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
My IVY experience in Poland
Hi! My name is Agata. I come from Poland, which is where I am currently carrying out my IVY experience. I am volunteering with the Balteus Foundation – a non-governmental organisation focused on enabling cooperation of institutions across the European Union. The Foundation implements projects mostly in the field of sustainable use of natural and cultural resources as well as cultural heritage. As part of my IVY experience I have been involved in the “BaMuR – Baltic Museum Resilience” project for over a month now. The project is carried out under the Interreg Baltic Sea Region 2021-2027 programme and it is aimed at increasing the resilience of museums, memory institutions and cultural institutions in difficult times, such as the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Within the project a toolbox will be developed, which will provide these heritage institutions with solutions that they can apply in case of any other future crisis. What’s more, the outcome of the project is expected to not only provide the resilience opportunities for these institutions but also for the whole societies. This topic is especially important to me as I am an art history graduate. I believe that museums as well as other cultural institutions play an extremely important role in society in terms of education and preserving the local history and heritage. That is why I think it is crucial for them to gain the ability to overcome challenges and adapt to new realities in difficult times. One of my tasks so far has been to conduct questionnaires among museums and other cultural and memory institutions to find out about their experiences with such events as the COVID-19 pandemic. It was particularly interesting as I have been able to find out what particular museums in Poland have been struggling with during the times of crisis and what solutions they have developed. I am very grateful for this opportunity that I probably wouldn’t be able to get if I didn’t join the IVY programme. I am looking forward to further contributing to the project and finding out more about resilience of cultural institutions! – Agata, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Balic Sea Region project “BaMuR” at Balteus Foundation /*! elementor – v3.6.5 – 27-04-2022 */ .e-container.e-container–row .elementor-spacer-inner{width:var(–spacer-size)}.e-container.e-container–column .elementor-spacer-inner,.elementor-column .elementor-spacer-inner{height:var(–spacer-size)} Discover more about the Interreg project BaMuR Click Here Discover more about our host organisation Foundation Balteus Click Here
Being an IVY volunteer in the Caribbean
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
