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Hello everyone! My name is Laura, I’m italian and it’s been a month since I started my experience as IVY Reporter at the Italian National Contact Point for the Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme at Regione Veneto. The Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme is a European funding programme that encourages transnational cooperation projects to make regions and cities more resilient to common challenges. Thought the European  Regional Development Fund, its goal is to create a smarter, greener, better connected and more integrated central Europe. More specifically, the Italian NCP is appointed to provide information to potential applicants, suggest and assist beneficiaries, communicate programme achievements and support programme management. As soon as I arrived to the office I have been involved in communication activities such as social media content creation, implementation of the new regional website, and organizing the European Cooperation Day in September. The main aim of my daily task is to disseminate to the community/general public the outputs produced by project fianced during the first call financed by the programme 2021-2027of the project in our territory.  Since the beginning, I have been supported by the team, which not only warmly welcomed but also always give me the right directions and advises in order to improve the daily tasks and understand more in detail all the process of the programme. Even it is only been a month since I am here, I feel I am really improving my communication and organizational skills and I cannot wait to see what the next months will bring me! – Laura, IVY Reporter for the Italian National Contact Point for Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE Programme Discover more about Interreg Central Europe Click Here

Hello everybody, my name is Julia and since February I am an IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Atlantic Area project “SAFER” within the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) in their Brussels office. Following my Cross-border Cooperation Studies, I wanted to see how projects were implemented and nothing better than to experience it from the heart of the European Union.  I am volunteering within the Atlantic Arc Commission for the SAFER project financed by the Interreg  Atlantic Area program. SAFER is about Smart Atlantic Seafood Clusters and mainly promotes innovation in the aquaculture sector while also promoting international cooperation. In the project we work with four countries: Ireland, France, Spain and Portugal with some labs also located in Northern Ireland and partners form Canada (New Foundland and Labrador). It is a very interesting project that also shows the importance and resilience of the sector while actively contributing to sustainability. Having the opportunity to volunteer from Brussels has offered me the chance to not only get involved on an EU funded project but to witness the development of legislation that happens at the same time in the institutions.  During my time with the SAFER project through the Atlantic Arc Commission, I have had the task of creating a Policy Toolkit with useful policy recommendations that will be taken from the project with regards of the development of Smart Specialisation Strategies and recommendations that can be given to institutions, governments, and regions to pursue the promotion of the seafood sector.  Moreover, the project was granted the opportunity to participate in the European Maritime Days, a two-day event during which Europe’s maritime community meet to network, discuss and outline joint action on maritime affairs and sustainable blue economy, that have taken place in Brest. The first day, the project held a workshop, Industry 5.0 towards a responsible seafood sector, for which I had the chance to help with the organization and directly work with the partners. It was an honor to have the chance to experience an event such as this one while promoting such an interesting project.   I am looking forward to the rest of my experience and I am very grateful to be able to have this experience. See you soon! – Julia, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Atlantic Area project SAFER at the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) – Atlantic Arc Commission Discover more about the Interreg project SAFER Click Here Discover more about our host organisation CPMR – Atlantic Arc Commission Click Here

Hello friends, my name is Gabriela and I got the opportunity of volunteering for Interreg North West Europe project “IDEA”, in Belgium.    This is a very important project that seeks for new sustainable resources for food/feed & chemicals in North West Europe region, in order to supply our growing population with the least possible environmental impact. In this scenario the microalgae come as protagonists, first because of their high nutritional content and others valuable components, and second because of the environmental advantages of their production, especially if included in a circular production system. Because of the great prosperity of this renewable resource, and because of the climate similarities, partners from Belgium, Germany, France, The Netherlands, Ireland and UK are working together with Interreg for the IDEA project, in which much effort is being made to optimize the entire process chain based on microalgae. Therefore, different companies and universities are necessary in this project whether is to research and give information or to do the testings and the practical work of the different sectors of production, from cultivation to processing and formulating products. As a volunteer, I’m working in the communication area of a dairy farm in Temse, Belgium, called Heirbaut ALgriculture, that is focused on shifting from animal-based to plant-based production. There they have a big microalgae cultivation system and they use this resource in their dairy products to make it more tasteful and healthier. Moreover, this microalgae cultivation is included in the milk production chain of the farm, serving as a pathway for leftover carbon dioxide from cow production. You can follow us on Instagram for more details! https://www.instagram.com/heirbaut.algriculture/ I am enjoying this experience because, as a recent graduate biologist, I feel like I can participate in a very important cause and make a difference by talking about a subject that I really like! – Gabriela, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg project  IDEA, under the programme Interreg North-West Europe,  at Heirbaut aLgriculture CV Discover more about the Interreg project IDEA Click Here Discover more about the Host Organization Heirbaut aLgriculture CV Click Here

