Supported projects

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.

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.

BELGIUM/KENYA - The idea that electronic waste is carelessly dumped in the remote corners of the globalised world is outdated.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.

BELGIUM - In the past year, a few dozen Muslim youths have left Antwerp for Syria to take part in the war there. Why do young people from Antwerp risk their lives in a gruesome war thousands of kilometres away from home? In De Standaard, Janine Meijer examines the motives of Antwerp jihad fighters.

MOROCCO - Random arrests, assault, raids, deportation to Algeria. The fate of many Sub-Saharan illegal and legal refugees in Morocco. Maithé Franco and Luca Putteman talked to victims and investigated what role Europe plays in this story.

BELGIUM - 17 Raids between 1982 and 1985, 28 dead, more than 40 injured, barely 175,000 euros in loot and no one convicted. The Nivelles Gang is the largest unresolved judicial file in Belgium. Hilde Geens did what someone rarely does: she read the judicial files about the Nivelles Gang and discovered that she was being deceived.

Investigative journalist Kristof Clerix (MO*) examined the espionage files of Prague, Berlin, Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia and Warsaw looking for the best Brussels 007 stories from the 70s and 80s. Exceptionally, Belgian State Security and Military Intelligence Service put some authentic material at Clerix’ disposal. Clerix’ new book Spionage. Doelwit Brussel (‘Espionage. Target Brussels’) is a collection of nine true stories and also includes authentic archive documents and photos.

BELGIUM - Irem, Velten and Isabel. Photographer Yann Bertrand made portraits of them for a year in the preventorium in De Haan, at a pivotal moment in their lives. A thirty-year-old with cystic fibrosis, and two obese teenagers.

School uniforms are common in elementary and middle schools in many countries. They symbolize class equality, quality, and structure. Photographer Annie van Gemert visited Belgium, where pupils still wear uniforms in many schools. From 2009 to 2013 she created probing (group) portraits of boys and girls in school uniforms. These photos led to a new publication, School Uniforms: Education in Flanders.

Zelfa Madhloum went to Iraq to find Iraqis returning to their country after having emigrated. What is more, it was her first visit to her country of origin. Against everyone's advice, she decided to follow her destiny in Iraq. She immerses herself in the new, shocking world, gets to know other people her age and meets her family for the first time.