Month: January 2023

Hello everyone!! My name is Mattia, I am Italian, and I am an IVY volunteer at the Managing Authority Interreg RO-BG – Romania-Bulgaria. It has been a month since I started my experience here in Romania, and I am already enthusiastic about my contribution and the tasks I am carrying on. The program I volunteer with is “Interreg VI-A Romania-Bulgaria,” which focuses on supporting the development of eligible border areas in Romania and Bulgaria. The program aims to create a “bridge” between the two countries to help border areas overcome similar development problems by encouraging people to cooperate, exchange information, and benefit from better access to the border. Previous Next As soon as I stepped foot inside the Managing Authority, I was welcomed into a warm and friendly working environment where employees work hard to ensure cross-border cooperation activities are successful. During this first month, I am learning a lot about cross-border cooperation since I do many things with the host organization, from supporting my colleagues in their activities to participating in conferences and communication workshops. By this point, I’ve found the experience exciting and beneficial, and I hope, in the coming months, to meet new people and face new challenges that will make me grow and allow me to enrich my personal and cultural background. – Mattia, IVY Reporter at the Managing Authority Interreg Romania-Bulgaria Discover more about our host organisation Interreg Programme Romania – Bulgaria Click Here

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 Discover More About Interreg Programme France-Italy ALCOTRA Click Here

Since the beginning of October I’m involved at Local Action Group (LAG) Valli di Lanzo Ceronda Casternone where I’m following the project DAC (developing active citizenship), financed by the cooperation programme Interreg France-Italy Alcotra. The project focuses on the close cooperation between Italian and French partners, who strongly believe that by promoting active citizenship at the local and territorial level increase awareness of global challenges. Starting from the importance of being active citizens and the awareness of the impact that citizens action can have at different level, the overall objective of the project is to promote an active and conscious citizenship of the European Green Deal. All the on-going and to be implemented activities are aimed to optimizing the skills needed and actively contribute to the pursuit of the goals of the Green Deal for Europe. In addition to the promotion of active citizenship, the main outputs of the project are the creation of a platform to follow MOOCs, and the delivery of in-person courses or seminars and the creation of a cross-border co-working space. A territorial reference point for the citizens of the areas involved and a symbol of durability and continuity of the project. On the 2nd and the 2rd of December in Vetan, Saint-Pierre (AO) the partners received 15 young people for the DAC Winter School. We carried out this activity to promote inclusiveness and dialogue between young people from the cross-border territories where the project is implementing activities (Savoia, Piemonte e Valle d’Aosta). The goal of the winter school was to raise awareness of climate change in alpine and mountainous areas; several activities related to the issues were proposed with the help of experts and facilitators. – Maria Eleonora, IVY Project Partner for the Interreg Italy-France ALCOTRA project “DAC” at Local Action Group (LAG) Valli di Lanzo Ceronda Casternone Discover more about the Interreg project DAC Click Here Discover more about our host organisation GAL Valli di Lanzo, Ceronda e Casternone Click Here