Hello, my name is Moritz and I am 25 years old. After completing my Master’s degree in Border Studies in the Greater Region on the border between Luxembourg, Saarland and Lorraine, I am now a volunteer at the joint secretariat of Interreg Saxony-Czech Republic in Dresden.
The border region here is characterized above all by rural areas, but also by increasingly close ties, mutual support and great commitment on the part of the neighbours. The programme’s joint secretariat receives ideas and applications for numerous projects that aim to strengthen cross-border cooperation. The applicants receive all the necessary information and advice for a successful application and implementation of the project. The secretariat also ensures that all regulations are adhered to. To ensure that as many people as possible learn about the opportunities for cross-border projects and that the results are widely shared, the secretariat is also responsible for public relations work for the programme.
This is also my main area of responsibility: I support my colleagues in disseminating information via the website and am mainly responsible for ensuring that it is up to date and looks good. I also make sure that information on the project cycle is presented in an understandable and accessible way in guidelines or flow charts. At regular intervals, the Monitoring Committee also takes place, where various stakeholders with voting rights from Saxony and the Czech Republic decide on the funding of new projects. I play an active role in its organization and running.
During this work, I have become aware of how many procedures and processes take place in the background of the Interreg programme. These are often lengthy and bureaucratic. This makes it all the more important for me to support the projects through the joint secretariat, so that nobody has to be afraid of the project cycle and all citizens of the border region have access to it. Many people can benefit from the project ideas and often disadvantaged regions receive the necessary attention and resources to implement innovative projects.
The IVY experience is great for me as I studied borders and cross-border cooperation before. I knew many projects, their goals, problems and outcomes. But I never had insights into the perspective of the administrative organizations. Thanks to IVY I could broaden my horizon under this aspect. It also enabled me to get to know a great team and exciting stakeholders. I am pleased that I will remain part of the team in the future and can continue to support the cross-border cooperation.
– Moritz Schneider, IVY Reporter for the Interreg Germany/Saxony-Czechia
