Making the most out of the blue and green economy challenges and opportunities
More than 1 month has passed since I started volunteering as Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) at the Italian organization CIES Onlus, leader of the ‘MySea’ project within the ENI CBC MED Programme; as such, I am part of the team in the technical management unit for the management and implementation of the project, which deals with creating employment opportunities in the agri-food and waste management sectors for unemployed youths, NEETs and women in the Mediterranean, making the most out of the blue and green economy challenges and opportunities, pushing for economic growth and innovation and establishing private/public partnership alliances for long-term sustainability. The project is implemented in cooperation with partners from Italy, Greece, Tunisia, Lebanon and Jordan and seeks the active participation of TVET institutions, private actors, public institutions and many other stakeholders, through activities of research, training, job placement and policy adaptation measures.
As part of the team, I am engaged in the day-to-day management of the activities to be implemented and give my contribution with new ideas for project’s successful implementation. The team welcomed me wonderfully, introducing me to the project and the partners and allowing me to actively participate at it; I had the chance to: write articles for the dissemination of European territorial cooperation within the project and reports of internal and external meetings and conferences (coordination and bilateral meetings, open days, meetings with private stakeholders) and to speak at project events; help in the management of implementing documents – cross-border efficiency matrixes, work plans, monthly reports, progress reports, databases; communicate with programme managing authorities; activities of stakeholders and grants’ mapping and outreach of synergies. Currently, I am helping the staff in the organization of 1 Open Day in Italy and helping in the preparation of project partner’s open days, all of which will be held in July.
Being an IVY within this framework is allowing me to have a first get-in experience in project management for an Europe-funded project in the Mediterranean area, to deal with project stakeholders, foreign partners, general public and documents, and to see the impact European cohesion policies are having on the Mediterranean ground. This is a great opportunity for me of being trained to project management and cohesion policy, helping me to reach my objective of finding a future job in the field. The project partners’ countries share common burdens, and difficulties, but EU support is helping them to merge efforts and expertise to transform threats in opportunities for development and for the growth of their societies. This is what I like the most of being part of this project!
Leonardo Galletti, Interreg Project Partner volunteering for the project MYSEA at the Centro Informazione e Educazione allo Sviluppo