Review: SGZ grant puts Fundacion Convivir on the map — and tests the limits of industry-led harm prevention

iGaming Future's new piece profiles Mercedes Aranguren, president of Argentina-based Fundacion Convivir, and her account of what a €20,000 donation from the Sustainable Gambling Zone at ICE Barcelona '26 has actually unlocked for the organisation. The report covers how the money is being deployed across prevention and treatment work — expanded family workshops, more frequent webinars, an upcoming scientific symposium at the University of La Plata, and a public-awareness push with the Argentine Advertising Council — and, just as importantly, what the recognition has done for the group's standing at home and abroad.

The donation was one of four €20,000 grants drawn from an €80,000 pool funded by 11 operators and suppliers, a detail that anchors the piece in the broader trend of industry money flowing into harm-prevention. Aranguren is candid that the impact goes far beyond the cheque itself, describing the funding as a catalyst for international visibility and a validation of 41 years of work. But the more interesting tension emerges in her own words: she welcomes the Sustainable Gambling Zone's prominence while cautioning that "we consider it a good start, though it remains a limited perspective," arguing that demand-side care alone doesn't address product design and public policy.

That tension is precisely why this piece matters now. Safer gambling funding is increasingly visible as a form of reputational capital for operators, especially in fast-growing Latin American markets, and this report shows how a grant can elevate a legacy civil-society organisation to the point of shaping national dialogue and policy. It also underscores a credibility gap the industry has yet to close: the same operators funding the SGZ are being asked to engage on the broader environment in which gambling products are sold. The test to watch is whether initiatives like the La Plata symposium and the webinars translate into measurable public policy influence or remain symbolic wins for the show floor.

The full piece in iGaming Future is worth reading for Aranguren's specific account of how the funds are being spent and what the experience revealed about the industry's evolving willingness to engage with harm-prevention organisations.