My first month as an IVY volunteer for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia
Hello everyone, my name is Thanos and it has been one month since I started volunteering as an IVY reporter for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020 at the Managing Authority/Joint Secretariat in Thessaloniki, Greece. From the first moment, I felt very welcome. Exchanging emails with AEBR made me feel safe. The working environment in the Joint Secretariat is also amicable, everyone was very nice to me. During this month, I had the opportunity to participate in many tasks, such as creating content for social media and reviewing the projects’ communication outputs. In this way, I gained knowledge about several of the co-funded cross-border projects. For example, one of the articles I had to write was about the “wine-up” project, whose main goal is to attract tourists, develop the local economy and create new jobs in the cross-border area. Two of the project’s deliverables are the development of the public square of Archea Krini in Pella, Greece, and the redesign of the public square at the clock tower in Negotino, North Macedonia. In this way, the EU cohesion policy is achieved. I believe that IVY is an opportunity for young people to get to know and embrace the European Union. As the world evolves, the gap between generations grows, and therefore we need the perspective of young people. – Thanos Efthymiou, IVY Reporter for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia Discover more about the host organisation Managing Authority for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia Click Here
My experience as an IVY Reporter at the Managing Authority of Alcotra Programme in Lyon
Hello everyone! My name is Lavinia Agostinelli and a month ago I started my experience as an IVY volunteer at the Managing Authority of the Interreg ALCOTRA Program in Lyon. The ALCOTRA Program operates in the cross-border Alpine area between France and Italy and has five main objectives: to tackle environmental challenges, to respond to the consequences of the health crisis, to test new forms of territorial cooperation, to overcome cross-border obstacles and to make the economy of the ALCOTRA area more dynamic. The aspect that I find most interesting about this Interreg Program and which I am personally involved in is the Youth Council: this is a new cunsultative body, created in July 2022 and made up of some fifteen young representatives of the ALCOTRA territory, which was born out of the need to give a voice to the needs of the young generations. The Youth Council actively participates at each Monitoring Committee, make propositions to improve the development of the cross-border Alpine region and follow the projects funded by the Programme. In particular, I support the communication strategies through which the Council promotes and represents the Interreg ALCOTRA Program at the events in which the Council is invited. For example, on the occasion of the ALCOTRA 2021-2027 Program launch event, the ALCOTRA Youth Council was involved in several activities during the two days of 28 and 29 November in Courmayeur and Chamonix. On the 28th, the Youth Council participated in the Citizen’s Café at the Skyway in Courmayeur and was then involved in the selection of the three “coup de coeur” projects at the Forum held in the afternoon in Chamonix. During the day of 29 November, the Youth Council was the protagonist of the animation of the three round tables, during which the young people were able to ask a series of questions to the elected representatives and technicians present. I think it was a very good opportunity for young people to get to grips with European policies and to understand how they work in practice on the ground. It was also a very formative experience for me in terms of both organisation and content because it allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and get involved in a big event. – Lavinia, IVY Reporter for the Managing Authority Interreg France-Italy Alcotra Discover more about the ALCOTRA Youth Council Click Here
My experience as an IVY volunteer in Alexander Innovation zone
It’s been 3 months since I started my IVY journey and the only way I could describe my experience is beyond what I imagined. My name is Evangelia Papomata and I am an Interreg Volunteer in Alexander Innovation Zone. My main task is to promote the Interreg project co-working via Instagram-Facebook-Twitter-Youtube, to write articles and post them in our website and assist in any way I can my coworkers. Alexander Innovation Zone (AIZ) is the managing body that has undertaken the management and development of the Thessaloniki Innovation Zone. The role of AIZ is to strengthen and promote the innovative activity of the wider area of Thessaloniki, with an emphasis on public benefit purposes. So far I have taken part in many projects such as the ‘’CO-Working’’ and ‘’Together’’, which are about guiding the new startupers and networking action with successful Thessaloniki Startups. But the project that got my attention was the ‘’Productive Truancy’’ which is aiming for students to get a glimpse of the real word. How this project works? Well…it is very simple. Students of Central Macedonia visit innovative companies of Northern Greece and are being educated by established professionals. As a result, they learn how the workspaces are, find inspiration about their future careers and motivation to achieve their goals. 1300 students visit 25 innovative companies which are: Apifon, Zelia, Embryolab, CHIMAR, BETA CAE, EPSILON NET, EXANDIA, Olympia Electronics, Titan, etc.. The Productive Truancy was implemented strictly online due to the Covid-19 pandemic from 2017 until 2021 but from now on, in 2022 we started the live visits. I feel fulfilled when I look the impact that this project has in the students, especially when they said to us that due to this experience they came up with a future business idea and are going to share this experience with their friends from another schools. It makes me look back to my school years and hoped to have more actions like this one. Nevertheless, I feel lucky that I am able to provide them with that. Thank you IVY for helping me do that! – Evangelia, IVY Project Partner for the Greece-Bulgaria project “Co-Working” at the Alexander Innovation Zone SA “Stories of European Cooperation”: Co-Working project Read more from Evangelia on the Co-Working project Click Here Discover the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria Co-Working project Click Here If you are curious about Alexander Innovation Zone S.A. actions
The case of entrepreneurship actions at Evros
