Meet William, Nordic Bridge’s New IVY Project Partner

My journey so far

Hi, my name is William, and I’ve joined the Nordic Bridge project as a volunteer through the Interreg Volunteer Youth (IVY) programme. I’m excited to start this new experience in Bodø, where I’ll have the opportunity to explore how projects  connecting the public and private sectors are developed and implemented. What interests me most is the collaboration between different stakeholders and how bringing together diverse perspectives can create new opportunities and solutions.

With a background in Systemic Design, I’m particularly interested in understanding how design can foster connections between people, organisations, and institutions. From a systemic perspective, I believe that the effectiveness of a solution often depends not only on the solution itself, but also on the relationships and interactions it creates within a broader system. I’m looking forward to learning from the Nordic Bridge team, contributing my skills and perspective, and discovering how design can support collaboration and innovation across different sectors.

The Nordic Bridge Project

Nordic Bridge is a challenge-driven digital platform designed to connect academia, students, and local stakeholders across the Northern Periphery and Arctic region, including Norway, Iceland, Ireland, and Finland.

What I find particularly interesting about Nordic Bridge is its ability to create connections between actors who might otherwise struggle to find common ground. This is also closely related to my background in Systemic Design, where I learned to look beyond individual problems and explore how relationships between different actors can generate new opportunities and more effective solutions. For me, Nordic Bridge represents an opportunity to explore how digital platforms can do more than simply share information: they can create meaningful connections, encourage collaboration, and turn local challenges into opportunities for collective learning and innovation.

My role as an IVY Project Partner

As an IVY Project Partner, I support UX and service design activities to improve the Nordic Bridge platform and its user experience.

My main activities include:

• Collaborating with the project team on portal design and co-creation.

• Supporting the definition of user journeys, requirements, and functionalities.

• Preparing visual summaries and simple prototypes.

• Assisting with usability testing and identifying opportunities for improvement.

• Engaging with students and technical teams to gather insights.

• Documenting key takeaways and reflections to support internal learning.

Through this experience, I aim to apply my skills, strengthen my UX and service design competencies, and explore how collaboration between different stakeholders can lead to more accessible and effective digital solutions.

I’m always looking for new connections and ideas! Feel free to reach out if you’d like to learn more about Nordic Bridge or simply connect and get to know each other.

William, IVY Project Partner at Nord University, for the Interreg project NORDIC BRIDGE, under the programme Interreg Northern Periphery and Arctic