Investigation Grants for Environmental Journalism

This grant programme supports cross-border teams of professional journalists and/or news outlets to conduct investigations into environmental affairs related to Europe.

While news media and newsrooms still predominantly operate nationally, most power structures and societal and environmental problems transcend national boundaries. This grant programme is therefore aimed at cross-border teams of investigative journalists and newsrooms to investigate and document illegal, unreported and unregulated abuse of nature that involves European affairs in and outside Europe.

Next to investigations of environmental issues that transcend borders, this programme can also support and stimulate comparative investigations into local environmental issues and policies between two or more regions or cities.
The grants can also offer support to preliminary work in the development of new investigative projects.

The grant can cover working time and expenses such as logistics, travel, insurance, access to legal support, translations, access to technology and data sets, etc.

Next to financial support, teams can also apply for an experienced mentor to provide assistance with either the focus of the investigation or the need for competences in a specific skill.

How to apply?

1. Before you start, please consult the grant details, where you can find the rules, eligibility and assessment criteria, timing etc.

2. After a one-time registration with your email address, you can access the online application form. You can freely navigate through the form to see which information you need to provide in your application. This includes:

• team members’ details
• information about the intended investigation
• information about the intended publication channels, including letters of intent from news outlets
• a detailed budget, according to our budget template

You will also be asked to upload some administrative documents.

One team member can start a draft application. He or she can then invite multiple people to collaborate on the online draft. The online application-in-progress can be saved and further edited at any time.