My first month as an IVY volunteer
Hello everyone!! My name is Mattia, I am Italian, and I am an IVY volunteer at the Managing Authority Interreg RO-BG – Romania-Bulgaria. It has been a month since I started my experience here in Romania, and I am already enthusiastic about my contribution and the tasks I am carrying on. The program I volunteer with is “Interreg VI-A Romania-Bulgaria,” which focuses on supporting the development of eligible border areas in Romania and Bulgaria. The program aims to create a “bridge” between the two countries to help border areas overcome similar development problems by encouraging people to cooperate, exchange information, and benefit from better access to the border. Previous Next As soon as I stepped foot inside the Managing Authority, I was welcomed into a warm and friendly working environment where employees work hard to ensure cross-border cooperation activities are successful. During this first month, I am learning a lot about cross-border cooperation since I do many things with the host organization, from supporting my colleagues in their activities to participating in conferences and communication workshops. By this point, I’ve found the experience exciting and beneficial, and I hope, in the coming months, to meet new people and face new challenges that will make me grow and allow me to enrich my personal and cultural background. – Mattia, IVY Reporter at the Managing Authority Interreg Romania-Bulgaria Discover more about our host organisation Interreg Programme Romania – Bulgaria Click Here
My first month as an IVY Reporter at Interreg ALCOTRA
Hello! My name is Sara, I’m Italian and since the end of October 2022 I have been volunteering as an IVY Reporter at Interreg ALCOTRA. ALCOTRA stands for Alpes Latines COopération TRAnsfrontalière and is a European cross-border cooperation programme covering the Alpine territory between France and Italy. Endowed with €182,33 million from the European Regional Development Fund for the period 2021-2027, ALCOTRA supports projects and initiatives in line with these five main goals: revitalising the economy of the ALCOTRA area, tackling environmental challenges, addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, testing new ways of territorial cooperation and overcoming cross-border obstacles. Based at the Joint Secretariat in Turin, I support the Programme communication run by the Managing Authority, Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. During my first month, I mainly supported the team in the organisation of the ALCOTRA 2021-2027 Launch Event, which took place on the 28th and 29th of November in Courmayeur (Italy) and Chamonix (France). Around the same time, I had the chance to attend a three-day seminar in Lyon and Chambéry aimed at encouraging team building and networking among the personnel of the Managing Authority and the Joint Secretariat. It was a great opportunity for me to introduce myself to those working in Lyon and to become better acquainted with those from Turin. By the way, in this IVY adventure at ALCOTRA, I’m not alone: the programme is hosting another volunteer in Lyon, Lavinia, who is involved in the activities of the Youth Council. So far, this experience has been very enriching. In such a short time, I have learned a lot about Cohesion Policy, Interreg, cross-border cooperation and experimented how local communities are truly impacted by the projects implemented on both sides of the French-Italian border. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next few months! – Sara, IVY Reporter at the Joint Secretariat Interreg France-Italy ALCOTRA Discover More About Interreg Programme France-Italy ALCOTRA Click Here
It’s time to cooperate and be active
Since the beginning of October I’m involved at Local Action Group (LAG) Valli di Lanzo Ceronda Casternone where I’m following the project DAC (developing active citizenship), financed by the cooperation programme Interreg France-Italy Alcotra. The project focuses on the close cooperation between Italian and French partners, who strongly believe that by promoting active citizenship at the local and territorial level increase awareness of global challenges. Starting from the importance of being active citizens and the awareness of the impact that citizens action can have at different level, the overall objective of the project is to promote an active and conscious citizenship of the European Green Deal. All the on-going and to be implemented activities are aimed to optimizing the skills needed and actively contribute to the pursuit of the goals of the Green Deal for Europe. In addition to the promotion of active citizenship, the main outputs of the project are the creation of a platform to follow MOOCs, and the delivery of in-person courses or seminars and the creation of a cross-border co-working space. A territorial reference point for the citizens of the areas involved and a symbol of durability and continuity of the project. On the 2nd and the 2rd of December in Vetan, Saint-Pierre (AO) the partners received 15 young people for the DAC Winter School. We carried out this activity to promote inclusiveness and dialogue between young people from the cross-border territories where the project is implementing activities (Savoia, Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta). The goal of the winter school was to raise awareness of climate change in alpine and mountainous areas; several activities related to the issues were proposed with the help of experts and facilitators. – Maria Eleonora, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Italy-France ALCOTRA project “DAC” at Local Action Group (LAG) Valli di Lanzo Ceronda Casternone Discover more about the Interreg project DAC Click Here Discover more about our host organisation GAL Valli di Lanzo, Ceronda e Casternone Click Here
My IVY experience as a Project Partner
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
How volunteering gives another taste to work, broadens one’s perspectives and surprises you with unexpected outcomes.
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
A meaningful experience
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
