Hello! My name is Sara, I’m Italian and since the end of October 2022 I have been volunteering as an IVY Reporter at Interreg ALCOTRA. ALCOTRA stands for Alpes Latines COopération TRAnsfrontalière and is a European cross-border cooperation programme covering the Alpine territory between France and Italy.
Endowed with €182,33 million from the European Regional Development Fund for the period 2021-2027, ALCOTRA supports projects and initiatives in line with these five main goals: revitalising the economy of the ALCOTRA area, tackling environmental challenges, addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, testing new ways of territorial cooperation and overcoming cross-border obstacles.
Based at the Joint Secretariat in Turin, I support the Programme communication run by the Managing Authority, Region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. During my first month, I mainly supported the team in the organisation of the ALCOTRA 2021-2027 Launch Event, which took place on the 28th and 29th of November in Courmayeur (Italy) and Chamonix (France).
Around the same time, I had the chance to attend a three-day seminar in Lyon and Chambéry aimed at encouraging team building and networking among the personnel of the Managing Authority and the Joint Secretariat. It was a great opportunity for me to introduce myself to those working in Lyon and to become better acquainted with those from Turin.
By the way, in this IVY adventure at ALCOTRA, I’m not alone: the programme is hosting another volunteer in Lyon, Lavinia, who is involved in the activities of the Youth Council.
So far, this experience has been very enriching. In such a short time, I have learned a lot about Cohesion Policy, Interreg, cross-border cooperation and experimented how local communities are truly impacted by the projects implemented on both sides of the French-Italian border. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for the next few months!
– Sara, IVY Reporter at the Joint Secretariat Interreg France-Italy ALCOTRA
