Global Action Plan Spain

GAP Spain is a NGO founded in 1996 and at present is comprised of a management team of four persons responsible for; management, PR & communication, finance & administration and training & project management. The number of non-management staff fluctuates according to the size of the projects being undertaken. 

GAP Spain forms part of GAP International, a network of NGO’s active in the field of “education for sustainable development” and related programs for sustainable behaviour change. GAP is a network of organizations working for a common goal: Empowering people to live and work increasingly sustainably.

The experience accumulated by GAP Spain in communication, creating practical tools/methodologies, and organizing trainings & courses with adults & youth, is well demonstrated in the following recent major projects:

  • From 2003 to 2008, GAP Spain worked in the Basque Country with the Basque Government and the environmental agency, IHOBE, as well as other organizations, where over 26.000 households were recruited to participate in a programme called Ecoteam. This programme assisted households in reducing their impact on the environment. The results of this program were that an estimated 6.000 tonnes of CO2 emissions were saved, as well achieving many other behavioral changes, including the installation of 20,499 low energy light bulbs in the homes of the participants.
  •  In 2008 GAP Spain launched a CO2 calculator for the energy utility Iberdrola. The programme was called Huella Verde and was located on their web site, and over 13,000 households registered. The program ran for 12 months and an estimated 5,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions were saved.
  • In 2011 GAP Spain ran an employee Volunteer program called Environmental Champions for the German energy utility E.ON together with 2 other countries, Hungary & Italy. In Spain 8 schools and over 500 children participated in 3 provinces. The results were that, on average, the schools saved 9% in their energy usuage. In 2012 the same programme was used by the national railway bodies ADIF & RENFE for their the employees in their central offices located in Madrid.

Current projects running to date include:

  • Since 2014 GAP Spain has been running a programme in the Province of Bizkaia called Actívate+ with 11 major organizations, both public & private: the Provincial Authority Diputación de Bizkaia, the Basque Government, Eroski (Mondragon Cooperative), EVE, metro Bilbao, Consorcio de Transportes Bizkaia, Garbiker, Aguas de Bilbao, Petronor, Iberdrola & Fundación La Caixa. The programme is based covering the province of Bizkaia over a 6 year period, with a project based on 2 GAP programmes: Environmental Champions & Programagap. Local schools adopt an energy and/or waste programme that is run during the academic year. The local community is involved whereby households participate in a web based programme to reduce their environmental impact, firstly by incorporating the parents of the schools involved and then inviting the rest of the community to participate using the local municipalities to spearhead the communication. 
  • In 2014, the GAP network in 11 countries launched a web based programme for schools called Water Explorer, funded by the HSBC Bank. To date over 1.000 schools have registered and pupils as well as households in the community, are looking at water use and how to reduce it’s consumption. Water savings in Spain are over 60.000 m3