Supported projects

BRATISLAVA / PRAGUE / BUDAPEST / WARSAW - Four leading newsrooms placed scientific-grade air monitors outside elementary schools. For four months, the data didn’t blink. PM2.5 levels stayed dangerously high, right where children learn and play.

BRUSSELS – Across Europe, the wolf population is growing, but so is resistance. Between the numbers, the political and public debate threatens to impact science. Accurate monitoring of the animals is crucial, not only for counting them, but also for understanding how conservation works.

NOVACI / OBRENOVAC / BERLIN - In the Macedonian village of Novaci, next to the REK Bitola coal complex, daily life is defined by constant dust and noise. The plant has reliably generated almost two-thirds of the country's electricity for decades. Its legacy is one of pollution and stalled ...

PO RIVER DELTA/ EBRO DELTA - This investigation documents how fertiliser runoff from the Ebro and Po river basins drains into the Mediterranean, fuelling harmful algal blooms and impacting the people and local economies in those deltas.

ONLINE / OLTENIA REGION / HUNEDOARA / PRAHOVA - This is a pioneering investigative journalism project that marks a premiere in the Romanian media landscape: the first coordinated cross-regional collaboration among hyperlocal newsrooms for anti-corruption investigations in the EU Just Transition.

BENZDORP/PARAMARIBO - Deep in the Amazon rainforest, on the banks of the Lawa River between Suriname and French Guiana, live the Wayana. The peaceful existence of this indigenous population came to an abrupt end in 1885, when gold was discovered in the region. Since then, the presence of outsiders ...

PARIS / BRUSSELS - This past decade, planting initiatives have grown more and more popular, and in 2020, the EU launched its own, the Three Billion Trees pledge. But as researchers have shown, not all planting projects are equal.

CAPE TOWN - The Fairtrade certification system arrived in South Africa in the mid-2000s with the promise of helping dismantle centuries-old inequalities. Yet, twenty years later, many farm workers feel its promises have largely remained so.

SANTIAGO DE CHILE / ROMA /MADRID - Behind the glossy export numbers of Chilean salmon lies a trail of environmental wreckage, dangerous working conditions, and fish so drenched in antibiotics they could threaten consumers’ health.

VRATSA / TULCEA / DNIESTER – Sturgeon fishing - for a species threatened with extinction - has been banned across the entire Danube and Black Sea basin for many years. But a new cross-border investigation proves that illegal fishing practices persist.

LONDON / BRUSSELS - This investigation resulted in creation of what is the most comprehensive map and landfill risk assessment analysis produced publicly of the region to date, revealing the stats and hidden threats these waste sites pose to water, ecosystems, and communities continent-wide.

ARKHANGAI - This cross-border investigation reveals that the price paid by European luxury brands for cashmere sourced in Mongolia, is very low compared to their margin and revenues. The benefits accumulate of top of the value chain while Mongolian herders and factories continue to face debts.

FRIULI / SALZBURG - Europe’s efforts to save the northern bald ibis are undone by rampant poaching in Italy, a deeply rooted social phenomenon that law enforcement fails to tackle.

BAHIA / CREMONA - This investigation uncovers how a coalition of timber traders and representatives from the musical instrument industry has been lobbying governments in Europe and worldwide to reject the proposal or to water down existing measures.

BRINDISI / BARCELONA - This investigation focuses on drought issues in Southern Europe and such aspects of it as desalination, EU funding and the market for technological solutions, conflicts of interest and anti-fraud legislation, and environmental concerns.

RESISTENCIA / FLORENCE - This investigation exposes how a lucrative tannin supply chain, rooted in Argentina’s Gran Chaco region thrives due to weak oversight and systematic deforestation. Follow the journey of timber from endangered dry forests to factories and luxury brands that profit from it.

THESSALY / EMILIA-ROMAGNA - This investigation examined how Italy and Greece, two Mediterranean countries hit hard by recent floods, are reshaping disaster recovery by shifting more responsibility onto private insurance.

KVISTGÅRD - Newly uncovered confidential documents and exclusive testimonies reveal how one of the biggest Scandinavia fluoropolymer users has left behind a toxic legacy in Denmark, a pattern now familiar in many parts of Europe.

SKOPJE / BELGRADE / SOFIA - Illegal waste disposal and burning pose a significant environmental and public health risk in Southeast Europe, with North Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria being prime examples of this issue. Moreover, criminal waste trafficking close links to other organised crimes.

LONGYEARBYEN - Svalbard, once an isolated destination for researchers and miners, is increasingly visited by tourists. Climate change, easier accessibility, and ‘last chance’ tourism have driven rapid growth in visitor numbers. This puts pressure on the fragile ecosystem and raises questions about ...

POPPEL - Dutch tractors cross the border day and night via small sandy roads to refuel more cheaply in Belgium. Since the Netherlands abolished the tax benefit for red diesel in 2013, cross-border trade has flourished with hardly any controls.

SOUS / PARIS – This investigation examines the challenges faced by Berber women as market pressures and climate change threaten the sustainability of argan oil cooperatives in Morocco.

DUNKERQUE / PEÑA COLORADA / SANTA CRUZ - This team of journalists investigated the operations of Ternium and ArcelorMittal, two Luxembourg-based steel giants that present themselves as leaders in “sustainable” and “low-carbon” steel.

FERLO / KANEM - By tracking billions in funding, visiting remote sites, and speaking with those directly affected, a cross-border team of journalists examined the gap between the Great Green Wall’s grand promises and its on-the-ground reality.

OUDSBERGEN / YELLOWSTONE - After a century of absence, the wolf is once again prowling our landscapes. Its return is welcomed in forests and meadows, but resistance is growing on farms and in parliaments.

PRISTINA – This investigation explores the long-term human and environmental consequences of the use of NATO's use of depleted uranium (DU) munitions during the 1998–1999 Kosovo War.

TRIESTE / INGOLSTADT / VIENNA – Despite the EU’s commitment to phasing out fossil fuels, the Transalpine Pipeline continues to transport crude oil across the Alps, with no indication of stopping. The system is still being fed with public funds intended to end the fossil era.

VICENZA / LOTE PARSHURAM - What happens to a Western chemical plant after it closes down due to causing an environmental disaster? Sometimes it travels to other continents. This investigation reveals how a PFAS factory implicated in an Italian environmental scandal was dismantled and rebuilt in ...

ATHENS / BERLIN / WARSAW - Prejudice often sows distrust across borders in Central and Eastern Europe, where greed often takes precedence over environmental conservation. However, unique forms of cooperation on urgent environmental issues can reduce and dispel some of these antagonisms.

OSTRAVA - This investigation looks into preventive measures taken after the ecological disaster on the Oder river in 2022. It showcases the conflict between economic development and environmental preservation and the need for cross-border systemic solutions.