Supported projects

WARSAW / BUCHAREST / CULIACÁN - Europe is facing a fentanyl crisis. In 2023, victims of this deadly substance have already been reported in a few countries. The team of journalists traces the path of fentanyl from Mexico to Romania and Poland, showing the complexity of the problem.

TERVUREN/KINSHASA - After almost 70 years in the Africa Museum, the rare Kakungu mask is back in Congo. Despite the festive ceremony at the National Museum, the mask remains the property of Belgium, causing unrest among the Congolese people and the Suku community, where the mask originally came from ...

GOTLAND / MONTPELLIER – Is global warming making climate conditions less favourable for grape cultivation in southern Europe and more favourable in the north? The cross-border team conducted on-site reporting in four countries to see if this is true.

COBQUECURA - 4.3 babies are born every second in the world. For a woman, childbirth is one of the most profound physical and emotional events in her life. Yet childbirth, like the female body in general, remains undervalued and under-researched.

ZURICH - Baby number 12 is a global investigation into an adoption scheme that began in Switzerland in the ‘50s, and the trauma that haunt the victims today. The investigation aims to expose the responsibilities of the Swiss authorities and will ask for their action.

MILANO - The number of homeless people in Europe has doubled since 2009. A recent report from the Feantsa states that Europe has almost 895,000 homeless people.

PARIS – Billed by the fossil fuel industry as a climate solution, dozens of planned blue hydrogen projects in Europe could consume more natural gas than a country like France, and produce emissions on a par with Denmark. These findings raise new questions over blue hydrogen’s climate impact at a ...

ISTANBUL/PARIS/UTRECHT - The European Union has helped Turkey to deport Syrian and Afghan refugees to situations of hardship, danger and even death through a system of arrest, detention and removal that has developed over time, this investigation has found.

NUUK — This cross-border investigation focuses on how the increasing interest in the Arctic area – especially in Greenland and in the Russian northern shores – is re-shaping the economic and political equilibrium and is impacting the environment on a global level.

SKOPJE - The Macedonian grayling is a unique butterfly species which resides exclusively on the outskirts of a small Macedonian town, with no other known locations worldwide. The specimen of this rare and endangered butterfly can be purchased at low prices across Europe — how did this become ...

BERLIN/ROME- As more and more EU countries are looking into asylum agreements with Rwanda or other third countries, this investigation sheds light into what is already happening in Rwanda after the MoU signed with the UK government.

MADRID / ONLINE - The Open Veins of Europe was an exchange programme for 29 journalists from Latin America and Europe, designed as a fellowship to explore the environmental issues that connect both regions.

ANTWERPEN - Valère, Veerle Duflou's partner, chose to donate his body to science. Ten years after his death, Veerle wants to know what happens to those bodies. She goes to the Antwerp University anatomy lab and follows the people to whom these bodies end up.

PRAGUE - One in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15 – a total of 62 million women in Europe. The Istanbul Convention, a treaty aimed at preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence, should help with the situation.

AMSTERDAM / BONN / HELSINKI / STOCKHOLM — Manure is a valuable part of the agricultural cycle but becomes a huge environmental threat when there's too much of it. The team of journalists in four countries tried to investigate the manure surplus, and discovered that related EU data is not readily ...

GITEGA / ROME - Climate change is making it increasingly difficult to grow coffee plants. What is the future holding for the lovers of this drink? How will plant cultivation change, what is the deal with waste management, and can coffee supply chain become sustainable? This investigation takes you ...

BUCHAREST / PAZARDZHIK —  The green transition is not necessarily a clean one. The European frenzy for green energy projects, and the massive funds assigned for this process generated a chaotic battle for agricultural lands in Romania and Bulgaria, countries particularly vulnerable to corruption ...

ROME/MADRID/BUCHAREST - Every year, law enforcement authorities across Europe seize millions of euros worth of properties coming from illicit activities. Land lots, apartment buildings, warehouses, luxury cars or yachts were once belonged to members of mafia groups, arms or drug traffickers and ...

MADRID / FERRARA / BERLIN / PARIS / BARCELONA - 'Visualising Investigations' consisted of five different training and networking sessions in five different cities: Ferrara, Berlin, Paris, Madrid and Barcelona, with the aim to promote collaboration, networking, and the exchange of knowledge between ...

DAGESTAN / ASTRAKHAN / ATYRAU — Amid the Ukraine conflict, the Caspian Sea has gained importance for energy and trade. As Baku will host COP29 in late 2024, the world's largest inland body of water faces a severe crisis. The water levels have dropped, and the coastlines have been shifting.

GULU - Since 2005, the ‘LRA’ has been expelled from Uganda. Despite an international arrest warrant, Joseph Kony is still a fugitive. President Musevini is still in power after 38 years. The majority of Uganda's population lives in poverty with no prospect of improvement. They are surviving but ...

EU / AFRICA / MENA – Five European oil and gas majors rank among the top 10 largest polluters in Africa and the Middle East when it comes to gas flaring, reveals this investigative series. These companies include Shell, BP, ENI, TotalEnergies and Perenco, as revealed by the Environmental ...

DANUBE - Romania and Ukraine share a very important river — the Danube. As a transport artery, one of the mouths of the Danube started to be used at the beginning of the war for export. 

MILAN/ROTTERDAM - Many cities in Europe are experimenting with citizen’s assemblies to develop stronger and more inclusive climate policies. But are these experiments effective? The team investigated the value and shortcomings of the assemblies as a climate policies solution.

LISBON - As cities battle with the dual challenge of maintaining resident populations amidst rising real estate interests and overtourism, the team investigated if there are any evidence-based ways to stop or slow gentrification and other issues through public, cooperative and social housing.

MADRID - Heat is killing thousands of people in Southern European cities but what is being done in Barcelona, Milan and Lisbon about it? In 2023, more than 45.000 people died in Europe due to heat-related causes, with the southern countries topping the list.

BUCHAREST - EU residents are buying 40% more clothing than a few decades ago, with less than half being collected for reuse and only 1% recycled. The investigation focused on understanding whether the alternatives to fast fashion are sustainable from an economic, social, and environmental ...

ONLINE – This comprehensive three-part online workshop series aimed to support investigative journalists reporting on the complex intersection of migration and climate change in Europe.

ALMERÍA - At the far end of Europe, on the southern border of Spain, lies Almería. It is a huge province completely covered with white plastic, harbouring Europe’s largest vegetable garden. It is the place where our tomatoes come from, even in winter. But under all the plastic, strange things happen ...

TIRANA / DURRES / BELGRADE / PRISTINA - Across the Balkans, particularly in Albania, a disturbing trend is emerging among organised crime figures and influencers: the ownership of exotic pets like lion and tiger cubs.