Month: October 2022

They say time flies when we are having a good time and my first month as an IVY Volunteer has really passed so fast! My name is Flavia, I am Italian and I am now in France as an IVY Project Partner at Parc Naturel Régional des Vosges du Nord. This Natural Park is, together with its German counterpart (Naturpark Pfälzerwald), part of an UNESCO Transboundary Biosphere Reserve. Sounds like the perfect place to be, doesn’t it? I am working on the Interreg project “Endangered Animal Species” which focuses on the protection of a very diverse groups of animals which includes butterflies, bats and crayfish. They can be found all over the Reserve and therefore need a collective effort to assure their conservation. Protecting nature is essential to assure a bright and healthy future for everybody and I really like this project because it is the perfect example of why cross-border cooperation is necessary and useful to achieve that. My main mission here is to help the team during the conservation actions in the field and to assist in the coordination with the German partners, in order to exchange knowledge and establish a cohesive action plan. Moreover, I have been participating in various dissemination activities like writing some scientific articles or proposing games and performances to children: we teach them how to recognize all the animals they can meet around the Natural Reserve and we show them how easy yet important it is to respect nature and its inhabitants, no matter the species they belong to… or the language they speak! The Parc des Vosges du Nord is putting in place so many different and interesting actions to protect and valorize not only the natural but also the cultural and architectural heritage of this amazing territory and I am very happy to be part of this team. Moreover, our office is located inside the Castle of La Petite-Pierre, a little village surrounded by the forest: a truly magical place! I have already learnt so much and I can’t wait to discover even more about the multiple aspects of cross-border cooperation and biodiversity conservation during the next five months. Thank you IVY for this opportunity…  the best is yet to come! Flavia, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg project Endangered animal species in the Vosges du Nord – Pfälzerwald Cross-border Biosphere Reserve

In the time I have spent in my IVY adventure I have learned a lot of new things. I managed to identify problems but also similarities between 2 regions sharing the borders between Greece and Bulgaria, that i could never have imagined, having in mind that Bulgaria was completely different in a lot of ways. Furthermore ,the Cross Border area exhibits depopulation trends and includes businesses that are deprived and isolated in both countries, as manifested by some statistics figures for the regions. There is a trend of rising poverty rates and high unemployment rates, as a consequence of this labor market breakdown. The prevailing economic situation shows that services and financial access to agricultural producers and small enterprises is very limited across both sides of the border. Another major problem faced by businesses in the project regions is the lack of opportunity to participate in large exhibitions, as these are organized in large urban and business centers, and there are not the available resources and human resources to take place. Also, the project areas are not strong financial centers so they do not have such a strong infrastructure and state support. The Interreg project “Boosting Business Support to SMEs through setting up Mobile Fair and Innovative Services in the Cross-border Territory – FAIR FOR ALL”, that I am volunteering for, can significantly contribute to the elimination of this phenomenon and enable very small companies to participate in trade fairs. The main objective of the FAIR FOR ALL project is the empowerment of entrepreneurship and SMEs providing the opportunity to participate in fairs and exhibitions without the preparation and the cost-expenses required at global exhibitions. SMEs through networking and an extrovert export strategy dramatically increase the possibility of business survival and viability.  European cross-border cooperation seeks to address shared issues in border regions that have been identified together, as well as to take advantage of untapped growth potential in border regions, by advancing the process of cooperation in order to promote the overall harmonious growth of the Union. In conclusion,my IVY experience is unique and i would recommend it to anyone who would like to learn new things about how countries cooperate to solve mutual problems. – Theodoros, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg project “Boosting Business Support to SMEs through setting up Mobile Fair and Innovative Services in the Cross-border Territory – FAIR FOR ALL”, under the Interreg programme Greece – Bulgaria, at Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Xanthi –

Hello fellow Europeans! My name is Viviana and since June this year I have been an Interreg project partner for the CILIFO Interreg POCTEP project at the host organisation Finnova Foundation Seville. Interreg POCTEP stands for Spain-Portugal Cross-Border Cooperation Operational Programme and is the European Territorial Cooperation programme that aims to enhance, foster and promote cooperation between Portuguese and Spanish entities to collaborate on environmental, economic and social issues common to both territories. CILIFO project is part of this cooperation framework. CILIFO stands for the Iberian Centre for Forest Fire Research and Fighting and its network is composed of different types of partners by competence and territory: the lead project partner is the Junta de Andalucia and within the partnership there are other regional and local public authorities representing the Algarve, Alentejo (PT) and Andalucia (ES) territories. In addition, universities and foundations collaborate in the CILIFO project as project partners. The objectives of bringing all these competences together are: To strengthen and combine the cooperation, the operating procedures and the training between the Forest Fire Preventing and Extinguishing devices in the cooperation area of the Alentejo-Algarve-Andalusia Euroregion. To promote lasting and quality employment creation in the area; reduce the economic cost of fires creating rural economy linked to the landscape. To improve the involved administrations and authorities’ capacity to respond to forest fires in the three participating regions. And through these objectives and activities create and establish a permanent center for the development and promotion of training, awareness, research and cooperation towards forest firefighting. My host organization, Finnova, is the partner responsible for CILIFO’s communication activities with the aim of disseminating CILFO’s achievements and activities. And in this role It is carrying out one of the best practice born from this project: Firefighting Open Innovation Lab. This best practice was honoured last year by European Commission with an important award: European Enterprise Promotion Awards. FOIL-CILIFO is the first business accelerator for forest fire and forest management companies. Through FOIL-CILIFO, all forest fire companies participating in the CILIFO network and activities receive business support advice. For example, the production of material such as newsletters, notices and electronic catalogues on calls, funding programmes, existing in the forest fire sector. In addition, FOIL-CILIFO promotes registered companies by publishing an electronic catalogue with all the information, objectives and targets of these companies, to also improve the network’s matchmaking system and create interesting CILIFO follow-ups. In addition, competitions called CILIFO ACCELERATHON were organised within FOIL-CILIFO to promote innovation of technologies and methodologies in the field of forest fires. During these competitions, green tech business ideas aimed at combating forest fires and climate change were presented and the winner was given the opportunity to apply for a European call for proposals with the support of FINNOVA to see the idea realised. As an Interreg project partner, I am collaborating in these areas of CILIFO communication, producing communication materials which will then be disseminated to the actors of the CILIFO network and I am also participating in the organisation of events such as the above-mentioned ACCELERATHON. Through this experience, I am learning a lot about how European regional cooperation works, its funding structure, the key actors in European regional cooperation and cohesion policy and the main challenges. And I can see how it becomes real and effective in the everyday life of our society. In the hyperlinks you can find all the information on the above 🙂 -Viviana Lattanzi, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg project “CILIFO”, under the Interreg POCTEP Programme, at FINNOVA Foundation Seville-