"Lively exchange, good communication and networking"
Activity report on the traineeship at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights in the European Neighborhood and Integration Policy team
written by Jana
Peace and conflict research and intercultural communication. These were the focal points of my studies in cultural and social anthropology. The theoretical foundations I learned there, as well as experience in dealing with human rights during various stays abroad, led to a further intensive examination of various human rights discourses, as well as different types of conflict management and peacebuilding.
With this in mind, I applied for a five-month traineeship at the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights. In the European Neighborhood Policy team, I was able to gain experience in international project management and cooperation between governmental and non-governmental institutions, in addition to the European human rights context and its promotion in EU enlargement and neighborhood policy.
The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute of Human Rights (BIM), founded in 1992 as part of the Ludwig Boltzmann Society, is an independent, non-university research institute that contributes to the human rights discourse at national, European and international level through its work. Its fields of activity include research, policy advice, implementation and monitoring, documentation, human rights education and university teaching. In the area of European Neighbourhood and Integration Policy, the Institute is dedicated to policy advice and research on the EU acquis communautaire and EU good practices in the areas of human rights, rule of law and democratization. The focus is on the implementation of EU Twinning projects, primarily within the framework of EU enlargement policy. EU Twinning projects are bilateral partnership projects between institutions of a member state and a candidate country or neighboring country of the European Union with the aim of jointly promoting reforms in legislation and practice as well as institution building through project cooperation.
My tasks
As part of my traineeship, I carried out a number of different tasks, and I was particularly involved in two ongoing EU Twinning projects:
- "Implementation Capacity of Turkish Police to Prevent Disproportionate Use of Force" (Turkey)
- "Establishing a comprehensive system for anti-discrimination protection" (Croatia)
My activities included working on the financial management of projects, project documentation and revising project management templates.
My activities also included researching current and future EU Twinning and Technical Assistance projects (preparing fact sheets, researching potential future partner organizations, etc.).
Participation in various events was particularly exciting. For example, the European Twinning Coordinators' Meeting at the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs, or the preparation and follow-up of a networking meeting for short-term experts in the "Use of Force" project. I had the opportunity to get to know various experts in the field of human rights as well as in the field of EU Twinning.
However, there was also a very pleasant atmosphere at the BIM itself, in which there was a lively exchange, good communication and networking between and within the teams. This often provided the opportunity to learn about various topics, while internal events also offered more informal opportunities to exchange ideas.
In summary, I can say that the traineeship at the BIM was a very valuable experience. Both on a thematic and personal level. I gained insights into the complexity of international project management, was able to significantly improve my MS Office skills and got to know the complexities, for example with regard to internal and external communication around the projects and in the cooperation between governmental and non-governmental institutions.
(This traineeship was supported by NGOjobs.at with a contribution of € 500,-)
