Supported projects

BRIANCON - Every night, two groups patrol the Alps around Briançon: the border police and aid workers. The police try to stop refugees who want to cross the border here, forcing them to take dangerous routes. Anyone who helps the refugees risks arrest, fines and harassment.

DEURNE - The Flemish government has been defending the substantial public support for Antwerp Airport in Deurne for years, arguing that the airport creates economic added value for the region. However, new figures show that employment and the added value of the company have fallen sharply in recent years.

NEW YORK CITY - The West may not have fully realised it, but the United Nations is undergoing a revival. Not that everything will remain the same, because Beijing seems to be finding enough allies to change the organisation from within. 

ANTWERP / RIEME - No one knows how many harmful substances are emitted from the chimneys of Flemish factories. However, the emissions of the limited group of “Substances of Very High Concern” reported by Flemish companies are almost twice as high as those reported by companies in the Netherlands. 

CAMBRIDGE/LOUVAIN-LA-NEUVE - How do we use the available land in our own region, and what impact does that have elsewhere? That question is crucial for our food supply, poverty reduction, nature conservation, and the fight against climate change. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about land use.

PANAMA CITY / BOGOTA / SAN JOSE  - While European leaders keep dragging their feet, some countries in Latin America—despite numerous obstacles and lack of funding—are hard at work to restore their natural environments. Tim Vernimmen visited three of them in the hope they might teach us how to do better at home.

BRUSSELS - Agriculture in Flanders is facing challenges. Caught between expanding cities and ever-growing nature reserves, farmers are striving to produce food for a growing (global) population.

BRUSSELS - A maze of European subsidy rules has created a lucrative niche: grant consultants. These consultancy firms earn substantial sums by assisting researchers with their subsidy applications. This raises a fundamental question: does current research policy steer science too much towards competition and market value, at the expense of an open, societal approach to research?

ANTWERP - The Organisation Todt (OT) was a German paramilitary government organisation named after its founder, Fritz Todt. The group was involved in major construction projects (such as the Atlantic Wall), security assignments (such as guarding prisoner-of-war and concentration camps) and military operations and genocides (including those in Eastern Europe).

KIGALI - In the run-up to the first world cycling championship on African soil, Aaron Lapeirre travels to Rwanda to document the route.