Month: November 2022

My name is Rosita Balducci, I am Italian and I am an IVY volunteer at the GECT-Euregio Senza Confini in Trieste, the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC). Founded by the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, the Veneto Region and the Land Carinthia, it aims to favor, facilitate and promote cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation in the European Union (EU) among its components, implementing common projects for the development of the territories. “Economic and social cohesion” and “economic, social and cultural ties between populations” are thus strengthened, contributing to the development of the respective territories.  It’s been a month since  I started my experience here and I am already very happy and satisfied of my contributions and tasks carried out. The project I volunteer with is “EMOTIONWay”, the main aim of which is preserving, protecting, promoting and developing the natural and cultural heritage through the creation of a cross-border network of cycle routes and paths of the Eastern Alps (ReCAO), integrated with the local public transport of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Carinthia and the Autonomous Province of Bolzano. The project aims to address two problems in the cross-border area: difficult accessibility to some sites of natural and cultural interest by cyclists and tourists on foot due to insufficient links between cycling routes and sites of interest and poor inter-modality bike-bus bike-train service for cycling routes and paths; poor visibility of some sites due to lack of information on how to reach them, inadequate services, unvalued nature sites. In pursuit of the objective of creating a cross-border network of cycle routes and routes in the area of the Eastern Alps by improving their connection through the inter-modality bike-bus bike train, new cross-border local public transport services have been activated. The missing links have been identified and pilot actions have been launched for the inter-modal connection of bike-buses and bike-trains to create the Cycle Network 2.1 Eastern Alps. In this regard, the experience is very interesting and helpful in order to learn a lot about cross-border cooperation, since I am in contact almost every day with different regions and realities and to acquire information on how public authorities work. Moreover, I do many other things with my host organization, supporting my colleagues in their activities and I am learning a lot of new skills and better understanding the world of work and of European projects. It is a great opportunity to meet new people and understand the different dynamics of collaboration, but also to contribute in order to increasingly strengthen cooperation and new relationships. I have already learnt so much and I can’t wait to keep going with my experience, which I would recommend to anyone who would like to learn about cross-border cooperation. Moreover, Trieste is a beautiful city by the sea, which always makes me feel good! Rosita, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Italy-Austria project “EMOTIONWay” at the GECT-Euregio Senza Confini

Since the beginning of my IVY Volunteer experience within the ENI CBC-Med project “MY SEA: Mediterranean Youth, NEETs and women advancing Skills, Employment and Awareness in the blue and green economy” I am participating and supporting the activities for the implementation of the project in Tunisia with the Union Tunisienne de Solidarité Sociale (UTSS), one of the six partners of the project. During my first month volunteering, I could already witness the importance given to the Tunisian local community. The project tackles a group considered vulnerable in the professional insertion, such as young, women and Not in Education, Employment or Training (NEETs) and aim to insert them in the professional world combining economic actors and formation trainings specialized in the agrifood and waste management sectors. We launched the form for the candidature of 250 beneficiaries who will participate in trainings to improve their employability, thanks to the strengthening of their digital, sector-related, and transversal skills, with the aim of reducing the skills mismatch while strongly contributing to two fields that will provide a sustainable and eco-responsible impact on the Tunisian context: the agri-food and waste management sectors. The project will finally lead to the professional insertion of young willing Tunisian within enterprises, but not only! It will also contribute to the creation of three associations within the field of agrifood and waste management, a long-term solution that will hopefully contribute to the development and continuation of this action. Last week the Union Tunisienne de la Solidarité Sociale (UTSS) organized a meeting with the experts to discuss the logistical aspects of the trainings that will soon start for young Tunisian people and women in the region of Grand Tunis and two Tunisian Governorates: Nabeul and Bizerte. The transnationality of the project embraces a partnership without borders: as an IVY volunteer I am participating in meetings with all project partners (Centro Informazione Educazione e Sviluppo (CIES Onlus); the University of Palermo – Department of Agricultural,Food and Forestry Sciences, the EuroTraining Educational Organisation in Greece, Lebanese Development Network (LDN) in Lebanon, the Jordan University of Science and Technology, and the Tunisian Union of Social Solidarity (UTSS). As an IVY volunteer, I am contributing to the continuous exchange and dialogue of good ideas and knowledge in the project.

One month has passed since I first stepped into the Managing Authority of the Interreg V-A Italy-Slovenia 2014-2020 Programme in Trieste, Italy.   My first impression of the Managing Authority was that of a welcoming and friendly environment where employees do their best to contribute in the field of cross-border cooperation and I was thrilled to be able to join them as an IVY volunteer. For the period 2021-2027, the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme will have a financial budget of more than 88.6 million euros and its Cooperation Programme will implement its strategy on the basis of three Policy Objectives (POs): a more competitive, innovative and smarter Europe (PO1), a greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe (PO2) a more social and inclusive Europe (PO4), as well as an Interreg Specific Objective for an efficient public administration (ISO1). The Area of intervention extends over a total surface of 19,841 km2 and has a total population of approximately 3 million inhabitants. It covers 5 Italian NUTS 3 regions (Venice, Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia and Trieste) and 5 Slovenian NUTS 3 regions (Primorsko-notranjska, Osrednjeslovenska, Gorenjska, Obalno-kraška and Goriška). As an IVY volunteer some of my daily tasks are: translating, editing and printing documents; writing and posting news or articles for the Programme website; collecting polls from public events; helping with the organization of events or meetings. What I like the most about being an IVY volunteer is that I can do multiple creative tasks and every day at the office brings some new different activities. Moreover, I am learning a lot about topics that I am very passionate about: cross-border cooperation and European regional policy. Having being born and raised in a multicultural family of a cross-border region, I developed the strong belief that cooperation between public authorities and citizens from both bordering states is necessary to achieve a harmonious level of development in the cross-border area. –Anna Labinac, IVY Reporter at the Managing Authority Interreg Italy-Slovenia.