Would you like to take part in European projects and support cooperation in the EU and beyond?
Are you looking for an exciting volunteering experience?
Do you want to make a difference and enhance solidarity among regions?
Join Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY)!
Are you involved in an Interreg, IPA-CBC or ENI-CBC Programme or Project willing to host an Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) volunteer? Excellent choice!
Programmes host Interreg Reporters; project beneficiaries host Interreg Project Partners.
You can host more than one volunteer per time – each volunteer will join you for a minimum of 2 months to a maximum of 6 months.
Applying is very simple!
What is Interreg?
Interreg is a synonym of European Territorial Cooperation (ETC) and is part of the “Cohesion Policy” of the European Union, its regional policy. To put it simply, Interreg (or ETC) is a way to get European regions closer to each other and to boost their cooperation.
The overarching objective of Interreg is to promote a harmonious economic, social and territorial development of the European Union as a whole. Over the years, Interreg has become a key instrument to support cooperation between partners across borders. The aim: to tackle common challenges together and find shared solutions – whether in the field of health, research and education, transport or sustainable energy.
First developed in 1990, Interreg celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2020!
Interreg is built around three strands of cooperation:
1. Cross-border (Interreg A) for border regions (for example, Friuli Venezia Giulia Region in Italy and Primorska Region in Slovenia): it aims to tackle common challenges identified jointly in the border regions and to exploit the untapped growth potential in border areas, while enhancing the cooperation process for the purposes of the overall harmonious development of the Union.
2. Transnational (Interreg B) involves regions from several countries of the EU forming bigger areas (for example, Portugal, Spain and Southern France): it aims to promote better cooperation and regional development within the Union by a joint approach to tackle common issues. This strand supports a wide range of project investment related to innovation, environment, accessibility, telecommunications, urban development etc.
3. Interregional (Interreg C) works at pan-European level, covering all EU Member States, and more. It builds networks to develop good practices and facilitate the exchange and transfer of experience by successful regions. It showcases what regions do well, to the benefit of those still investing.
Any Interreg Programme, National Authority and Project beneficiary can become an IVY host organisation. From May 2019, also Interreg Programmes and Projects located in Switzerland, some countries members of the European Economic Area (EEA), namely Norway, Liechtenstein, Iceland, and some countries involved in Pre-Accession Assistance Cross-border Co-operation Programmes (IPA-CBC), notably Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, and Turkey, are eligible to host volunteers under the initiative “Interreg Volunteer Youth”.
As from January 2020, the initiative includes also countries involved in Neighbourhood Cross-border Co-operation Programmes (ENI-CBC), namely Algeria, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Republic of Moldova, Russia, Tunisia and Ukraine. Programmes and Projects located in these countries can participate in the initiative.
