Month: November 2022

It’s been 3 months since I started my IVY journey and the only way I could describe my experience is beyond what I imagined. My name is Evangelia Papomata and I am an Interreg Volunteer in Alexander Innovation Zone. My main task is to promote the Interreg project co-working via Instagram-Facebook-Twitter-Youtube, to write articles and post them in our website and assist in any way I can my coworkers. Alexander Innovation Zone (AIZ) is the managing body that has undertaken the management and development of the Thessaloniki Innovation Zone. The role of AIZ is to strengthen and promote the innovative activity of the wider area of Thessaloniki, with an emphasis on public benefit purposes. So far I have taken part in many projects such as the ‘’CO-Working’’ and ‘’Together’’, which are about guiding the new startupers and networking action with successful Thessaloniki Startups. But the project that got my attention was the ‘’Productive Truancy’’ which is aiming for students to get a glimpse of the real word. How this project works? Well…it is very simple. Students of Central Macedonia visit innovative companies of Northern Greece and are being educated by established professionals. As a result, they learn how the workspaces are, find inspiration about their future careers and motivation to achieve their goals. 1300 students visit 25 innovative companies which are: Apifon, Zelia, Embryolab, CHIMAR, BETA CAE, EPSILON NET, EXANDIA, Olympia Electronics, Titan, etc.. The Productive Truancy was implemented strictly online due to the Covid-19 pandemic from 2017 until 2021 but from now on, in 2022 we started the live visits. I feel fulfilled when I look the impact that this project has in the students, especially when they said to us that due to this experience they came up with a future business idea and are going to share this experience with their friends from another schools. It makes me look back to my school years and hoped to have more actions like this one. Nevertheless, I feel lucky that I am able to provide them with that.  Thank you IVY for helping me do that! – Evangelia, IVY Project Partner for the Greece-Bulgaria project “Co-Working” at the Alexander Innovation Zone SA “Stories of European Cooperation”: Co-Working project Read more from Evangelia on the Co-Working project Click Here Discover the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria Co-Working project Click Here If you are curious about Alexander Innovation Zone S.A. actions

I start to volunteer for the Interreg project “Smart Cross-Border Entrepreneurship Accelerator – SEA”, under the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria programme at the Evros Chamber of Commerce. The project is a cross-border accelerator supporting entrepreneurship, start-ups that develops capabilities, skills throughout the process of turning an idea into a functioning business. It covers all stages, starting from idea selection, intensive training and mentoring to turn the idea into a product/service, market implementation, start-up operation, ending with promotion and interaction with potential investors or financial institutions. The entire acceleration cycle develops cross-border networking and mobilisation to serve a balanced mix of business ideas originating from both countries.  The aim of the training programme is, in eight meetings, to prepare the candidates to present their business idea to experienced and independent judges. The programme is divided into three stages, the third of which is only for the finalist teams to prepare them for the final pitch.  During the first two stages, mentors, coaches and trainers will help the teams to understand the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and develop an effective presentation, which they will refine in the third stage.  My role in this is to support the activities at the Evros chamber by producing content from the activities (photos, articles, videos), using social media, communicating with stakeholders.  The outcome of the project is to improve the regional business support system and to strengthen the entrepreneurial potential of young people in the region with skills and knowledge on how to create and develop start-up companies. In addition, it is expected to enable this employment for the start-ups themselves and increase opportunities for new jobs as the companies grow. Other participants will benefit from expert sessions and workshops, enhanced knowledge and skills that will enable them to improve their skills. – Christos, IVY Project Partner for the Greece-Bulgaria project “SEA” at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Evros Discover the Interreg SEA project Click Here If you are curious about CCI of Evros actions

Hello everyone! My name is Maria Komporozou, I am from Greece, and it has been one month since I started my IVY experience as a Project Partner for the ENI CBC MED project “GREENLAND: GREEN-skiLls for a sustAiNable Development” at European Regional Framework for Co-operation (ERFC) in Athens.   ERFC is a bottom up Institution Building NGO, contributing in the implementation of EU Regulations, through its participation in EU funded networks & projects, at interregional level. The aim of GREENLAND is to increase employability of NEETs (young people not in education, employment or training) and women by providing them with skills suitable for skill-based jobs within Green and Circular Economy sectors, while also reducing the gap between jobs needed and offered in rural areas affected by climate change. The participating countries of the project are Italy, Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt, Palestine, Portugal and Greece. The project is expected to benefit to: • NEETs and women • local SMEs in the Green and Blue Economy sectors • regional and local authorities • Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions (TVET) As an IVY Project Partner, I mainly support communication activities. More specifically, I create and translate content for social media channels, press releases, websites etc. I also support with the market analysis for the target group in Greece, focusing on the Green and Circular Economy sector. In addition, I have participated in B2B meetings and contributed to the organization of trainings, seminars and workshops for the project’s target group.  As a person who always seeks out EU opportunities for young people, the moment I read about IVY, I knew I had to apply. The experience has been enormously rewarding so far, just as I expected. It is really surprising how much I have learned in such a short period of time. I have expanded my knowledge in cross-border cooperation, Circular Economy and EU project management, sectors that I am very interested in. My role gives me almost every day the opportunity to meet and talk with new people, learn more about myself as a team member and communicator and come up with my own ideas for community engagement. All in all, I am very happy to contribute to a real life project with impact and I can’t wait to see what the next 5 months of my IVY bring! – Maria, IVY Project Partner for the ENI CBC MED project “GREENLAND” at the European Regional Framework for Co-operation For more information on the GREENLAND project Click Here

