Month: October 2026

Hi everyone! My name is Elisa, and I have been volunteering as an IVY Project Partner in Bodø, Norway, within the Nordic Bridge Project, part of the Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic (NPA) Programme, hosted by Nord University. It has been two months since I arrived, and it has already been an inspiring learning experience! What is Nordic Bridge project about? Nordic Bridge is a challenge-driven digital portal connecting academia, students, and local stakeholders across the Northern Periphery and Arctic region. In practice, this looks like the following: challenges are posted on the platform by public, private and community organisations, to which students and researchers can respond. This can lead to thesis, joint research projects and internships that are grounded in the actual needs of a region. This way, it gives municipalities and businesses access to fresh perspectives and research capacity that they might not otherwise have, while providing students and researchers with access to real-world challenges to work on, something that can otherwise be difficult to find independently. As an Interreg Volunteer Youth, my role is centred on stakeholder engagement and communication. I take part in project meetings, co-creation workshops, and discussions related to the development of the Nordic Bridge digital portal. I help review and reflect on the feedback gathered from these sessions, which I find particularly interesting to be part of. Alongside this, I engage directly with youth organisations, and other non-academic stakeholders to help build community engagement around the Nordic Bridge concept, making sure young people become active partners in shaping the platform rather than passive users. What cooperation looks like Through this mission, I have also seen, very concretely, how much groundwork goes into building genuine cross-border cooperation, from partner coordination and stakeholder mapping to the more human side of building trust between people who do not yet know each other. What I find most valuable about Nordic Bridge is that it does exactly this: it connects students, researchers, and organisations from Norway, Finland, Iceland, and Ireland, giving them a shared space to work together on challenges that matter, even though they may never have crossed paths otherwise. And honestly, it is exactly the kind of platform I wish I had access to as a student, especially when finding a thesis topic was never straightforward! A learning experience Beyond the daily tasks, I have also had the joy of discovering a new place to live, and the Arctic light and landscapes that come with it – along with the people who have welcomed me here. This is only the beginning, and I cannot wait to see where the coming months and this project will take me. I encourage you to seize any opportunity to take part in an IVY experience: it is one of the most direct ways to understand what European cooperation is really about and also become part of it yourself. – Elisa, IVY Project Partner at Nord University, for the Interreg project NORDIC BRIDGE, under the programme Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic

Being part of the SWAMED project as an IVY volunteer has given me the opportunity to experience European cooperation in a very practical way. At Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, I have been able to see how an international project works behind the scenes and how different institutions and people cooperate around common challenges. What’s SWAMED? SWAMED focuses on smart agriculture, irrigation management and sustainable water use, which are especially important topics for Mediterranean regions. What I find most interesting is that the project does not only focus on technical solutions, but also on how these solutions can be shared with farmers, local institutions and other stakeholders.   My activities As an IVY volunteer, I support different activities related to communication, visibility, training materials, events and project documentation. I also have the chance to observe how the project connects researchers, local stakeholders and project partners. This has helped me understand that communication is a very important part of a project, especially when the goal is to make its results useful outside the project team as well. Values One of the things I value most about this experience is being able to work in an international environment and meet people with different backgrounds and perspectives. It has also changed the way I see programmes such as Interreg and European Territorial Cooperation. Before, these concepts felt quite formal to me, but now I can see more clearly how they translate into real cooperation and real activities. My experience at IVY For me, IVY has been a good opportunity to learn, contribute and gain a better understanding of how European projects work in practice. I am happy to be part of SWAMED and to contribute to a project that focuses on challenges that are very relevant for Mediterranean regions. – Melda, IVY Project Partner at Alanya Alaaddin Keykubat University, for the Interreg project SWAMED, under the programme Interreg NEXT Med.