Connecting people, sharing ideas, raising awareness, strengthening European Cooperation. This is what we did and learnt last week. On 9th and 10th April the Interreg Communication Network Meeting (ICON) was placed in Amsterdam. Interact organized the event and Interreg Programmes all over the Europe gathered together to discuss about this crucial and noteworthy topic. Communication is the knotting point for creating an environment more inclusive, sustainable, open-mind and aware. It aims at getting involve citizens and communities so that they feel part of Europe, know more about European action and important achievements of Interreg Programmes at the local level. Thanks to communication, pe

Hello! Do you know what volunteering in a natural park in Lithuania is like? Well, read this article and you’ll find out! My name is Alessandro, I am Italian and I am 29 years old. I have a university degree in Biology, and a good amount of my education was related to nature conservation and similar issues. “Wow, that’s cool!” you may be thinking. Yes, it is, but when it comes to find a job in this field, it is a bit less cool, at least in Italy! Playing educative games with youngsters is one of the main activities of our institution. Here, you can see a group from a school nearby playing a quiz in our conference hall. I was looking for an opportunity to do something useful for me and at the

Spring... In this season, I always wait to buy fresh strawberries and vegetables from local rural farmers. Food producers and farmers mostly organize the sales in a "face to face" way, and the market area is just their home garden. People who lives in the city do not always have the opportunity to get fresh food. City inhabitants are used to go to supermarkets and shops and I often ask to myself „Why farmers could not delivering food products to city shops, supermarkets and restaurants?“. Therefore, I am so happy that Lithuanian countryside tourism association (LCTA) invited me to join Interreg program as a volunteer in the project “Baltic Sea Food“. Being a volunteer within the project „Bal

My name is Georgios Kefalidis and I am from Greece, from Komotini, a small town in northern Greece, close to the borders of Bulgaria and Turkey. Since my students years I was interested about the idea European Union principals, so when I heard about the potential participation into the IVY program, I applied without any doubt. At this point, I would like to express my excitement to be a part of this European Union’s initiative program, IVY, because it combines the work experience with the education. As I have been a volunteer for almost a month in the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Xanthi, I would like to share with you the fact that the cooperation and integration between the Members S

I'm Maša from Slovenia and I started my IVY volunteering experience at the beginning of February. My host organisation is National Institute of Biology, where I am included in a research project Eco-AlpsWater. Our aim is to improve the traditional monitoring approaches for lakes and rivers by using new molecular tools. We are trying to develop a method that would enable us to detect toxins in our water bodies as early as possible. Having a biological background myself, this project is an excellent opportunity for me to gain some experience that could help me with my career and at the same time contribute to local community. During the past two months we've been working on optimizing methods

What intrigued me in the project of becoming an IVY volunteer is the opportunity given to all to be able experiencing active life abroad or in another region, with a functional and professional supervision. Having a consequent European volunteer experience, it’s without any surprise that I chose to go abroad. Not too far still, as it’s the first time I’m leaving to settle somewhere to work. The applications done, I’m waiting… in sight, Belgium, Spain or Check Republic. The working projects being similar, I was decided to choose on the first answer. Finally, it’s the Stop CO2 project that contacts me to get an interview. This one happens perfectly and we are already starting to discuss arrivi

Living close to a border can have many benefits. Shopping trips and holiday destinations that are close to home but still different are always within grasp. But how much do we know about the country and the people we visit so frequently? Do we truly cease the opportunities two countries so close to each other provide? This is where the INTERREG project “Nachbarsprache&buurcultuur” steps in. The idea is to enable pupils from both countries to look beyond the border and to provide a space for them to communicate not only with native speakers of their target language but with peers. In order to do so, the project provides a wide range of tools and various forms of assistance for schools: The “N

I’m Luc from France and I’m doing an IVY volunteer in Spain (Lugo) in a company named Vida Láctea. I’m working on a project named “Atlantic Youth Creative Hubs” (AYCH) that is funded by the Interreg Atlantic Area programme. It’s a project built for integrating best practice and knowledge, supporting young talents and their education, entrepreneurship and employability through the development of creative and technological skills. Four countries are engaged in this project: United-Kingdom, France, Spain and Portugal. I graduated 3 years ago in both urban planning and european project management within the university of Lille. This education gave me a good knowledge of EU communication rules, i