Being an Interreg reporter for the Euro-MED programme
Hello! My name is Silvia, I’m Italian and it’s been a month since I started my experience as IVY Reporter within the National Authority of the Interreg Euro-MED programme in Marseille, France. The Interreg Euro-MED Programme supports cooperation across Mediterranean borders. The cooperation area covers a territory of 69 regions of 14 countries from the Northern shore of the Mediterranean with a common objective: a climate neutral and resilient society. With the help of the Regional Development Fund, the supported projects work together across borders to make the Mediterranean region smarter, greener and better governed. From the very first moment I arrived at the office, I was warmly welcomed by my colleagues who offered to help me get more comfortable and to answer any kind of questions I had. Unfortunately, at the time of my arrival, an event that had brought together in Marseille all the national contact points involved in the latest call for governance projects had just ended. However, my arrival coincided with the closing of the 14-20 program and the beginning of 21-27, which makes this period particularly dense and rich in work. Personally, my main task consists in the collection and categorization of the main results produced by projects financed during the 2014-2020 programming period. In particular, I recently finished drafting summary sheets of some of the projects from the last programming period that were selected regionally for the concours des étoiles, an initiative aimed at rewarding the best projects in terms of persistence and value of the outcomes. My activities also include right now the revision of the new Internet page on the website of Région PACA (and in detail the part concerning the Euro-MED program) and the communication with the national partners. What I like most of the IVY programme is the opportunity given to young people to get acquainted with European cooperation programs directly on the ground. This means the chance to work in a stimulating and international environment but also the understanding of what the main challenges for cooperation construction are. – Silvia, IVY Reporter at the National Authority for programme Interreg Euro-Med Discover more about Interreg Euro-Med Click Here
Volunteering for Interreg Central Europe
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
My first month as an IVY volunteer for the Interreg IPA CBC Programme Greece – Republic of North Macedonia
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
My experience as an IVY Reporter at the Managing Authority of Alcotra Programme in Lyon
Hello everyone! My name is Lavinia Agostinelli and a month ago I started my experience as an IVY volunteer at the Managing Authority of the Interreg ALCOTRA Program in Lyon. The ALCOTRA Program operates in the cross-border Alpine area between France and Italy and has five main objectives: to tackle environmental challenges, to respond to the consequences of the health crisis, to test new forms of territorial cooperation, to overcome cross-border obstacles and to make the economy of the ALCOTRA area more dynamic. The aspect that I find most interesting about this Interreg Program and which I am personally involved in is the Youth Council: this is a new cunsultative body, created in July 2022 and made up of some fifteen young representatives of the ALCOTRA territory, which was born out of the need to give a voice to the needs of the young generations. The Youth Council actively participates at each Monitoring Committee, make propositions to improve the development of the cross-border Alpine region and follow the projects funded by the Programme. In particular, I support the communication strategies through which the Council promotes and represents the Interreg ALCOTRA Program at the events in which the Council is invited. For example, on the occasion of the ALCOTRA 2021-2027 Program launch event, the ALCOTRA Youth Council was involved in several activities during the two days of 28 and 29 November in Courmayeur and Chamonix. On the 28th, the Youth Council participated in the Citizen’s Café at the Skyway in Courmayeur and was then involved in the selection of the three “coup de coeur” projects at the Forum held in the afternoon in Chamonix. During the day of 29 November, the Youth Council was the protagonist of the animation of the three round tables, during which the young people were able to ask a series of questions to the elected representatives and technicians present. I think it was a very good opportunity for young people to get to grips with European policies and to understand how they work in practice on the ground. It was also a very formative experience for me in terms of both organisation and content because it allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and get involved in a big event. – Lavinia, IVY Reporter for the Managing Authority Interreg France-Italy Alcotra Discover more about the ALCOTRA Youth Council Click Here
My experience as an IVY volunteer in Alexander Innovation zone
It’s been 3 months since I started my IVY journey and the only way I could describe my experience is beyond what I imagined. My name is Evangelia Papomata and I am an Interreg Volunteer in Alexander Innovation Zone. My main task is to promote the Interreg project co-working via Instagram-Facebook-Twitter-Youtube, to write articles and post them in our website and assist in any way I can my coworkers. Alexander Innovation Zone (AIZ) is the managing body that has undertaken the management and development of the Thessaloniki Innovation Zone. The role of AIZ is to strengthen and promote the innovative activity of the wider area of Thessaloniki, with an emphasis on public benefit purposes. So far I have taken part in many projects such as the ‘’CO-Working’’ and ‘’Together’’, which are about guiding the new startupers and networking action with successful Thessaloniki Startups. But the project that got my attention was the ‘’Productive Truancy’’ which is aiming for students to get a glimpse of the real word. How this project works? Well…it is very simple. Students of Central Macedonia visit innovative companies of Northern Greece and are being educated by established professionals. As a result, they learn how the workspaces are, find inspiration about their future careers and motivation to achieve their goals. 1300 students visit 25 innovative companies which are: Apifon, Zelia, Embryolab, CHIMAR, BETA CAE, EPSILON NET, EXANDIA, Olympia Electronics, Titan, etc.. The Productive Truancy was implemented strictly online due to the Covid-19 pandemic from 2017 until 2021 but from now on, in 2022 we started the live visits. I feel fulfilled when I look the impact that this project has in the students, especially when they said to us that due to this experience they came up with a future business idea and are going to share this experience with their friends from another schools. It makes me look back to my school years and hoped to have more actions like this one. Nevertheless, I feel lucky that I am able to provide them with that. Thank you IVY for helping me do that! – Evangelia, IVY Project Partner for the Greece-Bulgaria project “Co-Working” at the Alexander Innovation Zone SA “Stories of European Cooperation”: Co-Working project Read more from Evangelia on the Co-Working project Click Here Discover the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria Co-Working project Click Here If you are curious about Alexander Innovation Zone S.A. actions
The case of entrepreneurship actions at Evros
I start to volunteer for the Interreg project “Smart Cross-Border Entrepreneurship Accelerator – SEA”, under the Interreg Greece-Bulgaria programme at the Evros Chamber of Commerce. The project is a cross-border accelerator supporting entrepreneurship, start-ups that develops capabilities, skills throughout the process of turning an idea into a functioning business. It covers all stages, starting from idea selection, intensive training and mentoring to turn the idea into a product/service, market implementation, start-up operation, ending with promotion and interaction with potential investors or financial institutions. The entire acceleration cycle develops cross-border networking and mobilisation to serve a balanced mix of business ideas originating from both countries. The aim of the training programme is, in eight meetings, to prepare the candidates to present their business idea to experienced and independent judges. The programme is divided into three stages, the third of which is only for the finalist teams to prepare them for the final pitch. During the first two stages, mentors, coaches and trainers will help the teams to understand the fundamentals of entrepreneurship and develop an effective presentation, which they will refine in the third stage. My role in this is to support the activities at the Evros chamber by producing content from the activities (photos, articles, videos), using social media, communicating with stakeholders. The outcome of the project is to improve the regional business support system and to strengthen the entrepreneurial potential of young people in the region with skills and knowledge on how to create and develop start-up companies. In addition, it is expected to enable this employment for the start-ups themselves and increase opportunities for new jobs as the companies grow. Other participants will benefit from expert sessions and workshops, enhanced knowledge and skills that will enable them to improve their skills. – Christos, IVY Project Partner for the Greece-Bulgaria project “SEA” at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Evros Discover the Interreg SEA project Click Here If you are curious about CCI of Evros actions
