Month: January 2023

Hello everyone! My name is Clara, I’m German, and since December I’m an IVY volunteer at the Joint Secretariat of Interreg Central Europe in Vienna. Like other Interreg programmes, Interreg Central Europe is a European funding programme that encourages and supports transnational cooperation projects to make cities and regions more resilient to common challenges. Such challenges include, for example, climate change adaptation, the energy transition, or overcoming the socioeconomic consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic. With the help of the Regional Development Fund, the supported projects work together across borders to make Central Europe smarter, greener, better connected, and more integrated – which are all goals of the European Cohesion policy.  Connecting professionals from the public and private sectors in the programme area of Central Europe is thereby especially important since the area was formerly divided by the so-called “Iron Curtain”. The cooperation across borders helps to overcome the leftovers of this division, which contributes not only to Central Europe’s cohesion but to the European Union’s cohesion in general. This is also what makes Interreg Central Europe so special for me.   However, December not only marked my beginning at Interreg. But it was also the starting shot for the first call of funded projects under the 2021-2027 programme. On the 15-16th December, the monitoring committee of Interreg Central Europe jointly decided in Bratislava to fund 53 projects with a total budget of 100 million Euros. So at the Interreg Central Europe Joint secretariat, we are now busy contracting these innovative projects, drafting workshops, where the participants can learn about and from each other, and also preparing the second call starting in March. Personally, I support the Communications Department in its day-to-day activities. These activities include right now the launch of the new website (visit the new website, it is very informative!), starting a new Social Media campaign, and organizing our Programme Conference in March. But since everybody in the office here is very welcoming, I also had the chance to get some sneak peeks into other departments like project management or financing. In this short period of being an IVY, I already learned a lot about communication in general, the EU’s cohesion policy, and how transnational cooperation affects our daily lives. And I am very thankful to be part of this open-minded and international team for the upcoming months. Can’t wait for what’s about to come! – Clara, IVY Reporter at Joint Secretariat Interreg Central Europe Discover more about our host organisation Interreg Central Europe Click Here

Hey! I am Klara and currently an IVY-reporter at the Joint Secretariat Interreg Flanders – the Netherlands. The team was very welcoming, open and warm (even when the heating didn’t work for a moment 😉 ). I felt immediately part of the team! Last week there was the New Year’s dinner and that was quite a memorable evening! I started at Interreg in full closing event period which was really nice, because then there’s a lot to do. There were lots of interesting events planned! My first week I went to two events already: Care2Adapt (about tackling the growing staff shortage in the health sector) and C-4CE (about circular economy)! The latter was in Breda and there I met Krusha, the other IVY-reporter at Interreg Flanders – the Netherlands, for the first time. Since then we’ve been going to several events together and these are always even more fun! After those first closing events during my first week at Interreg, many more followed. Not all of them were in my area of expertise, but all the more interesting to learn about them. There are four main topics, namely strengthening innovation, support for energy efficiency and renewable energy, protecting the environment and supporting labor mobility. For instance, I learned about bio-based non-isocyanate polyurethane (short ‘BioNIPU’) and about offshore seaweed cultivation (‘Wier & Wind’) and the interesting applications of seaweed, including seaweed chips (really yummy!). Other projects dealt with corrosion research (‘Praktijklab Corrosie & Isolatie’), retention in the healthcare sector (‘Blijf aan Z’) and challenge-based learning (‘G.R.A.M.’), to name a few more. You learn a lot about all kinds of projects, relevant social and scientific topics and you meet a lot of people. So far, this new IVY adventure has been very interesting and fun! I am very excited for the rest of this experience! – Klara, IVY Reporter at Joint Secretariat Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland. Discover more about our host organisation Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland Click Here

Hello! My name is Marina, and I just completed two months as an Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) Reporter in the Joint Secretary of Interreg Program V-A Spain-France-Andorra (POCTEFA) in Jaca, Spain. An European program for cross border cooperation at the frontier between France, Spain and Andorra, which aims to reinforce the economic and social integration of the area and to promote sustainable development, thanks to the financial support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). From the moment I stepped into the building, I felt really welcomed by my fellow Interreg Volunteers and colleagues. They introduced me to the charming town of Jaca, and the functioning of the Interreg programme. During the different meetings I participated in and the tasks I performed, I found myself really integrated in the team and I learned a lot about the working stages of what it takes to launch an European funding programme geared towards the improvement of the living conditions for the population in the cross-border area. During these two months, I took part in several working groups, in which both spanish, french and andorran regions debated to build the next call for cross border projects POCTEFA 2021-2027. In addition to that, I worked on different documents intended for the next programme 2021-2027, I translated press releases and other official documents and also helped with the financial side of the programme. I believe the IVY Volunteer Programme is an excellent opportunity to get immersed in a mostly unknown part of European Cooperation. It opens you up to a lot of interesting professionals in diverse fields, as well as different perspectives on cooperation. – Marina, IVY Reporter at the Joint Secretariat Interreg France-Spain-Andorra (POCTEFA) Discover more about our host organisation Interreg France Spain Andorra (POCTEFA) Click Here

