Month: March 2023

Hello! My name is Silvia, I’m Italian and it’s been a month since I started my experience as IVY Reporter within the National Authority of the Interreg Euro-MED programme in Marseille, France.   The Interreg Euro-MED Programme supports cooperation across Mediterranean borders. The cooperation area covers a territory of 69 regions of 14 countries from the Northern shore of the Mediterranean with a common objective: a climate neutral and resilient society. With the help of the Regional Development Fund, the supported projects work together across borders to make the Mediterranean region smarter, greener and better governed. From the very first moment I arrived at the office, I was warmly welcomed by my colleagues who offered to help me get more comfortable and to answer any kind of questions I had. Unfortunately, at the time of my arrival, an event that had brought together in Marseille all the national contact points involved in the latest call for governance projects had just ended. However, my arrival coincided with the closing of the 14-20 program and the beginning of 21-27, which makes this period particularly dense and rich in work. Personally, my main task consists in the collection and categorization of the main results produced by projects financed during the 2014-2020 programming period. In particular, I recently finished drafting summary sheets of some of the projects from the last programming period that were selected regionally for the concours des étoiles, an initiative aimed at rewarding the best projects in terms of persistence and value of the outcomes. My activities also include right now the revision of the new Internet page on the website of Région PACA (and in detail the part concerning the Euro-MED program) and the communication with the national partners.  What I like most of the IVY programme is the opportunity given to young people to get acquainted with European cooperation programs directly on the ground. This means the chance to work in a stimulating and international environment but also the understanding of what the main challenges for cooperation construction are. – Silvia, IVY Reporter at the National Authority for programme Interreg Euro-Med Discover more about Interreg Euro-Med Click Here

Since my arrival to Martinique, a French overseas territory in the Antilles, I have been immersed in the Caribbean culture, getting to understand its uniqueness and the need to showcase it to the world. For over a month now, I have been an IVY Project Partner in the project RICHÈS KARAYIB – We can make the Caribbean bigger, a joint initiative created by three local organisations to promote the development of a business environment in the cultural sector in the Greater Caribbean. Within the framework of the Interreg-Caraïbes programme, the project aims to develop a permanent space for meetings and exchanges, to federate the Caribbean population and diaspora as well as the international population around the Caribbean richness through a digital platform and a series of itinerant events. As we are a small – but growing – team, I have been involved in several aspects of the project. My main focus is assisting on the planning and production of the events that we organize in other partner countries. After the project launch last December, I have participated in the events in Saint Lucia and recently, in Anguilla; where we organized a culturally themed event followed by the song competition Richès Karayib Voices. With these events we try to showcase a particular aspect of Caribbean culture as well as artists, craftsmen and any other players in the cultural industry. Parallelly, the song challenge gives an opportunity to young locals in each participating territory, to demonstrate their talent and interact with music executives to strengthen their skills. With this experience I have realized how crucial it is for the different territories in the Antilles to develop linkages between them and work together to strengthen their voice as Caribbean. It is thanks to ambitious projects like Richès Karayib that local communities and stakeholders get a chance to participate to the economic development of their territory and their people. – Adriana, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Caraibes project RICHÈS KARAYIB Discover more about the Interreg project RICHÈS KARAYIB Click Here Discover more about our host organisation ASIS W.I. Click Here