Get Involved · Erasmus+ Traineeship
Intern in Kocani. Help build something from the ground up.
An Erasmus+ internship (formally a traineeship) with EVEC Kocani, a founding member of the EVEC network: real youth work, inclusion and community activities in eastern North Macedonia — plus the chance to help start the four hands-on methods our network developed. A personal mentor, weekly evaluations, and honest expectations from day one.
Why intern with EVEC Kocani
Real people. Real responsibility. No pretending.
We will not promise you a polished corporate programme. We will promise you work that is real.
Work that is real, not simulated
Day-care centres for people with disabilities, school eco-actions, Boccia sessions, Roma youth education — activities with real beneficiaries, not case studies.
Structured mentorship
A personal mentor, weekly evaluation meetings, and learning outcomes agreed in your Learning Agreement — the same support system documented in our ESC Quality Label.
A team of specialists
Our members include special-education teachers, psychologists, pedagogues, social workers and nurses — people who do this work for a living in the day-care centres our network works with.
Ground-floor responsibility
The microgreens, mycelium, drone and solar methods are only now arriving in North Macedonia. Trainees here help start things — and "I helped set this up" is a portfolio line few people can write.
Kocani
A small, affordable town in eastern North Macedonia. Accommodation is within walking distance of where you work — no commute, no big-city costs.
A mission that matters
Our focus is young people with fewer opportunities — disability, economic and social obstacles, educational difficulties — and Roma youth. Your work reaches the people who need it most.
Find your role
Seven role ideas, drawn from what we actually do.
These are not vacancies copied from a template — each one is built on activities our organisation and its branches really run. Tell us which one fits you, and we shape the Erasmus+ internship together with your Erasmus office.
Green Methods Pioneer — Microgreens, Mycelium, Drones & Solar
You'll: help set up the first growing trays, mycelium test batches, drone simulator sessions and small solar rigs in Kocani — four methods authored in our network and piloted in Athens, now being brought to North Macedonia.
You'll leave with: genuine start-up experience across four hands-on systems — and the right to say you were there at the beginning.
Environmental Education Intern
You'll: co-run our year-round eco calendar with local schools — World Water Day, Earth Day, car-free day — working alongside teachers from a "Green Flag" eco-school.
You'll leave with: real workshop facilitation with schoolchildren and a documented environmental-education portfolio.
Inclusive Sport (Boccia) Intern
You'll: support Boccia sessions with our two trained trainers — we were the first organisation in North Macedonia to introduce this Paralympic sport — and help bring it to more people with disabilities.
You'll leave with: rare Paralympic-sport experience and real inclusive-coaching practice.
Disability Support Intern
You'll: join the daily programmes of the day-care centres for people with disabilities our branch network supports in Stip (open since 2006) and Delcevo (open since 2004) — occupational therapy, creative activities and outings, guided by our special-education teachers and psychologists.
You'll leave with: supervised, real-world special-needs support experience that university placements rarely offer.
Roma Youth Inclusion Intern
You'll: run non-formal education with Roma young people — literacy support, music, International Roma Day activities — and help us grow the programme.
You'll leave with: grassroots inclusion experience that stands out on any CV — and relationships you will not forget.
Media & Communications Intern
You'll: build on our experience running an online radio and a bilingual (EN/MK) monthly youth magazine — help us bring both back to life and tell the story of our projects on our channels.
You'll leave with: a relaunch you helped shape and bylined work as it goes live.
EU Project Support Intern
You'll: support the delivery and dissemination of our Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps work — 17 EU projects across our network since 2015 — from partner communication to reporting.
You'll leave with: insider experience of how EU youth projects actually run, from application to final report.
Don't see a perfect fit but have a skill we'd value? Tell us — we consider strong candidates year-round.
The essentials
The methods we are bringing to Kocani.
Four hands-on methods — authored by our president Blagoj Ristov and piloted by our sister organisation in Athens — are now being brought to North Macedonia. Whichever role you pick, you can be part of starting them here:
- Mycelium — growing material from agricultural waste that would otherwise be burned
- Microgreens — a full production cycle, seed to harvest, in about ten days
- Drones — starting on a simulator, then surveying real ground
- Solar energy — building small photovoltaic rigs and measuring what they produce
Be clear-eyed about this: none of these has run in Kocani yet. That is the point. A trainee on an Erasmus+ internship here is not stepping into a machine that already runs — you would be helping to build it, and that is exactly what makes it worth putting in a portfolio.
Everything you — and your Erasmus office — need to know.
