Salut tout le monde – Ciao a tutte e a tutti !
I am Antonella, I am Italian, and I have been volunteering as an IVY Reporter at the Managing Authority of the Interreg Program France Italy ALCOTRA in Lyon.
ALCOTRA stands for Alpes Latines COopération TRAnsfrontalière/ Alpi Latine COoperazione TRAnsfrontaliera (Latin Alps Cross-border Cooperation). As suggested by the name, ALCOTRA is a cross-border program financed by the European Union aiming to strengthen cohesion in the Alpine area between France and Italy.
The French and Italian regions and counties involved in the Program are the following: Haute-Savoie, Savoie, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes de Haute-Provence, Alpes-Maritimes, Valle d’Aosta, Torino, Cuneo, and Imperia.
During the current 2021-2027 programming, ALCOTRA will be funding several projects in line with the European’s Union five major challenges: innovation and research; environment; social inclusion; territorial approach; overcoming cross-border barriers.
The ALCOTRA Managing Authority is the French Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes which oversees the implementation of the Program. The managing authority is supported by the Joint Secretariat, based in Turin, which ensures the instruction and the follow-up of the projects. The Monitoring Committee, made up of each partner involved in the Program, is the decision-making body.
In July 2022, the ALCOTRA Youth Council was launched with an advisory role. It is the first Youth Council in a European cross-border program aiming to give young people a voice on cross-border issues.
As an IVY volunteer, my mission is to support the communication strategy of the Program as well as the ALCOTRA Youth Council activities. My tasks include writing articles for the ALCOTRA website and posts for social networks.
In May, during the Month of Europe, I contributed to promoting European values and ALCOTRA territorial missions at several events. I helped with the organization of the webinar on the renewal of the ALCOTRA Youth Council, as well as a webinar on the application of horizontal principles in projects funded by ALCOTRA.
One of the best moments of my volunteering experience has been my participation at the event Transnational Citizen Dialogue, organized by Europe Direct in Lyon. The aim of the meeting was to highlight the crucial role of European projects on our territories in making European values alive.
In this sense, Interreg ALCOTRA is a concrete example of a successful territorial cooperation program between two European countries aiming to develop common solutions to diversified transnational challenges. And I am honestly grateful to be a part of it!
– Antonella, IVY Reporter for the Managing Authority Interreg France-Italy ALCOTRA
