PAKS / LINZ –  This investigation looked at the impacts of specific large industrial facilities along the Danube in Hungary, Austria and Germany, as well as legal regulation.

BELGRADE / SKOPJE / SARAJEVO - Although Western Balkan countries keep reiterating their commitment to the green agenda and transition on their path to the EU membership, they still lag behind their EU neighbours in preserving our main resources like water, air and soil.

EUROPE – Asbestos is now banned in 69 countries, but it is still found in our drinking water. Water pipes are made of asbestos cement release fibres that can be lethal when inhaled. Experts have warned about this problem for decades, but the issue persists. 

TUSCANY / ISLAMABAD - Most associate the Italian wine country — such as Tuscany, the Langhe and the Prosecco hills — with scenic vineyards where some of the world's most-renowned wine is made but, for many living and working under the Italian sun, the reality is far from idyllic.

SKOPJE / THESSALONIKI -  Investigative teams from IRL in North Macedonia and Inside Story in Greece secured and analyzed thousand of pages of documents, interviewed tens of stakeholders and authorities and surveyed the Axios/Vardar basin and its facilities in order to identify the environmental pressures on the river and expose the reasons behind them.  

BERLIN / BRAZZAVILLE / LA PAZ -  The German Federal Development Ministry's Legacy Landscapes Fund appears to be linked to human rights abuses and toleration of environmental destruction. Conservation areas across Africa, Asia, and South America are allegedly subjected to community maltreatment and environmental misconduct.

LONDON – With Europe reeling from heat waves and wildfires, the EU is backing projects to capture industrial emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) as a key pillar in its fight against climate change. But what if these multi-billion-euro schemes make the problem worse?

PAMPLONA / LISBON / BRUSSELS — Energy communities are a clean and democratic alternative entering the complex energy market. Through this model, citizens can take back the means of
energy production. This investigation looks into whether the citizen-led initiatives can fit into the market on par with the big suppliers.

In 2022, Brazil has exported for nearly 5 billion dollars of gold worldwide. The intermediary sellers operate in a near total secrecy. What are the routes gold from Pará state travels the world?

TUNIS - Since the 2011 Revolution for Dignity and Freedom, the European Union and individual member states have funded the Tunisian security apparatus with more than 500 millions euros.

KATHMANDU / ODEMIRA / BERLIN – This investigation revealed a system of informal agencies and debt bondage that thousands of Nepali migrant workers face when working in Portuguese berry fields.

BRUSSELS / PARIS – Many Europeans would not know wild African meat is eaten in cities around Europe, tonnes and tonnes of it being smuggled for the demand of some African communities. What does it mean — for preservation of endangered species, but also for preservation of cultural identity, and how can regulation be improved for everyone's benefit? 

FORT-DE-FRANCE / BASSE TERRE – This investigation goes behind the scenes of a French state scandal, tracing a historical route from governmental actors who approved use of chlordecone, a dangerous chemical, in agriculture, to the realities of victims speaking out today. Their testimonies highlight how the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe face an environmental and sanitary disaster still ongoing.

NOVA KAKHOVKA – In June 2023 the Russian military targeted Ukraine's Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant, triggering an ecocide that strained the ecological resilience of the region. The polluted water added to the Black Sea's ongoing environmental degradation because of negligence and weak policies in the region.

VLADIVOSTOK / BUSAN – After Russia attacked Ukraine, the West acted swiftly. Within months, the Western alliance imposed hard-hitting sanctions against the Eastern giant. However, these sanctions did not affect most Russian fishing industries, which kept exporting 1.1 billion USD of seafood into Europe

HONG KONG/WARSAW - Filipino workers are increasingly being lured by word of mouth as well as social media accounts promoting jobs in Poland. 

JAKARTA / AMSTERDAM - It sounded so appealing to become an Au Pair in Europe on paper. Unsurprisingly a website like AuPairWorld.com, which matches au pairs and host families, displays hundreds of profiles of young women advertising their baby-sitting skills.  

LISBOA - The non-voter time bomb is a data-driven journalism feature that profiles voter abstention across the European Union (EU) over the last 50 years and analyses it according to different demographic and socioeconomic indicators for each of the 27 member states.

MILAN/SOFIA/ARAD – Tens of thousands of tonnes of textile waste arrive in Romania and Bulgaria every year, mainly from Italy and Germany. Despite the fact the EU had acknowledged the extent of the textile waste smuggling across the continent, no strategy so far proved to be efficient in preventing it.

ROME / DHAKA - Of the many cases chronicling the exploitation of South Asian migrant workers in Italy, none is perhaps more visible yet underreported than the plight of rose sellers – a common sight in busy tourist destinations like Rome, Milan or Turin.