Hello there! I’m Paty and since September 2022 I have been an Interreg Project partner of the Interreg SUDOE project “MONTCLIMA” at the Observatorio Pirenaico del Cambio Climatico (OPCC) in Jaca Spain. This project means a lot to me because I truly believe that actions speak louder than words, and it is exactly what MONTCLIMA promotes by targeting actions plans to strengthen the resilience of the SUDOE mountain areas. In fact, these mountain areas are among the territories most affected by natural hazards which are expected to increase due to the effects of climate change. It is well known that these risks do not respect administrative boundaries like the wildfires that cross borders in continuous forest areas, and therefore transnational coordination is urgently needed. One of the strengths of this project is its partnership, which brings together the relevant national and research centers, and representatives of regional and local authorities from 4 countries: France, Spain, Portugal and Andorra. Through 6 concrete action plans, MONTCLIMA aims to address the natural and climatic challenges through the prevention and management of natural risks (fires, droughts, flooding and erosion) in SUDOE mountains. As an Interreg project partner, I volunteer within a wonderful team where I am involved in the project execution and communication. My daily tasks are very diverse and broad. On one hand, I help in the organization of seminars, events and communication materials to diffuse the project results. On the other hand, I also assist in the review process of technical documents, coordination meetings, and write news about the recent extreme climatic events in the region. Through this experience, I am learning a lot about how European transnational cooperation works, the main challenges within a project framework, the funding and coordination structures and meeting several key actors addressing climate change issues in the mountain areas. This experience gave me a practical overview of a European project planning, coordination, execution and diffusion. As an IVY volunteer I was invited to several events like the European Youth Event in Santander and Interreg Annual Event where I interacted with many interesting people in intellectually stimulating environments. On a side note, living in Jaca is a great opportunity to connect with nature and explore the nearby Pyrenees and all the possible outdoor activities. At last, I greatly recommend such experiences to young people willing to invest their time and energy on a meaningful cause dear to their hearts. Volunteering gives another taste to work, broadens one’s perspectives and surprises you with unexpected outcomes. Give it a chance 😊 – Paty, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg SUDOE project “MONTCLIMA” at the Observatorio Pirenaico del Cambio Climatico (OPCC) Discover the Interreg SUDOE MONTCLIMA project Click Here If you are curious about OPCC actions

Almost a month and a half after we started our volunteer experience, we are very happy to observe how impactful our actions are. Since the beginning of our mission, we’ve been in charge of very interesting projects involving a wide variety of people. Whether it is Céline who is in charge of organising the arrival and the programme of Chief Executive Officers from the most active organisation in the Caribbean, the OECS or Rafaèle who sets up this year’s edition of the Caribmun project which aims to help make Caribbean students from Secondary schools to work on resolutions to tackle climate change, it is wonderful to see how much autonomy we are given to work. We’re not only happy to witness how much the EU helps us working on our projects. We are also amazed by how existing European funds are in the Martinican landscape. From the fish market to the unique large bus driving at the centre of the island, the EU is present everywhere in the territory and it’s reassuring to see that overseas lands are not forgotten! It reinforces in us the feeling that what we’re doing and what we are engaged for is useful and matters because we can actually observe the results of it. This project is even more interesting because, at first, we thought it was only about helping young people study abroad and now we realise it is so much more than that! – Celine and Rafaele, IVY Project Partners for the Interreg Caraibes project “ELAN” Discover the Interreg ELAN project Click Here

Since mid-August I’m helping the Azienda Autonoma di< Soggiorno e Turismo of Termoli (AAST), Molise Region, Southern Italy, with “FRAMESPORT: Framework initiative fostering the sustainable development of Adriatic small ports” financed by the programme CBC V A Interreg Italy–Croatia.