- Funding
- An Erasmus+ grant from your sending institution — the amount is set by the current Erasmus+ rules for North Macedonia and confirmed by your national agency. Inclusion and green-travel top-ups may apply. Macedonian and self-funded interns do not receive an Erasmus+ grant (see Eligibility).
- Duration
- 2–12 months depending on the role (3+ recommended to make the most of it).
- Hours
- 30 per week, with two days off weekly — the same well-being rule we apply to our volunteers.
- Format
- On-site in Kocani, with activities at partner venues and our branch towns by agreement.
- Languages
- English is the working language (B1–B2 by role); Macedonian is not required — we offer a Macedonian language course to everyone we host.
- Eligibility
- KA131-HED traineeships and KA1-VET mobility from Erasmus+ programme countries. Macedonian students can intern with us too, but self-funded or through a university placement — Erasmus+ mobility cannot be hosted in your own country.
- Start
- Rolling — we agree dates together once your Learning Agreement is signed.
Support
You won't be thrown in at the deep end.
- A named personal mentor — regular one-to-one time and an emergency contact reachable outside office hours — plus weekly evaluation meetings and structured learning outcomes in your Learning Agreement.
- A soft landing: a Macedonian SIM card on arrival, help finding accommodation within walking distance, and a Macedonian language course.
- Inclusion: we actively welcome applicants with fewer opportunities; participants who need one may come with an accompanying assistant, and our members include psychologists.
- Safeguarding: activities involving minors take place with parental consent, per our safeguarding policy, and you get a safeguarding briefing during orientation.
What we provide on an Erasmus+ internship — and what we don't
We are a small citizens' association, not a corporate programme. You get real people, real beneficiaries and real responsibility. You do not get a big-agency toolset — bring your own laptop, and any specialist software your role needs.
- Letter of Intent
- Pre-filled Learning Agreement (KA131 or KA1-VET)
- Host Organisation Profile
- Insurance & safeguarding documentation
- A Traineeship Certificate at the end
How to apply
Ready for an Erasmus+ internship in Kocani? Here's how it works.
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Email us
Email contact@evec.org.mk with: your CV · a 1-page motivation letter · the role idea that interests you · confirmation of Erasmus+ grant eligibility (if applicable) · your preferred dates and duration.
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We reply within 3 working days
With a Letter of Acceptance if it's a fit — and honest reasons if it isn't.
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We finalise the Learning Agreement
We finalise the tripartite Learning Agreement with your sending institution, and you're set.
Who this is not for: anyone looking for a ready-made Erasmus+ internship with a fixed daily script, or a desk job with no contact with beneficiaries. Much of what we do in Kocani is being built right now — trainees help build it.
Apply by e-mail
No portals and no long procedure. The short form is quickest, but one e-mail with your CV, motivation and dates is just as complete an Erasmus+ internship application — and a real person reads either one.
Email contact@evec.org.mkWe reply within 3 working days.
The ESC pathway
Prefer volunteering? There's a funded path too.
EVEC holds a European Solidarity Corps Quality Label (Hosting + Supporting) valid to 31/12/2027. The label is held by the association, so an ESC placement can be based in any of our five towns — Kocani, Stip, Strumica, Delcevo or Lozovo. Kocani, Stip and Strumica are also registered in their own right on the European Youth Portal. We have not hosted an ESC volunteer in North Macedonia yet — the placement is prepared and waiting for the first arrival. If an Erasmus+ internship (a study or VET traineeship) isn't your route, ESC volunteering might be.
Traineeship vs ESC
Traineeship
- For students (higher education or VET)
- Funded by your sending institution via Erasmus+
- 2–12 months
ESC
- Ages 18–30, resident in an ESC programme country
- Fully funded by the EU
- 14 days – 12 months
Same team, different routes.
Trust & credibility
A registered citizens' association, active since 2014.
- 17 EU projects across our network since 2015 — coordinated and partnered with organisations in Turkey, Slovenia, Greece, Romania, Poland and Bulgaria. Every reference code is verifiable on the Erasmus+ project results platform.
- Citizens' association founded 15.02.2014 · seat: Ul. Boris Trajkovski 42, 2300 Kocani, North Macedonia · President: Blagoj Ristov.
- 4 branch offices — Stip, Strumica, Delcevo and Lozovo — all active.
- Active since 2014 · 17 EU projects across our network · 4 branch offices · ESC Quality Label valid to 2027.
Keep exploring
Other ways to take part
Erasmus+
ESC volunteering
Funded, 14 days to 12 months — for ages 18–30 who legally live in an ESC programme country.
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