{"id":39123,"date":"2026-10-13T13:55:17","date_gmt":"2026-10-13T11:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/?p=39123"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:55:17","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T11:55:17","slug":"open-olympics-2026-wins-helen-darbishire-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/2026-10-13\/open-olympics-2026-wins-helen-darbishire-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Open Olympics 2026 Wins Helen Darbishire Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

Madrid, 13 October 2026<\/b> \u2013 Access Info Europe is delighted to announce <\/span>Open Olympics 2026<\/i><\/b>, <\/span><\/i>a civic initiative coordinated by Italian organisation <\/span>Libera<\/b><\/a>,<\/span> as<\/span> the winner of the <\/span>Helen Darbishire Award 2026<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Open Olympics 2026 <\/span><\/i><\/a>is a campaign and a civic network that brings together civil society organisations, environmental groups and local communities to demand transparency and accountability around the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games<\/strong>. The initiative used the right of access to information to scrutinise billions of euros in public spending, monitor infrastructure projects and investigate the environmental and social consequences of the Games, demonstrating how collective citizen monitoring can help hold public authorities to account and protect the public interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Launched in May 2024, the initiative combined coordinated access to information requests, open data analysis, legal action and citizen monitoring. Following coordinated advocacy by the network, Italy\u2019s state-owned infrastructure delivery agency launched the digital platform <\/span>Open Milano Cortina 2026<\/span><\/i>. The first systematic open data portal dedicated to monitoring Olympic infrastructure<\/strong>, it publishes reusable datasets covering infrastructure projects worth a total of \u20ac3.38 billion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A collective effort to defend the public interest<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Coordinated by Libera, Open Olympics 2026 brings together more than 20 environmental and Alpine organisations, alongside data specialists, journalists and international partners<\/strong>. Its <\/span>community FOIA<\/span><\/i> approach combined access to information with training and collaboration, enabling local communities to participate in monitoring decisions that affect their territories.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are delighted by this award and grateful that a fully civic initiative has been recognised<\/strong>. As the twenty associations of the network, our thoughts go to the communities affected by the Milano Cortina Games, whom we have accompanied over the years. This award not only strengthens their call for transparency and impact monitoring, but also shines a light on their work<\/strong>, which too often remains in the shadows\u201d, <\/span><\/i>stated Leonardo Ferrante, on behalf of the Libera and Open Olympics 2026 team.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis award reinforces our commitment to bringing the right to know to every corner of the country, as we are already doing. For Libera, shedding light through data is not just an exercise in transparency, but a key tool to prevent corruption and mafia infiltration<\/strong> and, ultimately, a concrete way of caring for the common good\u201d, <\/span><\/i>he added.<\/span><\/p>\n

The initiative\u2019s impact reaches beyond Italy. Open Olympics 2026 established a structured methodological exchange with French civic networks preparing for the 2030 Winter Games, helping to promote transparency and public oversight as essential standards for future major sporting events.<\/span><\/p>\n

Recognising outstanding work to advance the right of access to information<\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

Access Info Europe would also like to recognise the outstanding quality of the applications received<\/strong> for the 2026 award, and of the six projects selected as finalists<\/a>. Choosing a winner was particularly difficult given the strength, diversity and impact of the initiatives using access to information to advance human rights, transparency, accountability and the public interest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Named in memory of Access Info\u2019s founder, Helen Darbishire, the award recognises projects that demonstrate how the right of access to information can make a tangible difference<\/strong>, strengthen democratic accountability and bring about positive change.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":39124,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51,131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39123","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article","category-nat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39123"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39123\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39131,"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39123\/revisions\/39131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.access-info.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}