Check out this virtual Christmas card from Vitoria-Gasteiz

It also carries the message of merry sustainability

The Spanish Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz has released an intriguing video Christmas greeting card. The short stop-motion video has the goal of wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year but also reminding you to celebrate the holidays in a sustainable way.

After all, the city has the right credentials. It was chosen to be the European Green Capital of 2012 and a decade later this is an honour that still resonates with the people there. And that’s how it ought to be, after all, sustainability is not just a flash-in-the-pan initiative, but a long-term commitment.

The city celebrating the 10th anniversary of its European Green Capital year

The virtual card does give a heartfelt send-off to the anniversary year, doing it once again in a “green way”.

The video starts with the planting of a tree that grows in a few seconds and gives rise to a green revolution symbolized by leaves that cover the city. We take a 360-degree tour of Vitoria-Gasteiz discovering several of its most representative buildings: the four towers, the Europa conference centre, the Ataria wetlands interpretation centre, the Hurtado de Anda tower, and the buildings of the new neighbourhoods.

Along this route, we see the BEI smart bus and bicycles appear as the new emblems of sustainable mobility for the city. The return to the starting point culminates in the same tree, now turned into a Christmas tree and surrounded by citizens.

For the elaboration of this audiovisual piece, the stop-motion animation technique has been used -frame by frame- on a model of a meter and a half in diameter built by hand piece by piece. Several aspects reinforce the sustainable message of the greeting. The model itself has been made using recycled cardboard and overall, it’s a “zero kilometre” production, made entirely by local artists from Tik Tak Animation studio.