EU Funding and Engagement Intern

About the Program:

WRI Europe collaborates with the institutions of the European Union, the European Investment Bank, and a broad range of public, civil-society, research, and delivery partners to support Europe’s leadership on climate, environment, and sustainable development.

This internship offers a unique opportunity to gain experience within an international NGO that works to advance the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement. The intern will gain practical insight into how EU institutions, funding instruments, policy intelligence, and partnerships can be mobilised to support ambitious climate and development outcomes.

https://www.wri.org/europe

Internship Highlight:

Starting in September 2026, this internship will continue and deepen work already underway in WRI Europe’s EU Desk. The intern will support a defined project focused on consolidating and operationalising WRI Europe’s EU partnership and funding support system for the 2026–2027 cycle.

The role is especially well suited to someone who enjoys combining research, relationship management, policy and institutional monitoring, structured process support, and knowledge management. The intern will play a cross-cutting role in connecting operational partnerships, funding intelligence, internal coordination, EU engagement, and learning into one coherent and usable support system for the EU Desk and the thematic teams it supports.

What you will do:

In this role, you will join WRI Europe’s EU Desk at a time when WRI is strengthening both its strategic engagement with EU institutions and its ability to access EU funding. You will help continue the work initiated by the current intern and support the practical implementation of the EU Desk Funding Action Plan.

A central part of the role will be to help turn partner intelligence, pipeline management, proposal support, policy and institutional intelligence, and internal learning into one coherent operating system for the EU Desk. You will also contribute to strengthening EU engagement by supporting outreach preparation, institutional mapping, policy monitoring, and briefing material for priority EU institutions and policy processes.

Your internship supervisor will be Viviane Filippi, EU Funding Manager, based in The Hague. You will work closely with Viviane on day-to-day priorities and with other EU Desk colleagues on active workstreams. You will also have periodic strategic check-ins with Janneke de Vries, Director of EU Engagement / Head of The Hague regional office.

Responsibility area – Operational partnerships and EU funding coordination

Approximately 60% of time

• Maintain and further develop the live partner database, including partner profiles, thematic fit, consortium experience, country presence, reputational considerations, risks, priority leads by theme, and next-step actions.
• Support pre-call partner cultivation by identifying high-fit lead partners and technical allies for priority themes and calls.
• Prepare outreach lists, meeting briefs, partner briefs, consortium conversation materials, and follow-up notes.
• Prepare short partner-intelligence notes covering WRI’s possible role, partnership rationale, risks, and suggested next steps.
• Maintain the EU funding pipeline tracker and help ensure that follow-up actions, partner conversations, and priority opportunities are recorded in a usable way.
• Contribute to bi-monthly forward looks, internal alerts, and opportunity briefs covering Horizon Europe and diversified EU instruments.
• Support opportunity scanning, call-fit analysis, and early internal alerts so that teams can engage before consortia are fully formed.
• Support the development of a diversified EU funding pipeline beyond Horizon, including where relevant LIFE, NDICI/Global Europe, Interreg, Innovation Fund, and EU service contracts or tenders.

Responsibility area – EU engagement, policy intelligence and institutional briefing

Approximately 20% of time

• Support EU engagement by preparing short policy briefs, institutional mapping notes, meeting briefings, and follow-up inputs for priority EU institutions and policy processes.
• Monitor selected EU policy and funding developments relevant to WRI Europe’s strategic priorities and translate them into concise internal updates.
• Help prepare background material for institutional outreach, partner meetings, EU-facing conversations, and strategic engagement opportunities.
• Support the connection between EU funding opportunities and wider institutional engagement priorities, so that funding intelligence and policy positioning reinforce one another.

Responsibility area – Knowledge management, proposal support and internal learning

Approximately 15% of time

• Help maintain the EU Desk knowledge hub and organise guidance material, templates, examples, FAQs, how-to notes, debrief summaries, and reusable proposal-support resources.
• Contribute background research and drafting support for submission advice notes, proposal-review inputs, and initial partner or call assessments.
• Assist with the preparation of internal workshops or learning sessions on proposal development, budgeting, eligibility, and good practices for EU funding.
• Capture lessons from post-submission debriefs and evaluator feedback and help organise this material into reusable notes and structured files.
• Support the preparation of short internal briefs, newsletter inputs, or alerts on relevant EU funding and policy developments.

Responsibility area – Meetings, coordination and team support

Approximately 5% of time

• Assist with meeting management, including agendas, background materials, note-taking, follow-up actions, and selected external communication tasks.
• Support logistical and content preparation for workshops, partner meetings, conferences, and visits of WRI staff to the WRI Europe office.
• Help prepare presentations, short talking points, and briefing material for internal and external conversations related to EU engagement, partnerships, and funding.
• Provide other coordination and administrative support as needed to help the EU Desk operate effectively.

Milestones and supervision

The internship will include structured supervision and learning milestones.

During the first two weeks, the intern will be onboarded, receive a handover of existing files and systems, review the EU Funding Action Plan, and agree on internship tasks, objectives, and learning goals with the supervisor.

The intern will have a weekly supervisory check-in with Viviane Filippi to review priorities, progress, obstacles, engagement-related tasks, policy-monitoring outputs, and alignment between funding and institutional-engagement priorities.

There will also be a monthly in-person review of progress against project outputs, including prioritisation of the next month’s tasks and feedback on the quality of deliverables. A monthly strategic check-in with Janneke de Vries will also be organised.

A mid-point review will take place after approximately 10–12 weeks to assess learning progress, workload balance, and any needed refinement of responsibilities.

At the end of the internship, the intern will prepare a final handover package, including updated trackers, partner intelligence files, knowledge-hub material, and a short presentation on lessons learned and recommendations for the EU Desk.

What you will need:

• Currently pursuing a degree in international relations, European studies, political science, development studies, environmental studies, public policy, or a related field. A graduate programme is preferred.
• Good understanding of EU institutions and a strong interest in EU funding, partnerships, policy engagement, and international cooperation.
• Excellent research, writing, and synthesis skills, with the ability to turn complex information into clear and practical outputs.
• Strong organisational skills and comfort working with trackers, spreadsheets, partner lists, and knowledge-management tools.
• Interest in donor and partner intelligence, consortium-building, EU policy monitoring, and institutional engagement.
• A proactive, collaborative, and detail-oriented approach to work.
• Excellent command of English.
• Interns at WRI Europe must be registered in a study programme with a Dutch college or university for the full duration of the internship.

Conditions of the internship:

• This is a 4-6 month internship starting on 21st September 2026.
• This internship will be based at the WRI Europe office in the Hague with some flexibility to work from home
• This internship offers a reimbursement of 700 euros per month based on full-time working hours (32 hours per week).

How to apply:

Please submit a resume and cover letter by 13th July 2026. Applicants must apply through the WRI Careers portal to be considered. You are encouraged to link to any relevant blogs, projects or other pieces of work that demonstrate your suitability for the internship.

About Us:

World Resources Institute works to improve people’s lives, protect and restore nature and stabilize the climate. As an independent research organization, we leverage our data, expertise and global reach to influence policy and catalyse change across systems like food, land and water; energy; and cities. Our 2,000+ staff work on the ground in more than a dozen focus countries and with partners in over 50 nations.

Our mission and values:

WRI’s mission is to move human society to live in ways that protect Earth’s environment and its capacity to provide for the needs and aspirations of current and future generations.

Our values are shared ideals that bind us together: Independence, Integrity, Impact, Partnership and Care.

Our culture:

WRI is committed to advancing gender and social equity for human well-being in our mission including equal opportunities in employment. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, caste, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status.

Our People team carefully reviews all applications.