Hi to everyone in our big IVY family! The time has come for me to finally write my first blog post. But firstly, let me introduce myself. My name is Veronika and I am currently volunteering as an Interreg Reporter in Bratislava, Slovakia (Interreg V-A SK-CZ /Interreg V-A SK-AT). As I’ve just reached the middle of my volunteering period, I think I’ve gathered enough material and experiences to share with you on this blog. I am (as far as I know) one of the few volunteers who got the chance to volunteer in their home country and didn't have to travel XY kilometres away into the distant unknown lands (which is a bit ironic cause one of the main reasons I signed up for ESC was to embark on an ad

It´s difficult to believe that half of my IVY voluntary service has already passed! Time flies indeed. And as I continue volunteering for POCTEFA, my experience deepens as well as knowledge about the trans-regional cooperation and EU initiatives. Recently I had a chance to attend the Review Committee where I met some EU Commission officials and certain beneficiaries of our projects. As a Joint Secretary we were resolving doubts and giving detailed information on technical assistance, rules of financing and reimbursement and how to manage the projects. The event took place in a center which is supported by one of our projects, Jacob@ccess. It was therefore a perfect opportunity to visit the v

A few years ago in parallel with my bachelor, I started to engage heavily with volunteerism. It was a “wonderful trip” where I managed to create two volunteering associations: a) the local Erasmus Student Association for helping Erasmus students from abroad to get familiar with our culture & my university and b) IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) Student Branch for promoting research. Through this trip I had the chance to create friendships for a lifetime, learn new languages & receive the pleasure of smiles in the faces of the people that I have helped. Once a volunteer, always a volunteer. When I learned the opportunity of the Interreg Volunteer Youth programme, I said