EDINBURGH - Europe’s marine environment faces a plethora of severe threats. What are the key species in decline, and which interest groups are lobbying against marine protection laws? This investigation looks into Europe’s interconnected marine systems, and how they can be preserved.

EL CERREJÓN — The largest open pit coal mine in the world lies in Colombia. Health damage caused both to its workers and the communities – silicosis disease among them – is peremptory and alarming.

BRUSSELS / ACCRA – The EU wanted to prevent further deforestation around the world with a new regulation on supply chains in the timber trade. But in Ghana it has the opposite effect.

GEORGETOWN - This investigation offers a deep dive into the financial tricks ExxonMobil employs to turn Guyana into its perfect oil province.

NAIVASHA - Many of the beautiful bouquets sold across European markets have a devastating environmental and human cost. In Kenya, a supplier of 40% of the European cut flower market, the floriculture industry faces accusations of having a calamitous effect on water sources, of chemical use leading to disease, and of widespread abuses of farm workers, 70% of whom are women. 

EU — It is now four years since the EU's Clean Energy for All Europeans package had been adopted. How much progress has been made since then on the national levels? This project looks at Croatia, Germany, Poland, Greece, and Bulgaria.

SKOPJE /TIRANA /PRISTINA – The levels of pollution in the capitals of the republics in the Western Balkans are extremely high. The investigation looks at the causes of this situation as well as the health problems that air pollution leads to.

IXQUISIS - In Latin America, defending natural resources such as water is a deadly pursuit. According to the latest Global Witness report, 1.773 environmentalists were murdered in the last 10 years. Sebastián Alonzo, a 68 years old subsistence farmer from the Ixquisis micro-region in Guatemala, was murdered while demonstrating against the hydroelectric company that would divert the river and affect the crops which his family and community depended upon.

COPENHAGEN - Denmark dropped bombs in four key incidents in which civilians were reportedly killed or injured in the 2011 war that led to the overthrow of dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, this investigation by Altinget and Airwars can reveal in partnership with the Guardian. 

BRUSSELS - Paradoxical plastics: Why are bioplastics not necessarily as good as a solution to plastic waste as the had been proclaimed?

PARAMARIBO - The dream of gold is driving tens of thousands of Brazilians into the rainforest on the EU border between Suriname and French Guiana. They leave behind contaminated rivers and shattered illusions. Almost no one wins.

ACCRA – Low-quality petrol and diesel are a major problem for air quality in West Africa. They contain toxic substances such as sulfur and the carcinogenic benzene. When they break down, cars emit even more toxic exhaust fumes over densely populated cities.

ELSDORF – 2030 marks the end of lignite mining in the Rhenish mining area. But what happens to the Garzweiler, Hambach and Inden opencast mines once the excavators have been dismantled? Turning the brown coal holes into a lake district sounds easier than it is.

CHACO – A cross-border investigation conducted by Voxeurop and Periodistas por el Planeta reveals that livestock farms in Italy and Spain, two major meat exporters across Europe, as well as iconic food brands are indirectly linked to deforestation in the Chaco province in Argentina.

BERLIN/NAIROBI - Why and how dangerous pesticide products produced in the EU — and Germany in particular — are continued to be sold in other countries? The investigation looks at how agrochemical companies try to maintain an unregulated pesticide market, despite tightening regulations in Europe. 

ALMERIA – The environmental crisis in southern Spain is hitting hard: even drinking water is becoming scarce. A 40-year free-for-all on the “Garden of Europe”, a thriving agricultural industry, has led Almeria to the brink of catastrophe. 

PARIS - The "Perenco System" international investigation coordinated by the Environmental Investigative Forum (EIF) in partnership with Mediapart, InfoCongo, InfoAmazonia and Convoca documents the systemic ecological impact of Perenco worldwide.

KARACHI - Top clothing brands in the EU are hesitant to fully eliminate child and bonded labor from their supply chain from Pakistan, one of the biggest producers of cotton and one of the biggest largest textile exporters to the EU, 

SARAJEVO - This investigation explores the damages caused to nature and small rural communities by the construction of the small hydropower plants and their access roads, and what drove investors, especially foreign ones, to seek opportunities in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

EUROPE - A cross-border team of 8 journalists confirmed 1,015 unmarked graves of migrants in 65 cemeteries buried over the last 10 years across Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta, Poland, Lithuania, France, and Croatia.

MADRID/TRIESTE - The cross-border investigation is shedding light on how deinstitutionalisation is taking place in 5 regions of 4 different member states: Spain, Italy, Belgium and The Netherlands. Many people in mental institutions are subject to neglect and abuse of human rights, reflected in high mortality rates.

