Supported projects

STEKENE - It is not allowed to live in a recreation area. Yet people still live in a chalet or a caravan, or sometimes in a brick weekend residence. Sometimes these are people who find themselves in precarious financial circumstances. Pensioners, people coming out of a divorce, people who are ill, or who, in short, have a low income. They have found a housing solution that is acceptable to them and they are proud of it. They are not going to let it go.

DAVOS / ROSTOCK / GOTHENBURG - Climate change is making European summers ever drier and hotter, and not just in the south: During the extremely dry summer of 2018, the drought was mostly limited to the part of Europe north of the Alps. In many places, the summers of 2019 and 2020 were again unusually dry.

BRAKEN - The Belgian town of Braken, on the Dutch border, is home to 1.2 million chickens. They divide the town: residents are tired of the smell, the fine dust and the heavy traffic in their village. To objectify the discussion, the local government ordered an air quality study.

BRUSSELS - The deep, blue oceans are home to an unprecedented wealth of biodiversity, as well as the planet's last unexploited resources. The race to the ocean floor is in full swing and Belgium is in the leading group.

BRUSSELS - Belgians are top in sorting out garbage. But what happens to the PET bottles we throw in the blue bag? Exactly how many PET bottles do we recycle? And does recycling really reduces fossil plastic production?

NEW DELHI - According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India is the most dangerous country in the world for women. Nowhere more girls are sold as slaves. In melting Himalayan glaciers, prolonged drought, devastating storms and disappearing islands, human traffickers found new allies. Floods make millions of people homeless, displaced women are easy victims.

BOGOTA - Belgium is a banana republic, as far as trade is concerned. There are only three countries in the world that import more bananas than we do: the United States, Russia and China. But we export 87 percent, or 1.17 tons, of those bananas. Most bananas come from Colombia. 

IMIDER - Imider is a very small community, but it has been put on the map by a world record. In the southern Moroccan Atlas Mountains, under a colourful Berber flag, the world's longest sit-in protest is ongoing.

KAPELLE OP DEN BOS/KYMORE - Kapelle-op-den-Bos is where the filmmaker Daniel Lambo was born. Life was good there. Daniel's father worked in the local Eternit factory. The company was one of the world's biggest asbestos producers. Today, we know what happens when people make asbestos, and for many people, this is a problem that happened in the past. But the problem with asbestos is still there, as we see when we look at what Eternit was doing in other countries.

WINGENE - Pigs have had a close connection to humans since prehistoric times. Over the centuries, stories, rules and legends have given the animal a profound meaning. It is a symbol of uncleanness, for the 'beast' hidden inside of us, a source of food, a bone of contention in discussions. This animal signifies both passion and rejection. And that says a lot about mankind.

ANTWERP - In a time of growing polarization, geo-political instability and a reduced confidence in institutions, there are people who want real change. Bottom-up seems to be a major shift in the political landscape. Citizens solve problems without waiting for decision-making. This can be the start of a new power structure and will thoroughly change our policy.

KATHMANDU - Nepal was devastated by deadly floods in August. Entire villages were swept away, and thousands of families are still surviving on aid. Rice, clean water and tents are the main items being distributed to help the families.

JOHANNESBURG - Deforestation is a major global problem. At the same time, climate change caused by rising greenhouse gas emissions is threatening not only nature but also humanity. The idea that we can tackle both problems at the same time - by planting trees that store significant amounts of CO2 as they grow - is therefore attractive.

BOGOTA - Raf Custers went to the North of Colombia where he visited El Cerrejon, the site of the largest coal mine in Latin America.

WIERINGERMEER - The Netherlands is one of the world's largest exporters of tomatoes and tomato seeds. Journalist Annemieke Hendriks follows the life of the tomato, from birth to the plate, in the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Romania, Hungary and other European countries.

BRUSSELS - An investigation by VRT journalist Luc Pauwels shows that since November official Opel dealers have been modifying polluting software in one of the Opel models..

BRUSSELS - Disposable nappies are largely petroleum-based products and crammed ones create a huge pile of waste. But they are handy. What can environmentally conscious parents do? Eos Magazine knocked on the door of all the major manufacturers and found out who has the most sustainable disposable nappy.

COPENHAGEN - All over Europe, people are looking for a different economy. They are working on human alternatives to competition and growth. Journalist Tine Hens tells their story.

PORT-AU-PRINCE - Five years ago, Haiti was hit by a devastating earthquake—not for the first time. The country was in shatters. Journalists Arne Gillis and Wouter Elsen take a closer look at how the country is doing, five years after the earthquake.

BRUSSELS - Because of the unrest in the Ukraine and the Middle East the past year, Europe has become acutely aware of its energy dependency. Brussels presented a new European Commissioner for Energy Union, but real collaboration is still a long way off.

LE BOURG-D'OISANS - The term climate change usually conjures up images of melting glaciers, rising sea levels and outsize hailstones. But what will be its impact on life on Earth? Science journalist Tim Vernimmen interviewed scientists in Southern Europe who document species' gradually shifting comfort zones.

LA PAZ - On the roof of the world, a man looks out of the window, hoping for snow. Until recently, Samuel operated the ski lift of the only ski slope in Bolivia, just like his father before him. Samuel still loves to ski but the snow is disappearing. Lost in the clouds, he is now the only remaining employee and takes care of the dilapidated buildings. Tourists from all over the world come to visit the Chacaltaya for the breathtaking view. Samuel serves them tea.

MANILA - The Philippines is one of the 17 megadiversity countries on the planet. In terms of biocultural diversity and natural resources, it is an Ali Baba's cave. But not for much longer. Its biocultural heritage is being destroyed on a massive scale by mining, biofuel plantations and illegal deforestation. Sand mining, dredging and land reclamation are also contributing to this destruction.

SAMARINDA - About one third of the natural vegetation on the island of Borneo, one of the most biodiverse places in the world, was lost in the past thirty years. Through the decades, scientists and conservationists working on the island have grown a thick skin, and came to realize that reserves will not suffice to save the rainforest.

GHENT - In the region of the port of Ghent, the emission of CO2 and harmful particulate matter is related to the failure of European and international climate standards.

NAIROBI - The idea that electronic waste is carelessly dumped in the remote corners of the globalised world is outdated. Everyone wants to get the materials out of our old computers and televisions, including the EU. Arthur Debruyne and Sam Sermon investigated illegal export, e-waste recycling in Kenya and Belgium, and the built-in obsolescence that gives electro-appliances an ever shorter lifespan.

DESSEL - It is likely that the Belgian government will give the green light for the final underground disposal of nuclear waste before the end of the year. Cost: several billion euros. The taxpayer pays almost half of that. It remains to be seen whether the largest waste producer Electrabel will pay the rest.

CUIÚ CUIÚ - Today’s society relentlessly pushes us to live life in the fast lane. Reacting to this, photographer Guido Sterkendries has developed an alternative vision. Accustomed to working in extreme habitats, he has spent most of his life exploring and discovering the unknown and the people who live there. By focusing on threatened tribes and endangered life forms, he opens a window on a world that many thought had vanished.

SALVADOR - NGOs, city administrations and publishers worldwide switch to FSC-certified paper. Ordinary consumers can buy copy and printing paper as well as paper towels and even wallpaper bearing the tree logo. But is the paper's green image justified?

SALAR DE UYUNI - Uyuni is a backward region in the South of Bolivia. Bult the salt lake of Uyuni is rich with lithium, the commodity for the production of batteries, soon also for batteries for electrical vehicles. For this raw material a game of chess is being played between some multinational companies, the people of Uyuni and Bolivia's government.