It is often said that we overestimate what can be done in a short amount of time, but equally underestimate what can be achieved with persistence over the longer run.
Civio, the independent Spanish non-for-profit Civil Society Organization we co-founded in 2011 provides a beautiful example. In the last couple of weeks the team there has released two absolutely priceless in-depth investigations about critical topics:
(1) The state of access to public mental health services across Europe.
(2) A detailed, systematic scrutiny of public procurement practices during the Covid-19 pandemic.
This amazing work is gaining increased recognition from its target audience – engaged citizens who want to contribute their bit towards a political culture of enhanced transparency and higher quality debate. The count of regular small donors keeps growing steadily, and now stands at 1,250.
Civio's work is multi-faceted. It combines data-based journalistic investigations with post-publishing activities. These range from developing policy recommendations, formulated on the back of the learnings gathered throughout the investigations, to challenging officials' select arbitrary decisions in court.
This article published by the Nieman Lab describes it quite well.
If you don't know the organisation's work yet, I wholeheartedly encourage you to do so!
