My experience as an Interreg Volunteer

Hello everyone, My name is Marianne and it has been almost two months since I started my experience as an Interreg Volunteer. So far, everything is going well, being a volunteer is a very rich experience at both personal and professional level. Within the CPMR Intermediterranean Commission, I’m currently supporting the planification of activities for “Community4Tourism”. This project is a governance project of Thematic Community of the Interreg Euro MED programme. It belongs to Mission 4 of the programme “Enhancing Sustainable Tourism”. “Community4Tourism” aims at: facilitating the exchanges and the development of synergies between thematic projects at Med level; developing technical knowledge embedding the results of the projects and strategies; supporting the effective transfer of their results to other territories or stakeholders; The project will coordinate and work very closely with Dialogue4Tourism, the Institutional Dialogue project of Mission 4. In the framework of my mission as a volunteer I have already being involved in the current activities of the project. We are at this stage, launching the first activities of the project and planning the work for the next years. Previous Next I hope that this small overview made you want to follow our project and the mission. If so, note that soon our website will be available. There, we will be sharing on the progress of activities, main results, and events regarding the mission. -Marianne, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Euro-Med project “Community4Tourism” at CPMR Intermediterranean Commission. Discover more about the Interreg project Community4Tourism Click Here Discover more about our host organisation CPMR Intermediterranean Commission Click Here
My Volunteering Experience for Interreg Alpine Space projects ADAPTNOW and X-Risk CC

Hey! My name is Julie, I from France and I started an interreg volunteer in Lyon 1 month ago. My host organization is a regional agency of energy and environment which is working a lot on European projects. They are part of two new projects that started in November last year: ADAPTNOW and X-RISK. The first one, ADAPTNOW, works on strengthening the adaptive capacity of Highly Affected and Exposed Territories to be able to cope with unpredictable climate events for the future. The second one, X-RISK, is similar but is focusing on extreme events. The goal of these two projects is to be better prepared for the natural risks that are changing with the climate change. Two topics that interest me a lot! My mission is to help with the first stage of each of the two projects. For that, I am doing the inventory of the risk management tools that already exist (with the aim then to see what can be improved), I will also interview some natural hazard actors about a storm in France that happened 4 years ago, and I already participated to some meetings. One of these meetings was a few days ago. I had the chance to go with some colleagues at the Eurac Research Center in Bolzano for a X-RISK meeting and to exchange with all the partners from the project. It was super interesting to see how people from the alpine space (Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Slovenia…) gather and work together to find solutions for the future! I am super happy to have joined the IVY community, it is a super experience, and I am glad to contribute at my level in environmental European territorial cooperation projects! – Julie, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Alpine Space ADAPTNOW & X-Risk CC at the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Energy Environment Agency – AURA EE Discover more about the Interreg project ADAPTNOW Click Here Discover more about the Interreg project X-Risk CC Click Here Discover more about our host organisation Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Energy Environment Agency Click Here
Volunteering for Interreg South Baltic

Hello! My name is Ancor and I am from Gran Canaria, Spain. I am currently an IVY Reporter at the Joint Secretariat Interreg South BALTIC in Gdańsk, Poland! As an IVY Reporter, I support office communication in promoting the work of the Joint Secretariat and the projects financed by the organisation. Interreg South Baltic is a multilateral cross-border cooperation between the coastal regions of five EU Member States: Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Lithuania, and Poland, with actions focused on the blue and green economy. Being an IVY Volunteer at the Joint Secretariat has been an exciting and gratifying experience since the very first day. With a background in Geography and Territorial Planning, and a specialisation in Environmental Partnership Management, I feel particularly passionate about EU Cohesion Policies, territorial cooperation, partnership working, and their interplay in ensuring policy change and implementation as a roadmap to resilient and sustainable communities along the South Baltic area. Thus, this is the right place to be. Moreover, this experience is allowing me to immerse myself in different domains in EU interregional cooperation and European Cohesion Policies, bringing me the opportunity to acquire new skills and network. I have found a great family and I have the opportunity to share my expertise and experience with a group of excellent professionals that guide me and mentor me. Thus, this experience is allowing me to growth professionally and it will boost my future career. At a personal level, the reception and constant support received facilitates my integration and development, making me feel integrated and comfortable in my daily tasks. Although I have just got started, I have had the chance to work on several different tasks, such as communication tasks, data revisions, drafting reports and social media content creation. I am becoming confident with communication, project management and the functioning of the European Regional Development Fund, and the overall intricacies of the EU Cohesion Policies. After the first month of this new chapter, I can say that I feel thrilled to be part of Interreg South Baltic in an stimulating, supportive and empowering environment to actively take part and be part in shaping Europe’s cross-border actions to tackle common challenges and find shared solutions. – Ancor, IVY Reporter at the Joint Secretariat Interreg South Baltic Discover more about the Interreg programme South Baltic Click Here
Volunteering for the VerdeVale project

