PULSE – Europe beyond the beat is a cross-border journalistic initiative embracing a ‘collaborative by design’ approach to editorial production. It brings together 10 prominent national media outlets and 3 transnational media organisations (OBCT, n-ost, Voxeurop) united in a mission to foster a vibrant European public sphere. In two years, over 2,000 stories will be delivered in at least 12 European languages, covering European affairs from new and multiple perspectives. Special attention is paid to underreported countries, regions, and social groups, including rural areas and small-to-medium EU countries.
The Collaborative and Investigative Journalism Initiative (CIJI) supports independent media and freelance journalists in Europe through training, mentoring, funding and the exchange of knowledge and best practices. It also provides structured networking opportunities to strengthen collaborative and investigative journalism in Europe.
"MigraVoice: Migrant Voices Matter in the European Media"is a project co-funded by the European Union, in collaboration with six prominent European media organisations. The project aims to amplify the voices and perspectives of migrants in Europe within the European media and information space, by promoting active participation of individuals with migration backgrounds in the creation of high-quality media content for European audiences in both traditional and social media formats. Migravoice represents a crucial step towards fostering inclusivity, diversity, and authenticity in journalism and the media content that Europeans consume. By empowering those with a migration background to share their perspectives, MigraVoice not only enriches the media landscape but also contributes to a more vibrant and inclusive European society.
Media freedom, independence, and pluralism are fundamental pillars of European democracies. Freedom of speech and journalists' safety is crucial for countries such as Albania and Serbia that aspire to join the EU. Thanks to the cooperation with two local partners, this project intends to contribute to creating a network of Balkan, Italian, and European actors engaged in effective advocacy to protect media freedom in the EU and the two countries involved in the integration process
Transnistria is the longest-lasting ongoing protracted conflict in continental Europe. For more than thirty years after the violent events of 1992, this region internationally recognised as part of Moldova has been ruled by de facto authorities in Tiraspol without attracting much international attention. From the socio-economic point of view, stability in Transnistria has largely been enabled by considerable assistance offered by the Russian Federation through different means, including a scheme known as the “gas subsidy” which relies on Gazprom providing gas to the region effectively free of charge. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, however, may well end up shaking irremediably some of the foundations that gave remarkable stability to the current arrangement. On 31 December 2024, the five-year deal that covers the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine towards Europe is due to end, and, in all likelihood, it won’t be renewed. An abrupt end to the Russia-sponsored gas supply would disrupt the prevalent socio-economic arrangements in Transnistria virtually overnight.
This project reports on conflict dynamics and offers context and scenario analyses in order to favour policies able to prevent crises, or at least mitigate their consequences.
The EU and the Western Balkans are in the process of preparing for new EU enlargements. To this end, the EU has just adopted a New Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, that is supposed to increase their participation in the European Single Market. This intermediate step towards EU membership should open new opportunities of economic cooperation for both public and private actors, sustain Western Balkans’ internal reforms, as well as accelerate their path towards full integration in the EU. At the same time, the Western Balkans are expected to start contributing more substantially to the economic and geopolitical security of the EU, to deal with increasingly complex regional and global environments. Nonetheless, progresses of the EU enlargement will also remain conditional to the success of EU internal reforms, to make its policies, budget and institutions fit for an enlarged Union.
Cohesion policy is the European Union’s main tool for promoting economic growth and social welfare, by achieving a more homogeneous level of development across its territories and by particularly stimulating less developed and depressed regions. In 2021-2023, we have illustrated through the Work4Future project the challenges faced by South-Eastern European regions and the initiatives promoted thanks to cohesion funds. Building on this experience, we continue our engagement with the Energy4Future project that aims to explore and narrate the support that cohesion funds provide to counter energy crisis and energy poverty and by stimulating energy transition at the European level.
Regional cooperation is a pillar of the stabilisation and association process of the Western Balkan countries, and has been considered as an opportunity to overcome the existing divisions between the civil societies in these countries. Over the past two decades, the number of regional cooperation initiatives has increased significantly, while the enlargement process has slowed down. The project seeks to improve the understanding of regional cooperation mechanisms and initiatives that contribute to the European integration agenda of the six Western Balkan countries, in order to be able to further strengthen the virtuous paths. The research work aims to identify and analyse the existing regional cooperation initiatives in the region, comparing them to the empirical analysis of the Berlin Process experience. In addition, the project intends to explore the reasons for the success of the Berlin Process and the role played by the political elites and the European Commission in realising its intended goals.
Due to climate change, large forest fires are becoming an increasingly serious threat in many regions of Europe. The multi-year project FIRE-RES – an acronym that stands for "Innovative technologies and socio-ecological-economic solutions for fire resilient territories in Europe" aims to develop and disseminate effective solutions to prevent and manage fires of extreme magnitude, intervening on many levels and in different phases. It is co-financed by the European Union under the Horizon 2020 programme and is coordinated by the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia; 34 organisations from 13 countries participate, including OBC Transeuropa. In addition to journalistic content, OBCT contributes with dissemination, training, and awareness-raising campaigns, thanks to its growing experience in the field of communication of scientific research and journalism on environmental issues.
The Parliament of Rights - 3rd edition aims at contributing to a better understanding of the role of the European Parliament, as the only institution directly elected by European citizens, in the democratic life of the Union, in defining European policies for fundamental rights, and on crucial matters for the future of our continent such as climate, the environment, migration, and digital. In this complex moment for our continent, now is the time to imagine post-pandemic Europe. We will be doing this by promoting an informed, open, and plural public debate that will involve MEPs, experts, journalists, students, teachers, and policymakers in debates, seminars, and workshops. We thus intend to make our contribution to the participation of citizens in the European decision-making process and civil society’s capacity for action at the transnational level, which is essential for relaunching the European project from below and promoting a Europe of rights.
