The IVY initiative is promoted by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) and managed by the Association of European Border Regions (AEBR). The programme provides an opportunity for young people to serve as volunteers in Interreg programmes and projects supporting European cooperation across borders. IVY volunteers help highlight the results of Interreg programmes as Interreg Reporters, or they contribute as Interreg Project Partners to the implementation of projects when hosted by beneficiaries.
Young people promote Interreg by bringing fresh ideas and new perspectives to the host organization. At the same time, they learn about Interreg’s work and acquire key skills in the field of European cooperation.
Solidarity and cooperation
IVY was launched in 2017 in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps.
‘There are many young, socially minded people in Europe willing to make a meaningful contribution to society and help show solidarity. We can create opportunities for them to do so … Solidarity is the glue that keeps our Union together,’ said Jean-Claude Juncker, who was then the President of the European Commission.
DG REGIO seized this opportunity and joined his call to involve youth by launching IVY through Interreg, which promotes cooperation and solidarity among regions and across borders and is the perfect policy in which to involve young people.
Expanding and strengthening the initiative
The core of the initiative has not changed since then. Everything still revolves around three pillars: supporting cooperation, making Interreg more visible, and empowering young people to participate in cooperation policy.
Yet, many novelties have been introduced, strengthening what started as a pilot initiative. The geographical scope has been extended to countries involved in Pre-Accession Assistance Cross-border Co-operation Programmes (Interreg IPA)[1] and in Neighbourhood Cross-border Co-operation Programmes (ENI-CBC), now known as Interreg NEXT[2].
In May 2019, the possibility for IVY volunteers to organise local events was introduced. Since then, volunteers can receive dedicated funds to plan and implement events – known as Citizens’ Engagement Activities – informing people of the achievements of the European Regional Policy on behalf of DG REGIO.
Finally, two important aspects were integrated this year. Since January 2022, the IVY initiative has been running autonomously and is no longer part of the European Solidarity Corps. In addition, the initiative now has a three-year plan, providing continuity and a long-term perspective, which is beneficial to host organisations and volunteers alike. This change also allows for a deeper integration of IVY into the workflows of the programmes and projects.
Interview of Louise Floman, DG REGIO, European Cross-Border Cooperation
Louise, you have overseen IVY for many years now. What do you think is the major success of IVY?
‘IVY has created a community of young people with an interest and knowledge of Interreg. Additionally, one of the main achievements throughout the initiative is the geographic expansion, to allow for all Interreg programmes to participate. We are still working on making all participating countries eligible, so to be able to include the whole Interreg family in the initiative.’
Is there a moment during these five years of IVY that you remember particularly fondly?
‘It happens to me every once in a while that I meet a young professional working in an Interreg project, the programme secretariat or even in the EU Commission, and they tell me that they got to know Interreg through their IVY experience. That always makes me happy!’
2022 marks IVY’s 5th anniversary. It is time to celebrate and to look ahead. What do you wish for the future of IVY?
‘We hope to finish the work of bringing in the whole Interreg family to the initiative. I also hope that we will have more volunteers from certain underrepresented parts of Europe.’
A success story from many points of view
‘I was eager to take a chance to understand how European projects for cooperation work,’ said Stefano Rinaldi, an IVY volunteer for the Interreg project FRAMESPORT - Framework initiative fostering the sustainable development of Adriatic small ports in Termoli, Italy. He explained why he decided to volunteer through IVY: ‘I love to contribute to the strategic work plan of the project, which is the result of the cooperation among different European partners that, together, pursue their goals to accomplish common outcomes for a more prosperous European Union.’
Nóra Sebesi was one on the first IVY volunteers in 2017 and was deployed at the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme. Now, she works as an info point for the Interreg V-A Romania-Hungary Programme. ‘Looking back, this experience gave me more than I had hoped for: cohesive knowledge about the world of Interreg, but also invaluable personal connections, unique opportunities to improve myself, and success stories to remember,’ she said.
For Stefano Rinaldi, IVY has an important impact as a main point of reference for young people to get involved in cooperation projects. Of her experience as an IVY volunteer, Nóra particularly liked that she had both room for creativity and initiative in her work, and an international environment. She said: ‘IVY made this all possible, while creating a community of like-minded youth!’
They both hope that more and more young people will be able to take advantage of this unique programme so they can ‘continue building the youth’s gateway to cooperation,’ as Nóra says.
Nóra Sebesi Stefano Rinaldi
The goal is to bring the enthusiasm of IVY volunteers to all Interreg programmes
‘We have never seen so many young people involved in Interreg,’ said Dirk Peters, Senior Expert for European territorial cooperation at the European Commission. The impact of IVY is a success story. Out of the 780 volunteers involved in the first five years of the programme, many kept on working in Interreg, like Nóra.
Many of the people who drafted and presented the Manifesto for Young People by Young People to Shape the European Cooperation Policy, published by the European Commission in 2020, were IVY volunteers. The resulting #Youth4Cooperation initiative has shown how Interreg programmes and projects also take into account the importance of making young people’s voices heard.
With this initiative, DG REGIO and AEBR have created a programme which has a meaningful impact on territorial cooperation and on young people – ultimately, on the future of European integration.
‘We want to continue giving young people like Nóra and Stefano the opportunity to engage in the field of cooperation, for Interreg to grow closer to its citizens, more responsive to young people’s needs and better known among local citizens. Moving forward, we want to bring the enthusiasm of IVY volunteers to all Interreg programmes,’ said Cinzia Dellagiacoma, manager of the IVY initiative at AEBR.
[1] Serbia, the Republic of Northern Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo and Turkey.
[2] Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Republic of Moldova, Russia, Tunisia and Ukraine.