Hi! My name is Anna, I am 22 and come from Italy, I have a Bachelor’s degree in International Affairs and Diplomacy; while working at my dissertation I came across Interreg program and eventually IVY… And here I am! I am now volunteering as an IVY Project Partner for the VerdeVale project with R3GIS, a software house based in Bolzano. I am currently working on the communication and dissemination aspect of the project. It is a pleasure to collaborate with many experts in the sustainability field and being involved in such a dynamic, inspiring and friendly environment. The programme aims to study urban green areas management and to find better solutions to tackle common issues related to environmental crisis effects for Bolzano and Lugano. -Anna, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Ialy-Swizerland project “VerdeVale” at R3GIS Discover more about the Interreg project VerdeVale Click Here Discover more about our host organisation R3GIS Click Here
My first month as an interreg volunteer

My name is Maria, and I am a volunteer of IVY since February 2023 in the island of Cyprus. I was never engaged in the IVY programme before and the experience is unique. My host organization is Nicosia Tourism Board a non-profit organization in Nicosia the capital of Cyprus and the mission is to promote the city and peripheral area of Nicosia as a tourist and business destination. My studies are on digital marketing technologies and the program of Education tourism is giving me an extra opportunity to practice my knowledge on advertising and promoting places a tourist or a citizen must visit in the area of Nicosia. The goals of this project are the development of an Educational Tourism product that will highlight the natural and cultural heritage and extend the tourist season in the eligible areas between Greece and Cyprus. Furthermore, the program aims on creating a training program for trainers, teachers and tourism professionals to obtain the sustainability and repeatability of the project results, the creation of a platform that will aim to create an online community to promote educational tourism and the organization and implementation of targeted publicity actions, which will aim to inform the target groups. Moreover, the IVY programme is bringing the connection to countries of Europe that facing the same difficulties and these countries are working together to find the best solution. – Maria, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Greece-Cyprus project EduTourism at the Nicosia Tourism Board Discover more about the Interreg project EduTourism Click Here Discover more about our host organisation Nicosia Tourism Board Click Here
My first month volunteering with IVY!

Hello! My name is Marta, I’m Italian and it’s been a month since I started my experience as IVY Reporter within the communication office of the Interreg Atlantic Area based in Porto, Portugal. The Interreg Atlantic Area is a programme that has many important goals like fostering cooperation and cohesion between the countries of the Atlantic Area. Furthermore, the core of the programme is to support innovative initiatives that contribute to the growth of this area solve common challenges across border through the implementation of joint actions and contribute to new or current policies. The countries that cooperate in this project are France, Ireland, Spain and Portugal. I was warmly welcomed at the office in Porto and supported in getting done my tasks. Talking about the latter, as I am supporting the communication office my goal is to spread information about the programme and the projects that are supported by Interreg Atlantic Area. That is why, I both share posts on social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter and write articles on our website. I find being an IVY volunteer very enriching, as all the projects have at their core cohesion and cooperation between the countries of the EU, which is really important to become a better European citizen. I chose and thrilled to be an IVY volunteer as I am gaining many new skills that will be important in my future career. Improving the English language, volunteer in a multicultural environment, learning how to create content on social media, research and write articles are some of the skills I have bettered during this first month with IVY! – Marta, IVY Reporter at the Interreg Atlantic Area Programme Discover more about the Interreg Programme Atlantic Area Click Here