FILIP MALENICA

In 2020, Filip Malenica from Croatia was the first person we welcomed as a volunteer of the European Solidarity Corps. He was active at FREIRAD as an EuSC-volunteer for a total of six months from January 20, 2020 to July 31, 2020.

During his time at FREIRAD, Filip gained insight into the areas of program coordination and broadcast design, got into contact with the radio producers and helped organise the radio program. In addition, Filip went to events such as the meetings of the Innsbruck municipal council and recorded them for FREIRAD. He was also active in the organisation, for the interviews and in the recording of FREIRAD’s thematic focus „Living Space“ in September 2020.

In his own radio show „diet mania“ (German: Diätwahn) Filip dealt with the reasons for the rapid obsession with nutrition, the cunning marketing of products and plans of „experts“, and provided a general overview of the advantages and disadvantages of the most common diet trends. The show Diätwahn can be listened to right here.

As an EuSC-volunteer at FREIRAD, Filip also coordinated the radio series „Talking Europe“. In the programme, EuSC-volunteers from all over Europe talk about their experiences in various Tyrolean organisations in the arts, youth, education and social sectors. They play music and discuss hot topics such as the voluntary service, their personal experiences, intercultural and current social issues. Here you can listen to the Talking Europe radio show.

In a radio show on the topic of studying abroad during the Covid-crisis, Filip explored the question of how studying abroad is possible despite the imposed restrictions together with the Erasmus+ university coordinator of the University of Innsbruck Katharina Devich and the student Sophia Reitspies. You can listen to the show „Studying abroad despite of Covid?“ (Deutsch: Studieren im Ausland trotz Corona?) right here.

After his work as a volunteer, Filip stayed at FREIRAD for another six months as a program coordinator.

This is what Filip says about his time at FREIRAD:

„I am Filip Malenica and from the end of January to the end of July I was a European volunteer at FREIRAD. During the project I dealt with many challenges, which led to new insights and skills. FREIRAD also had to adapt many things to create a good and fruitful environment for their first European Solidarity Corps-volunteer and I am very grateful for that. From the beginning, I could always count on the trust of the team at FREIRAD. I never lacked new tasks or the necessary support and never were any of my requests considered superfluous. I would need much more than this short paragraph to list everything I have done and learned – from the many moderations, interviews and broadcasts to the technical aspects of designing a radio show. All these experiences were very significant to me.

But I must not forget to mention how the project affected me as a person. This was the first time I lived abroad for an extended period of time and interacted with so many people from different backgrounds. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and the first lockdown, I was never left alone. To the people who were always there for me and through whom I was also able to experience and appreciate the beauty of Tyrol I can only say one last big „thank you.“ Being employed in the area ofprogram coordination until the end of the year also brought many more good experiences, but that would be a topic for another report.“

Thank you, dear Filip, for your wonderful work during your time with FREIRAD!