Hello everybody! My name is Sara, I come from Italy and in the beginning of December 2022 I started my IVY experience as an Interreg Reporter at the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg CBC Italy – Croatia Programme in Venice.   The Programme area comprises 25 Italian provinces and 8 Croatian counties overlooking the Adriatic sea and it aims to efficiently address their common challenges. More specifically, the Programme enables regional and local stakeholders from Italy and Croatia to exchange knowledge and experiences, develop and implement pilot actions, test the feasibility of new policies, products and services and to support investments. As soon as I arrived to the office, I was warmly welcomed by the Venice staff with whom I have been actively cooperating. Furthermore, in the first weeks of January the staff of the JS Antenna which normally works from Zadar came to Venice and, on such occasion, I have also had the pleasure of meeting them and working with them in person.  During the past month I have had the opportunity to really dive into and contribute to the work carried out by the JS. My main IVY task consists in the collection and categorization of all outputs produced by projects financed during the 2014-2020 programming period in order to foster their effective communication to potential beneficiaries and to the general public in the months to come.  Besides that, my everyday activities range from helping colleagues with minor communication activities to being involved in the development some of the contents which will soon be published by the Programme. I am enthusiastic about what I managed to achieve in such a short period of time and I cannot wait to see what the next months as an IVY Reporter have in store for me! – Sara, IVY Reporter at the Joint Secretariat of the Interreg Italy – Croatia Programme Discover more about our host organisation Interreg Programme Italy-Croatia Click Here

Hello everyone, my name is Thanos and it has been one month since I started volunteering as an IVY reporter for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia 2014-2020 at the Managing Authority/Joint Secretariat in Thessaloniki, Greece.  From the first moment, I felt very welcome. Exchanging emails with AEBR made me feel safe. The working environment in the Joint Secretariat is also amicable, everyone was very nice to me. During this month, I had the opportunity to participate in many tasks, such as creating content for social media and reviewing the projects’ communication outputs. In this way, I gained knowledge about several of the co-funded cross-border projects. For example, one of the articles I had to write was about the “wine-up” project, whose main goal is to attract tourists, develop the local economy and create new jobs in the cross-border area. Two of the project’s deliverables are the development of the public square of Archea Krini in Pella, Greece, and the redesign of the public square at the clock tower in Negotino, North Macedonia. In this way, the EU cohesion policy is achieved. I believe that IVY is an opportunity for young people to get to know and embrace the European Union. As the world evolves, the gap between generations grows, and therefore we need the perspective of young people. – Thanos Efthymiou, IVY Reporter for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia Discover more about the host organisation Managing Authority for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia Click Here

Hi! Krusha here, with an official update on my Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) Reporter experience. I had just turned 23 when I started in November 2022, and it has been a little over a month since I had my first day at the office in Antwerp, Belgium, at Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland. So far I have joined a ton of events on a weekly basis, and I can say that it has been a very educational few weeks. Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland strives towards a greener, more social and smarter Europe without borders. The projects that are subsidized by Interreg are all relevant for the environment, labor mobility, innovation, energy and sustainable growth. The closing events I have joined so far were all very interesting, examples of these are the ‘GHLOBO project’ (a more practical education for logistics students and the highlighted role of internship allowances), ‘Lerend Netwerk Biobouwers’ (the use of biobased materials for biobuilding, targeted towards the construction sector and its students), and ‘GREENER’ (the making of microplastics that are sustainable and biodegradable, and for instance used for prostheses).     Some of the projects are definitely beyond my field of expertise and knowledge, but luckily I am not the only IVY Reporter at Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland. I am also accompanied by Klara Boghaert, who joined us one week after my start in Antwerp. Klara and I have gone to several events together, which made the writing of blog articles and the understanding of the projects easier and more fun. Our horizons have been broadened by working together.  This experience so far has clearly taught me the finer things about topics I was not very familiar with before, and I have also gained some new skills through being an IVY Reporter. I personally did my bachelor’s in political sciences (at the Catholic University of Leuven) and my master’s in international relations and diplomacy (at the University of Antwerp), and I really wanted to gain some more experience in communications and journalism, which Interreg has definitely given me the opportunity to do so. Everyone I work with has been extremely kind and welcoming, and I would highly recommend a volunteering experience like this one, since you make new connections and you learn a lot about topics you might not be familiar with. I am excited for 2023 and the new Interreg projects it will bring! Until then, – Krusha, IVY Reporter at Joint Secretariat Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland. Discover more about our host organisation Joint Secretariat Interreg Vlaanderen-Nederland Click Here