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A total of 42 works, spanning 14 categories, were nominated by specialist juries comprising media professionals and academics. On the afternoon of 21 May, a final jury convened to select one winner per category.
Among the winners was a piece close to our hearts. In the category Digital & Interactive (Dutch-language), the prize went to Van groen naar grijs ("Green to grey"), a data-driven investigation by Simon Demeulemeester, Dries De Smet, Andy Stevens, and Jimmy Kets, published in De Standaard and supported in part by Journalismfund Europe. The jury praised the way the team visualised before-and-after comparisons of open land loss in Flanders between 2018 and 2023.
The work forms part of a landmark cross-border collaboration: Green to Grey — How Europe Is Squandering the Little Nature It Has Left, in which 41 journalists and scientists from 11 countries used satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to measure nature loss across the continent. Their findings are striking: between 2018 and 2023, Europe lost approximately 9,000 km² of nature and cropland to construction — an area the size of Cyprus — at a rate up to 1.5 times faster than previously estimated by the European Environment Agency. More than 150,000 instances of construction were identified on protected land alone.
The project, initiated by Arena for Journalism in Europe and the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK) with scientific support from the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), resulted in a peer-reviewed article published in Nature Communications in April 2026, a rare bridge between investigative journalism and academic research.
Congratulations to the full team, and to all 14 winners of this year's Belfius Press Prizes.