I start to volunteer for the Interreg project “Smart Cross-Border Entrepreneurship Accelerator – SEA”, under the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria programme at the Evros Chamber of Commerce. The project is a cross-border accelerator supporting entrepreneurship, start-ups that develops capabilities, skills throughout the process of turning an idea into a functioning business. It covers all stages, starting from idea selection, intensive training and mentoring to turn the idea into a product/service, market implementation, start-up operation, ending with promotion and interaction with potential investors or financial institutions. The entire acceleration cycle develops cross-border networking and mobilisation to serve a balanced mix of business ideas originating from both countries. The aim of the training programme is, in eight meetings, to prepare the candidates to present their business idea to experienced and independent judges. The programme is divided into three stages, the third of which is only for the finalist teams to prepare them for the final pitch. During the first two stages, mentors, coaches and trainers will help the teams to understand the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and develop an effective presentation, which they will refine in the third stage. My role in this is to support the activities at the Evros chamber by producing content from the activities (photos, articles, videos), using social media, communicating with stakeholders. The outcome of the project is to improve the regional business support system and to strengthen the entrepreneurial potential of young people in the region with skills and knowledge on how to create and develop start-up companies. In addition, it is expected to enable this employment for the start-ups themselves and increase opportunities for new jobs as the companies grow. Other participants will benefit from expert sessions and workshops, enhanced knowledge and skills that will enable them to improve their skills. – Christos, IVY Project Partner for the Greece-Bulgaria project “SEA” at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Evros Discover the Interreg SEA project Click Here If you are curious about CCI of Evros actions
Volunteering for the MYSEA project in Tunisia
Since the beginning of my IVY Volunteer experience within the ENI CBC-Med project “MY SEA: Mediterranean Youth, NEETs and women advancing Skills, Employment and Awareness in the blue and green economy” I am participating and supporting the activities for the implementation of the project in Tunisia with the Union Tunisienne de Solidarité Sociale (UTSS), one of the six partners of the project. During my first month volunteering, I could already witness the importance given to the Tunisian local community. The project tackles a group considered vulnerable in the professional insertion, such as young, women and Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) and aim to insert them in the professional world combining economic actors and formation trainings specialized in the agrifood and waste management sectors. We launched the form for the candidature of 250 beneficiaries who will participate in trainings to improve their employability, thanks to the strengthening of their digital, sector-related, and transversal skills, with the aim of reducing the skills mismatch while strongly contributing to two fields that will provide a sustainable and eco-responsible impact on the Tunisian context: the agri-food and waste management sectors. The project will finally lead to the professional insertion of young willing Tunisian within enterprises, but not only! It will also contribute to the creation of three associations within the field of agrifood and waste management, a long-term solution that will hopefully contribute to the development and continuation of this action. Last week the Union Tunisienne de la Solidarité Sociale (UTSS) organized a meeting with the experts to discuss the logistical aspects of the trainings that will soon start for young Tunisian people and women in the region of Grand Tunis and two Tunisian Governorates: Nabeul and Bizerte. The transnationality of the project embraces a partnership without borders: as an IVY volunteer I am participating in meetings with all project partners (Centro Informazione Educazione e Sviluppo (CIES Onlus); the University of Palermo – Department of Agricultural,Food and Forestry Sciences, the EuroTraining Educational Organisation in Greece, Lebanese Development Network (LDN) in Lebanon, the Jordan University of Science and Technology, and the Tunisian Union of Social Solidarity (UTSS). As an IVY volunteer, I am contributing to the continuous exchange and dialogue of good ideas and knowledge in the project.
Working together to protect animals and create a better future for everybody
They say time flies when we are having a good time and my first month as an IVY Volunteer has really passed so fast! My name is Flavia, I am Italian and I am now in France as an IVY Project Partner at Parc Naturel Régional des Vosges du Nord. This Natural Park is, together with its German counterpart (Naturpark Pfälzerwald), part of an UNESCO Transboundary Biosphere Reserve. Sounds like the perfect place to be, doesn’t it? I am working on the Interreg project “Endangered Animal Species” which focuses on the protection of a very diverse groups of animals which includes butterflies, bats and crayfish. They can be found all over the Reserve and therefore need a collective effort to assure their conservation. Protecting nature is essential to assure a bright and healthy future for everybody and I really like this project because it is the perfect example of why cross-border cooperation is necessary and useful to achieve that. My main mission here is to help the team during the conservation actions in the field and to assist in the coordination with the German partners, in order to exchange knowledge and establish a cohesive action plan. Moreover, I have been participating in various dissemination activities like writing some scientific articles or proposing games and performances to children: we teach them how to recognize all the animals they can meet around the Natural Reserve and we show them how easy yet important it is to respect nature and its inhabitants, no matter the species they belong to… or the language they speak! The Parc des Vosges du Nord is putting in place so many different and interesting actions to protect and valorize not only the natural but also the cultural and architectural heritage of this amazing territory and I am very happy to be part of this team. Moreover, our office is located inside the Castle of La Petite-Pierre, a little village surrounded by the forest: a truly magical place! I have already learnt so much and I can’t wait to discover even more about the multiple aspects of cross-border cooperation and biodiversity conservation during the next five months. Thank you IVY for this opportunity… the best is yet to come! Flavia, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg project Endangered animal species in the Vosges du Nord – Pfälzerwald Cross-border Biosphere Reserve
