IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental network - a democratic membership union with more than 1,000 government and NGO member organizations, and almost 11,000 volunteer scientists in more than 160 countries. IUCN’s work is supported by more than 1,000 professional staff in 45 offices and hundreds of partners in public, NGO and private sectors around the world. Its headquarters are based in Gland, Switzerland.
IUCN’s work focuses on valuing and conserving nature, ensuring effective and equitable governance of its use, and deploying nature-based solutions to global challenges in climate, food and development.
IUCN supports scientific research, manages field projects all over the world, and brings governments, NGOs, the UN and companies together to develop policy, laws and best practice.
The IUCN European Regional Office represents around 360 Members. We provide regional and global services to IUCN, by providing vital linkages to EU institutions and other stakeholders in Brussels. Our primary role is to connect and engage in policy dialogues with European institutions, governments, civil society, NGOs, science and the business communities to improve conservation policy and action. As a science-based organisation, IUCN provides essential knowledge products for a broad range of policy debates.
Job Description
The IUCN Brussels team is looking for a highly motivated intern (with student status) for a period of 6 months to provide support to one specific area of the office’s activities: support in natural resources protection and conservation in Europe.
To be eligible for this internship, candidates must:
Have secured the right to live and work in Belgium for the entire duration of the internship. IUCN will not provide assistance with visa or work permit applications, nor will it alter applicants' visa status.
Be enrolled in a university or equivalent tertiary institution:
Undergraduate students should have completed at least one year of full-time study.
Graduate students should be in the process of completing their degrees.
Be enrolled in an academic program relevant to the duties and responsibilities outlined in the Terms of Reference.
The position is unpaid, with expenses paid for food and transportation.
Under the supervision of the Natural Resources Senior Officer, the intern will support the implementation of European projects focussing on the safeguard of natural resources (soil, water and biodiversity) - Eco-Ready, an European project aimed to provide policy recommendations in Food Security, Climate Change and Biodiversity through scenarios and shock analysis with Living Labs; Soilguard, extracting policy recommendations from research for soil health; and Safeguard, aiming towards pollinators protection. In addition, the intern will provide support to other projects, focusing on water, invasive alien species and nature restoration. They will support communications, outreach and capacity building events, both online and in person. The intern will also contribute to research tasks, contribute to policy briefs, will follow relevant EU policy developments and will maintain an overview of reports, documents and case studies of natural resources.
This assignment will include the following responsibilities:
General support to the activities of the Senior Officer: Policy and Programme and other team members of the Policy and Programme team, including project and policy related activities (assisting with the implementation of IUCN Europe’s current work programme);
Monitoring the relevant activities of the EU institutions (e.g. major announcements, upcoming events and policy calendars, public consultations etc.), and preparing regular briefings and updates;
Carrying out research on EU policies and processes as well as latest developments related to nature conservation and sustainable development, especially regarding biodiversity policy, sustainable agriculture and food systems;
Produce communications materials such as articles, brochures, factsheets, policy briefs etc.;
Assist in the organisation of workshops and events, both virtual and in-person (if circumstances allow), including speaker liaison, logistics, onsite support and reporting;
Contribute to the of organisation of partner meetings, including logistics, minutes and document administration;
Assist in the preparation of PowerPoint presentations on a variety of topics related to IUCN’s mission;
Attend relevant webinars, meetings and conferences and reporting on the outcomes;
Requirements:
Studying towards a relevant Bachelor’s or Master’s degree with a focus on environmental science, natural resource management, sustainable urban development, or any other discipline that is relevant to nature conservation or sustainable development;
Applicants must have student status and be enrolled at a university for the entire duration of the internship;
Affinity with the vision and mission of IUCN and a strong interest in and understanding of European environmental policies;
Excellent level of written and spoken English (native speaker or equivalent), other languages are an asset;
Good organizational, administrative and reporting skills; strong writing skills; and IT literate in MS Office;
Ability to work independently and on multiple tasks simultaneously;
Ability to meet tight deadlines without compromising the quality of outputs;
Highly motivated to learn and develop new skills, keen to bring in own ideas;
A team player with a strong interest to work in an international environment;
