Internship in times of Corona

In Spring 2020, from March to the end of May, I did a three-months internship at Democracy International. Before joining DI’s team, I had many expectations and ideas of what the experience would be but I would have never imagined that after the first week in the office everyone would have worked from home. Covid-19 and “smart-working” shook up the office and the numerous initiatives/events scheduled for the next months. However, it gave me the opportunity to learn how to reinvent the work of an NGO that works globally when the world around is changing.

During the internship, alongside the daily social media management and support work for the Intenrational Democracy Community, I have been directly involved in the development of new projects of DI such as “Democracy in Times of Corona”. Within this project, I supported the team doing research on the situation of democracy in countries around the world and delving into specific situations preparing and conducting interviews with experts and activists. The switch of all of the activities online gave me also the opportunity to learn and be involved in creating, managing and promoting online events for the Democracy Community and the European projects. Other projects I worked on have been creating online content for the promotion of the Catalogue of Ideas under the European Public Sphere and researching legislation for the Democracy Navigator.

The home office was not easy, especially for a newcomer as I was, but the everyday zoom meetings and the constant contact with the team made the situation easier and gave me the tools to learn and improve my work and knowledge. Fortunately, during the last weeks of May, we were able to come back to the office and I could then enjoy the nice environment and teamwork in person. I will always carry with me a clear and positive memory of the internship and the experiences I had during this time.