenda.

Yes, all attendees need to be registered. There are different kind of tickets:

• INTERNATIONAL PASS: 500 €. Offers full access to all the events:
  • Learning Journey on 8th October (morning): to learn in detail about the revitalization process of Bilbao and its metropolis from its strategic stakeholders.
  • WRLDCTY & The Bay Awards Summit: 9th & 10th October from 9 am to 5 pm.
  • The Bay Awards Gala: 9th October at 7 pm (1-hour event + cocktail reception).
• SUMMIT PASS: 230 €. Offers access to the WRLDCTY & The Bay Awards Summit of 9 & 10 October from 9 am to 5 pm, including coffee-breaks and networking lunch both days (Gala event no included).
• GALA PASS: 70 €. Offers access to the Award Ceremony Gala and cocktail reception. The Gala will be on 9th October at 7 pm, at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.
• FREE registration:
  • Members of Bilbao Metropoli 30.
  • Partners of The Bay Awards.
  • Students (accreditation will be required). Access only to the Summits (networking lunches are not included).
  • Collaborators of Bilbao Metropoli 30, under confirmation.

All free registrations need to contact info@thebayawards.com for confirmation and to get tickets.

The event will be held in English and simultaneous translation will be provided.

Yes, of course. Please email your request to the Bay Awards team:  info@thebayawards.com.

Returns will be accepted within 14 calendar days of ticket purchase and no later than 30th September.

• It will be possible to cancel the registration and get the full amount back until 9th.
• If the cancellation takes place between 10-27th September, 50% of the amount will be refunded.
• There will be no refund for cancellations after 28th September.

The amount of the refund will be the total price of the purchase, discounting the management/distribution fees that are applied to some purchases given the costs of the commissioned sales service.

In the case of a refunding of the price of the ticket/s you purchased, this will be refunded to the same payment method you used for the purchase.

Yes, it is possible, as long as you notify the organizers about the modification at info@thebayawards.com, at least two days before the event starts.

We do our best to make the international conference as inclusive, supportive, and safe as possible. If you have any special requirements, please contact us at info@thebayawards.com and we will work with you to best meet your needs.

You can submit your project from 26th October until 10st June 2024. 

The Bay Awards will honor pioneers in five categories: 

• Horizon Shaper Award 
• Partners in Progress Award 
• SDG Champions Country Award 
• Prosperity Catalyst Award 
• The Bay Urban Pioneers Award 

Submissions should be made via the official awards website, where you can download an overview document with full information on everything required. 

Official website: www.thebayawards.com 

Cities, metropolitan areas and regions are eligible for all five categories.  

The Bay Urban Pioneers Award is the only award exclusively for cities, metropolitan areas and regions. 

The other four categories also welcome submissions from institutions, entities, or companies. 

With “institutions and entities” we are referring to associations, foundations, partnerships, training entities, universities, research centers, public agencies, technology centers, NGOs, etc. 

The selection process will involve the following stages: 

1. Review of applications and eligibility assessment.
2. Pre-assessment of nominations: All eligible applications will first be assessed by a technical support team of experts according to the criteria established in each category. This assessment round will offer a first ranking of applications, the outcome of which will be passed on to the international jury. 
3. Selection of finalists by the international jury:

• The international jury will review the documentation of the pre-assessment round. Based on this input and their own expert evaluation, they will collectively select the top three candidates in each category, as well as an ultimate winner from among them.
• For all five categories, these three finalists will present their work in Bilbao on stage at the Bay Awards Summit held in October 2024.

Beyond the quality assessment of applications, the final stage of the evaluation process will also consider geographical diversity, the balance between applications referring to physical transformation of the built environment and other types of transformation, and diversity of contexts (rural/urban, small scale/bigger scale, etc.). 

4. Announcement of the finalists and ultimate winner: The winner and two other finalists for each category will be told of their success and will participate in the Bay Awards Summit and Gala on 9 October 2024, where a public announcement will be made.

The three finalists in each category will be informed on 9th July 2024 via the contact details provided in the application form.