Hi everyone ! I am Anna, from France, and I am currently an Interreg Volunteer Youth at the AVITeM (The Agency for Sustainable Mediterranean Cities and Territories) in Marseille, France. I have a bachelor in Geography and Planning, and before to pursue a master I wanted to have a work experience, linked to regions and cohesion policy. This is why I wished to be an IVY volunteer and so far I have learnt a lot ! I am involved in 2 Interreg projects, HERIT-DATA and ODEON, and punctually helping with a third Interreg project, TRIG-Eau. Let me give you a quick idea of what I do ! HERIT-DATA is a project that aims to develop innovative solutions to better manage tourism flows impact on cultural an

Hello, hello! Greetings everybody! My name is Jan, I am from South Bohemia and I am 23 years old. I am with IVY for a second month. I am a student of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. I applied for a REE-gain project: Recycling of electrical waste using an algae to the Algatech microbiological institute on the outskirts of a beautiful Czech town Třeboň, which boasts the breeding of the legendary carp. I came to IVY for recommendations of another IVY member and I chose this project, because for me it´s interesting how my field of study and this project could be interrelated. Project, where Czech and Austrian scientists works together, solves an int

Hello everyone! My name is Lydia and I am an IVY within the programme INTERREG Großregion | Grande Région. What is the Greater Region, will some of you certainly ask? It is a cross-border region, which comprises of the state of Luxembourg, the regions of Lorraine (France), Wallonia and the German-speaking community of Belgium (Belgium) as well as Saarland and Rhineland-Palatine (Germany). The European idea has its roots in today's Greater Region and gained in significance above all through the Coal and Steel Community, the associated coal mining industry and the steel industry. Also, one of the founding fathers, Robert Schuman, was born in Luxembourg, trained as a lawyer in Germany and lived

Three months ago, I was moving to Portugal to become an IVY volunteer. It was my first time in the Iberian Peninsula, and I had no idea of the language, the local working culture or the kind of job I would have done, were it not for the short description provided in the ad on the IVY online platform and the interview I went through. It was going to be an amazing experience. Very soon, I was integrated in the Interreg Atlantic Area team, having the chance of working both with the Joint Secretariat and the Managing Authority. I witnessed the tireless support given by the Joint Secretariat to project leaders and partners, and appreciated the strategic dimension of programme priorities definitio

It's been over a month since my IVY adventure began. As a nature lover, I volunteer on the project NATURE&WILDLIFE. It is INTERREG Slovenia – Hrvatska 2014-2020 project with focus on creating a tourist product for experiencing nature and wild animals in the cross-border areas of the Dinaric Alps. The area is an undivided forest on both sides of the border that is a part of the northern Dinarides. It is the only area in Europe where all three large predator species (bear, lynx and wolf) are still preserved. It is an important environmental and marketing advantage, which can be used in this cross-border cooperation. First snow 2020 in Gorski kotar The main project goal is active persistence of

Hello! My name is Audrey and I chose for my experience with IVY to join the Academy of Martinique in order to work on an innovative project called ELAN. The INTERREG Caribbean project, “ELAN – Linguistic Exchanges and Innovative Learning through mobility”, funded by the European Regional Development Fund and the European Development Fund aims to encourage the mastery of Caribbean languages and to enhance the mobility of students, teachers, academic and vocational training within the Caribbean in order to strengthen employability and integration levers for young people. The program also aims to boost the attractiveness and competitiveness of targeted territories and to encourage the emergence

Hello everyone! My name is Katerina, I am 24 years old, I studied Economics in Democritus University of Komotini and I'm originally from Drama, a small town in Northern Greece. Drama is located close to the Bulgarian borders and is known for its Christmas market and fun park (Oneiroupoli-The Dreamtown) that takes place here every December. Drama is also known for the excellent wines and marble production. Both economy sectors are closely connected to the rich natural environment of the area. In Greece due to financial crisis, young people face important difficulties in finding a decent job in local enterprises; one that can provide you significant experience and give you the floor to try y

Giulio Ribezzo – Sutura My name is Francesco and I’m an IVY Volunteer at the Interreg IPA CBC Italy-Albania-Montenegro programme, based in the fascinating city of Bari, Puglia region, Italy. The main objective of the programme is the promotion of Cross-Border Cooperation between these three countries, focusing on four main pillars: Competitiveness of SMEs, Tourism and Culture, Environment and Energy and Sustainable Transport. After almost two months there, I can say that I am super happy I was selected for this opportunity for many reasons: indeed, given my background in eastern European and Balkan studies, this chance means finally engaging in the international cooperation of the countries

