The cohort includes 13 organisations from the Western Balkans, marking WIN’s first engagement in the region, and five Ukrainian media organisations that are also part of WAN-IFRA’s Stronger Together programme. Their participation builds on WIN’s longstanding support for independent media in Ukraine and its partnership with the Association of Independent Regional Publishers of Ukraine (AIRPPU). Sessions covered research methodologies, open-source intelligence and OSINT tools, video investigations, multimedia storytelling, audience engagement and impact measurement. The bootcamp also allowed participants to exchange experiences, discuss the challenges facing independent media in their countries and build connections across the Western Balkans and Ukraine. Yet producing investigations requires time, resources, specialist skills and sustained editorial support—all of which are becoming increasingly difficult for independent media organisations to secure.