My name is Despina, I am 23 years old and I’ve been volunteering as an IVY Project Partner for the ENI CBC Black Sea project BSB CIRCECON at European Regional Framework for Cooperation (ERFC) in Athens Greece for 3 months already. This experience is so unique and interesting. I get to participate first hand in the promotion and management of BSB CIRCLECON project.  The BSB CIRCLECON project is crucial, as it aims to promote entrepreneurship, innovation, and business growth in the Black Sea Basin region through cross-border collaboration and knowledge-sharing. By supporting the development of SMEs and enhancing the competitiveness of the region, the project can contribute to economic growth and job creation, as well as strengthening the overall social and economic development of the area. All this with the main focus being on circular economy. BSB Circlecon is important outside of the EU as it fosters regional development, cooperation, and economic growth, which can have a positive impact on neighboring countries and beyond. Its focus on entrepreneurship and innovation can inspire and benefit businesses worldwide.   Hopefully all this information makes you take the next step and apply to become an IVY Volunteer yourself, to get the chance to experience the European cooperation projects offered and promoted by all the partners collaborating within Interreg. It’s definitely a once in a lifetime experience ! – Despoina, IVY Project Partner for the ENI CBC Black Sea project BSB CIRCECON at European Regional Framework for Cooperation (ERFC). Discover more about the Interreg project BSB CIRCLECON Click Here Discover more about our host organisation European Regional Framework for Cooperation Click Here

Hello everyone, My name is Marianne and it has been almost two months since I started my experience as an Interreg Volunteer. So far, everything is going well, being a volunteer is a very rich experience at both personal and professional level. Within the CPMR Intermediterranean Commission, I’m currently supporting the planification of activities for “Community4Tourism”.  This project is a governance project of Thematic Community of the Interreg Euro MED programme. It belongs to Mission 4 of the programme “Enhancing Sustainable Tourism”. “Community4Tourism” aims at:   facilitating the exchanges and the development of synergies between thematic projects at Med level; developing technical knowledge embedding the results of the projects and strategies; supporting the effective transfer of their results to other territories or stakeholders; The project will coordinate and work very closely with Dialogue4Tourism, the Institutional Dialogue project of Mission 4. In the framework of my mission as a volunteer I have already being involved in the current activities of the project. We are at this stage, launching the first activities of the project and planning the work for the next years. Previous Next I hope that this small overview made you want to follow our project and the mission. If so, note that soon our website will be available. There, we will be sharing on the progress of activities, main results, and events regarding the mission. -Marianne, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Euro-Med project “Community4Tourism” at CPMR Intermediterranean Commission. Discover more about the Interreg project Community4Tourism Click Here Discover more about our host organisation CPMR Intermediterranean Commission Click Here

Hey! My name is Julie, I from France and I started an interreg volunteer in Lyon 1 month ago. My host organization is a regional agency of energy and environment which is working a lot on European projects. They are part of two new projects that started in November last year: ADAPTNOW and X-RISK. The first one, ADAPTNOW, works on strengthening the adaptive capacity of Highly Affected and Exposed Territories to be able to cope with unpredictable climate events for the future. The second one, X-RISK, is similar but is focusing on extreme events. The goal of these two projects is to be better prepared for the natural risks that are changing with the climate change. Two topics that interest me a lot! My mission is to help with the first stage of each of the two projects. For that, I am doing the inventory of the risk management tools that already exist (with the aim then to see what can be improved), I will also interview some natural hazard actors about a storm in France that happened 4 years ago, and I already participated to some meetings. One of these meetings was a few days ago. I had the chance to go with some colleagues at the Eurac Research Center in Bolzano for a X-RISK meeting and to exchange with all the partners from the project. It was super interesting to see how people from the alpine space (Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Slovenia…) gather and work together to find solutions for the future! I am super happy to have joined the IVY community, it is a super experience, and I am glad to contribute at my level in environmental European territorial cooperation projects! – Julie, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Alpine Space ADAPTNOW & X-Risk CC at the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Energy Environment Agency – AURA EE Discover more about the Interreg project ADAPTNOW Click Here Discover more about the Interreg project X-Risk CC Click Here Discover more about our host organisation Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Energy Environment Agency Click Here