Supported projects

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.

Spain - “Many people in mental institutions are subject to neglect and abuse of human rights, reflected in high mortality rates..."

Ireland/Greece - Interpretation is a vital but under-investigated aspect of the international asylum application process.

Istanbul - 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.

Kyiv - How environmental war crimes of Russians in Ukraine affect the environment of European countries?

Bilbao - In the Basque region of northern Spain, it is not an uncommon occurrence for food delivery couriers to be involved in accidents on the road.

Copenhagen/Gothenburg/Oslo - Winter is cold in Scandinavia, even more so if you come from afar and are used to warmer climates, as for many international students who choose to defy the low temperatures and buckle up to study up north.

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.

Budapest - "If local democracies are the cornerstone of democratic societies, local and regional media constitute the foundation of a healthy and pluralistic media landscape."

Brussels - Local authorities become slightly more transparent about municipal councils.

Sarajevo - Dozens of migrants from Asia and Africa drown every year in the rivers between Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

Tyrol - As a result of climate change, droughts are on the rise in Europe and local and national governments are preparing for increasingly dry years.

OSLO - Around 2,000 of the games at a semi-professional and amateur level are available to bet on with mysterious illegal betting companies in the Far East.

Warsaw - Dreams of growing megawatts like tomatoes on a windowsill. Will energy cooperatives give power to the people?

Bosnia & Herzegovina/Montenegro/Serbia - How parents from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia deal with the daily challenges of separation after their children leave the country.

London/Berlin/Copenhagen - Uncover the threats being posed to migrant communities at local levels across the UK, Germany and Denmark due to these countries’ proposed – and illegal – offshore immigration policies, which go against international conventions.

The investigation shows how Grodno Azot circumvents sanctions by passing off its products as Uzbek (Uzbek-made?), as well as by using new intermediary companies.

Prague - The series of investigative reports deals with the story of the Czech-Polish conflict about the future of the Turów mine in the border region of both countries, put in a wider historical and social context.

Horgos-Röszke - The 2020-21 COVID19 has reduced the number of international journeys by orders of magnitude, but it seems that even the travel trends have also changed since the end of the pandemic.

Dublin/London - The local authorities of Tower Hamlets in London and Drumcondra/Finglas in Dublin have been rolling out neighbourhood transport schemes to reduce car use and adapt their transport systems to favour greener modes of travel.

Prespa Lake - It is considered as even older than the officially oldest lake in Europe, Ohrid Lake, is endangered.

Bucharest - Fidesz, the populist party governing Hungary, and AUR, a far-right party from Romania with a visibly growing follower base have more in common than one would expect.

Sofia - Cities across CEE are struggling to build enough affordable homes for their populations.

The European Union is supporting Albania and North Macedonia in the agricultural sector through the IPARD Programme, with the aim of preparing the countries for membership in the union.

Remetea - Nine luxury hotels are being built in the Hungarian part of Romania with the support of the Hungarian government.

Băile Herculane - A collection of hotels and baths that once made up an Austro-Hungarian thermal waters resort is being destroyed under the harsh weather of its surrounding mountains.

Kyiv - Ukraine is investigating hundreds of firms, many created since Russia’s full-scale invasion scrambled the grain market, for allegedly failing to properly document their trading in Ukrainian grain or to pay taxes on it.

Puglia - From the role of organised crime to the failings of national and European institutional oversight, this investigation on the ground raises awareness regarding the main players of the agricultural market.

Antwerp - What is the environmental and health impact of air pollution caused by the (petro)chemical industry in the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam?

Kyiv - "Spektr.Press" presents a Project 'Private War', which is combined of a series of publications about foreigners who decided to participate in the military conflict in Ukraine.

Brussels - A team of reporters from the Thomson Reuters Foundation and Irish Times have investigated the impact of the first-ever application of the Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) by the EU to Ukrainian refugees.

Kyiv - Ukraine's war against Russia strengthens Ukrainian national identity and reduces the influence of Russian language and culture in society.

Madrid - Amazon boasts about having 15 photovoltaic solar plants in Spain to supply energy to its workplaces.

Budapest - In our articles, we were able to map the institutional background of how the sexual violence committed against a 15-year-old former foster child was covered up at a church-run institution.

EUROPE - Schools are crucial integration hubs. This investigation is about teaching migrant students in the schools of Europe.

Barcelona/Cottbus/Assen - Climate terrorism, rebellion, radicalization: increasingly violent words are being thrown around in the debate on climate activism.

Minsk - Belarusian goods are flooding Europe despite the bans of Brussels.

Kyiv - Surrogacy is a growing business worldwide. Over the last years, Ukraine has become one of the leading providers in this field of business.

Prague - The district's buildings mainly include soviet-style housing blocks built out of panels, so-called "paneláky" in Czech.

Riga - Czech millionaire Tomáš Krsek is a well-known investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist with a known fortune of €436 million (2021).

Kharkiv/Tbilisi - Journalists in Ukraine and Georgia investigated the issue of the construction of large cities and found corruption points and schemes used by officials and developers.

Tbilisi, Georgia - The project investigates the patterns of forming Russian propaganda messages and their dissemination in Georgian and Moldovan churches based on human sources and stories.

Riga - Belarusian businessman Aliaksandr Shakutsin (Aleksandr Shakutin) was sanctioned two years ago for benefiting from and supporting the regime of Aliaksandr Lukashenka.

United Kingdom - With islands across Europe having experienced years of population decline, many now face an uncertain future. Swathes of rural Europe will experience shrinking, ageing populations – especially in island communities.

Minsk - A secretive Lithuanian partner of Lukashenka's once most infamous "wallet" Yury Chyzh has run billions through his Singapore vehicle during the Belarus' suspected contraband oil boom. He still maintains business ties with Chyzh, which he denies.

ZUGDIDI - As a result of the ongoing conflict in 1992-93, Zugdidi hosted the largest number of IDPs, the material prepared within the framework of the project is based on the personal memories of some of them.