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Latest News
  • [ September 7, 2026 ] 2026 Elections: What’s at Stake for Favelas When Brazilians Cast Votes at the Ballot Box? #ParticipationWatch
  • [ August 31, 2026 ] Prior to Elections, Rio de Janeiro State Legislature Revives ‘Wild West Bonus’ and Elects Its Author Chair of Human Rights Commission #UPPWatch
  • [ August 29, 2026 ] ‘I Miss Everything’: Reflections from Conceição Queiroz Ten Years After Being Evicted from Vila Autódromo for the Olympic Games [INTERVIEW] #EvictionsWatch
  • [ August 28, 2026 ] From Concrete to Food: Collective Action Transforms Abandoned Reservoir Into Community Garden in Complexo do Alemão [IMAGES] *Highlight
  • [ August 23, 2026 ] 10 Years After Olympics, Rio’s Chronically Neglected Suburban Rail System Is Handed Over to New Consortium, Nova Via Mobilidade #LegacyWatch
Home#FavelasAreAssets

#FavelasAreAssets

*Highlight

Complex and Intelligent, the Favela Has Its Own Geography

By Preto Zezé • Translation by Staff • May 15, 2026

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by Preto Zezé published in O Globo, click here.  In the year Milton Santos would have turned 100, perhaps the best tribute to the Bahian geographer is not […]

Morro da Mangueira — Foto: Brenno Carvalho / Agência O Globo / 07-08-2020
*Highlight

COP30 Must Engage With and Walk Alongside the Favela [OPINION]

By Preto Zezé • Translation by Monique Murad da Cunha • October 29, 2025

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by Preto Zezé published in O Globo, click here.  For an ecological transition to be just and effective, it must start where the State fails to reach—or […]

*Highlight

‘Nature-Based Solutions in the Favelas’ Presented in Parallel to the G20

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Yasmin Quaife • November 29, 2024

Clique aqui para Português On November 14, the Sustainable Favela Network (SFN)*, in partnership with the National Secretariat for the Peripheries (SNP) of Brazil’s Ministry of Cities, hosted the launch event for the publication Nature-Based […]

*Highlight

1st Sustainable Favela Festival ‘Favela Solutions at the Center’ Welcomes 1,100 People to Experience the Socio-Environmental Power of Favelas

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Kay Alvito • November 19, 2024

 Clique aqui para Português One month ago, on Saturday, October 19, following seven years of growing activity, the Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) hosted its first event open to the general public. The 1st Sustainable […]

*Highlight

Rio Favela Leaders Go to Brasília to Advocate for Clean and Just Energy

By Sustainable Favela Network • Translation by Ujwala Murthy • June 26, 2024

Clique aqui para Português From May 26-29, 2024, a delegation of 19 community organizers representing favelas across Rio de Janeiro with 1.2 million residents brought their demands for clean and just energy to federal policymakers […]

Posts pagination

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RioOnWatch’s anti-racist reporting series won silver in the 2022 inaugural The Anthem Awards, in the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion category among Best Local Awareness Programs.
A Project of

About

In May 2010, Catalytic Communities launched what was originally Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch (hence RioOnWatch), a program to bring visibility to favela community voices in the lead-up to the 2016 Rio Olympics. This news site, RioOnWatch.org, grew into a much-needed and unique reference featuring favela perspectives on the urban transformation of Rio. With diverse and deeply interlinked articles by a mix of community reporters, resident opinions, solidarity reporters, international observers, and academic researchers, we work to engender a more accurate picture of favelas, their contributions to the city, and the potential of favela-led community development in Rio and around the world.

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Awards

Special Thanks

Fundação Heinrich Böll Brasil
World Habitat
Fideicomiso de la Tierra Caño Martín Peña
Pastoral de Favelas
Center for CLT Innovation
Global Land Alliance
Ecocity Builders
Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation
SDSU Behner Stiefel Center
The Rio Times
Forum Grita Baixada
Beto Paixão Graphic Design
Architecture Museum of Vienna
Yale School of Architecture

  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
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  • Communities
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  • Policies
    • Public Security
    • Housing
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
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    • Research & Analysis
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  • About
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