EPERNAY / COLOMBO - Champagne has been a symbol of luxury for decades. Over the last few years, the shiny image of the sparkling wine from Eastern France suffered quite a bit. Several affairs of human trafficking have been battering the famous French industry. 

ODESA - In February 2022, when Russia launched the full-scale invasion into Ukraine,  the Black Sea was one of its focal points. As a result, thousands of cetaceans died. This investigation looks into the faith of dolphins that became victims of the war. 

BRUSSELS - Night trains are by far the most environmentally-friendly option for travels within the European continent. Why are there so few connections, and how can the system be scaled up?

ITALY/SPAIN - Both countries are considered to be under high water stress, but while a recent drought that hit Italy has mostly subsided, water scarcity is ravaging Catalonia, in northeastern Spain, laying bare the unpreparedness of water infrastructure to deal with such a traumatic manifestation of climate change.

EXTREMADURA/LEIRIA – The Fuelling a Megafire report is intended to help build a new understanding of mega fires and the structural causes accommodating them.

WARSAW – What brings a motley crew of British lawyers, Polish psychologists, American paediatricians, Malaysian church leaders and German doctors to a hotel on the outskirts of a European capital city? 

ROME - As big cities try to cope with population growth, climate change, and more frequent droughts, the grasping for available water sources wears out small communities and ecosystems.

SZEKLERLAND - While most of the municipalities in the region face the problems including a lack of infrastructure, there is one municipality where millions of euros have been invested in recent years.

REYKJAVÍK – This investigation explored the controversy around PMSG, a hormone used for meat production: How it is produced, why and where it is used, ethical debates, and the complex legal battles around it.

CANAL BISTROE – Ukraine needs to defend itself using any means at its disposal. At the same time, the Danube Delta ecosystem must remain protected. Are these two demands mutually exclusive?

# Financial support
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# Projects supported
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# Grantees
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Grants 

SoJo Europe - In Search of 18 European Newsrooms

This is a training, grant, and mentoring programme to stimulate more solutions journalism. We will issue an open call inviting applications from all eligible countries to recruit a total of 18 newsrooms (first year: 10; second year: 8) to take part in the activities.

The first application deadline is Thursday 04 April 2024 at 1 pm CET

European Cross-border Grants

With the award-winning European Cross-Border Grant programme, Journalismfund Europe supports (since 2009) professional journalists and independent media outlets who have good ideas for cross-border investigations and for research on European topics.

The next application deadline is Thursday 25 April 2024 at 1 pm CET

Environmental Investigative Journalism

This grant programme supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets to conduct investigations into environmental affairs related to Europe (all the countries, not only EU members).

The next application deadline is Thursday 25 April 2024 at 1 pm CET.

News

Scholarships for grantees

To enable investigative journalists to share their experience and knowledge with colleagues at conferences, trainings, webinars and other available journalistic events, Journalismfund Europe provides scholarships for its grantees.

25th Year Anniversary of Journalismfund Europe

Pre-application sessions for potential applicants - grants journalists

Questions? In-house assistance to better prepare your application

2024-03-07

BRUSSELS - Let us walk you through your application to increase your chances of getting funded.

A First Comparative Study Indicates the Fragile Situation for Local Media Across the EU

2024-02-28

ONLINE - The study “Uncovering news deserts in Europe. Risks and opportunities for local and community media in the EU” by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF) was published today. This research detects challenges and opportunities for local and community media in the 27 EU Member States, analysing the news deserts phenomenon from a holistic perspective. 

The Fossil Fuel Grants Programme

New Grants Programme to Scrutinise Europe's Fossil Fuel Industry

2024-02-26

LONDON/BRUSSELS - Today, Journalismfund Europe launches the Fossil Fuel Grants Programme. The new programme will support cross-border investigative journalism that scrutinises the activities of Europe’s fossil fuel industry and its proxies across the globe.

Agenda

12Apr
Conference

The SKUP conference is the biggest event of the year for investigative journalism in Norway. You'll learn basic and advanced skills, you'll be inspired and you'll make new friends. It's fun too!

Tønsberg (Norway)
17Apr
21Apr
Event

The 2024 festival will take place in Perugia from Wednesday 17 to Sunday 21 April.

 

Perugia (Italy)
30May
2Jun
Conference

Dataharvest – The European Investigative Journalism Conference is a meeting point where networks are established and nurtured, data and documents shared, cross-border projects conceived and teams established. The conference days are all about learning, inspiration and getting some work done.

Mechelen (Belgium)