According to the European Commission, precisely with regard to the initiatives aimed at supporting the transition towards the circular economy across the EU overall territory, among the different relevant stakeholders industries play a considerable role as concerns the importance of facilitating the industrial symbiosis process, so that – as a result – it will be possible to reduce the average of the emissions of hazardous substances, which in turn contaminate certainly air and in general environment while being harmful to health. In this respect, worthy of mention, is the “Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the

Hello, My experience. The project "QNeST- Quality Network on Sustainable Tourism" aims to volorise the common and quality features of the cultural, traditional and environmental heritage of the Adriatic-Ionian area. Through the realization of a transnational model of participative interaction between private and public stakeholders such as local and traditional operators, tour in service providers, craftsmen, sectorial experts, local communities, institutions and cultural, social and environmental associations, the project will contribute to: improve and spread a common awareness on quality and sustainable tourism among different types of actors in Adriatic Ionian area; manage the local seas

Hello everyone! We are Eva and Lara, Interreg volunteers at the University of Ljubljana – Medical Center for Molecular Biology. We are involved in the Interreg project named TRANS-GLIOMA. The project is based on cooperation between different research institutions in Slovenia (Medical Faculty, National institute of Biology and BioSistematika) and Italy. The main aim of the program is research on the brain tumor glioblastoma, searching for biomarkers of glioblastoma stem cells, which could be a step forward for development of new diagnostics, and to find an appropriate delivery systems of biomarkers to reach cancer cells targetes. [if gte vml 1]><v:shapetype id="_x0000_t75" coordsize="21600,2

Hello! We are Sofia & Evi, two IVY volunteers participating in Social Plate, a project in the Central Market of Thessaloniki, Greece which aims to combat poverty and social exclusion as well as support social agencies with the same goals. Let’s find out a little bit more about why and how social plate exists! In the contemporary world of today, our society has to face a lot of issues in a multidimensional level. Social Plate focuses on tackling environmental and social issues by saving food. What does that mean practically? Trying to reduce our ecological footprint towards a zero-waste policy and a more sustainable tomorrow we manage the fruits and vegetable which are not sold in the Central

Hello everyone! I am Angela, a Romanian volunteering in Italy! I have started this international experience five months ago in the Institute for Minority Rights in Bolzano, Italy with an Erasmus+ traineeship and after that, I have started my IVY experience in the same institution within EUMINT Interreg project. The EUMINT project intends to strengthen institutional cross-border cooperation between Italy and Austria in the territories of Südtirol-Alto Adige (IT), Tirol (AT), Friuli Venezia Giulia (IT), Kärnten (AT), Veneto (IT) and Trentino (IT) in order to tackle the social, economic, political and cultural challenges connected to migration. Common and coherent integration measures in border

“Being a volunteer! What a nice thing!”- someone can say, without thinking on what it really means to get in touch with experienced and long-time volunteers. How to "give a hand" to those who are already trying to make this planet a better place!? This was one of two question that sprang me into mind the first time I came across in a team of rescuers and researchers. It was at the first meeting of my IVY (Interreg Volunteer Youth) experience and I was there, standing by myself, listening the voices around me, with no answer, not yet... Named Interreg-START (Smart Test for Alpine Rescue Technologies), it is just one of the Interregional initiatives made up by the “Union” all around the Europe

It has already passed a month and I have only good memories to remember. My experience at the Chamber is perfect and everything is going well as I expected. As I also mentioned in our previous communication earlier this month, my experience was very interesting. The Chamber is currently active in many things and we all help in the implementation process. In October 2019 the Chamber participated at the Info Day of project ‘’ReinForce Social Entrepreneurial Spirit through setting up Innovative Support Structures in the cross-border Territory’’ with the topic: Presentation and analysis of the new legislation on social economy and opportunities for cooperation and synergy within the Cross-border

We are four volunteers currently working on the PALIMPSEST Project, a research project co-funded by the Interreg V-A Greece-Italy 2014-2020, a program that aims to develop an interactive museum experience in Ioannina, Epirus, Greece. We aim to restore layers of the cities’ past that have been lost or forgotten and, thus, preserve assets of oral cultural heritage and attract high quality tourism, each of us contributing within his/hers respected field of expertise. We took the initiative of writing this post together because even though our specialties are so different and distinct, we try to collaborate in every possible layer and in every step of this unprecedented journey. We aim to exchan

Hello everyone. I´m Abel David a biomedical engineering graduate and I was offered this IVY experience when I was doing my business internship in the Institute for Biomedical and Health Research of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) two months ago. I was able to extend my stay helping with the proyect and I'm very happy with the experience. In this two months I've mainly helped them with science fairs and outreach activities in social networks, while ocassionally helping in more technical areas. I'm working with the MedTec4SusDev (Medical Technology for Sustainable Development) team under the MACbioIDi (Macaronesian Biomedical Investigation Development and innovation), we f