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Latest News
  • [ June 21, 2025 ] ‘We’re Working at the Micro Level Because There Are People Destroying Things on a Macro Scale’: In Rio de Janeiro, ‘Green Roof Favela’ Engages Popular Culture on World Environment Day Civil Society
  • [ June 20, 2025 ] Get to Know ‘Gaia Space’, A Network of Women Fighting for Environmental Justice and Obstetric Dignity in Greater Rio de Janeiro *Highlight
  • [ June 10, 2025 ] Groundbreaking Oral History Project—‘Favela Climate Memory’—Launches Final Exhibition, Fostering Emotional Connection Between Climate, Nature and Community [Video] *Highlight
  • [ June 7, 2025 ] ‘Being a Black Woman Running a Museum Means Facing the Past, Eye to Eye… It’s Reparation in Motion’: Sinara Rúbia’s Full Speech at Brazil’s 1st Seminar on Anti-Racist Museums *Highlight
  • [ June 5, 2025 ] ‘A Museology That Doesn’t Serve Life Serves No Purpose’: ‘Unconventional’ Favela Museums Lead First Seminar of Rio de Janeiro’s Social Museology Network *Highlight
Homesamba

samba

*Highlight

Carnival of Literature! Spaces of Black Resistance, Rio de Janeiro’s Samba Schools Host Literary Festivals that Boost Racial Literacy

By Carol Marinho • Translation by Staff • February 9, 2024

Clique aqui para Português February 9, 2024—Afro-Indigenous Brazilian literature is a growing source of inspiration for samba schools as they organize Rio de Janeiro’s carnival parades. During the 2024 carnival, which starts today, a number […]

#CommunityMedia

An Homage to Favela Communications Pioneer Zé do Caroço: Community Media, Legacy and Samba [VIDEO]

By Amanda Botelho, Thayná de Souza • Translation by Staff • November 16, 2023

 Clique aqui para Português This video report, with English subtitles, relives passages of the life of favela communicator José Mendes da Silva, forever known as Zé do Caroço, whose name resonates in one of […]

*Highlight

Fruit from the Tree Black Culture Center: Samba Quilombo in Rio’s West Zone Preserves Black Identity and Memory [IMAGES]

By Larissa Nascimento • Translation by Felix Foot • April 6, 2023

Clique aqui para Português As they settled Brazil, Portuguese colonizers destroyed Black people’s lives in many ways, among them cultural destruction, stripping away beliefs, values, customs, and rhythms. When they didn’t kill, they were whitening […]

*Highlight

Rio de Janeiro Carnival 2023: North Zone Street ‘Sambúrbio’ Parades Keep Carnival Alive At Its Roots

By Felipe Migliani • Translation by Staff • February 20, 2023

Clique aqui para Português Rio de Janeiro’s carnival is famous worldwide for its samba school parades at the Marquês de Sapucaí Sambadrome and the big street parties—known as blocos—which attract huge crowds in Central Rio […]

*Highlight

Sustainable Favela Network 5th Annual Full-Network Meet-Up: Connecting, Planning, and Ancestry in Morro do Salgueiro [VIDEO]

By Sustainable Favela Network • Translation by Staff • January 5, 2023

 Clique aqui para Português On Sunday, November 27, 2022, the Sustainable Favela Network (SFN)* held its first in-person full network meet-up since 2019, taking over the Raízes da Tijuca Carnival Bloco headquarters in Morro do […]

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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.
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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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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

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