MENU
  • English
  • Português
  • English
  • Português
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
RioOnWatch
MENU
  • Home ►
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities ►
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • 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
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About ►
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate
  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • 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
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate
Latest News
  • [ July 21, 2025 ] What is River Health? Exploring Rio de Janeiro’s Rivers and Their Connection to Human Health [REFERENCE] Interviews & Profiles
  • [ 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 *Highlight
  • [ 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
HomeWritersThaís Cavalcante

Writer: Thaís Cavalcante

'Collect Maré' Project of Jorge Amado Popular Library promotes environmental awareness through reading, graffiti, and poetry in front of Herbet Viana Cultural Space, in Complexo da Maré. Photo: Gabriel Loiola
*Highlight

Leaders at Ten Cultural Spaces, Art Centers, and Museums in Rio Create Climate Projects Using Culture, Art, and Sustainability

By Thaís Cavalcante • Translation by Ezra Spira-Cohen • September 21, 2023

Clique aqui para Português “Creating awareness is a continuous process that we must incorporate into our daily lives. In this way, beginning with a big push, we are going to think about socio-environmental rights based […]

#CommunityMedia

7 Mistakes Made by Journalists Covering Coronavirus in Favelas

By Anouk Aflalo Doré, Beatriz Carvalho, Edmund Ruge, Fabio Leon, Gracilene Firmino, Tatiana Lima, Thaís Cavalcante, Theresa Williamson • Translation by Cormac Whitney Low • May 15, 2020

Clique aqui para Português This is our latest article on the new coronavirus as it impacts Rio de Janeiro’s favelas. It is also part of the debate promoted by RioOnWatch about media narratives and representations […]

*Highlight

How Do Favela Youth Access Brazil’s Top Universities? The Role of College Exam Prep Courses

By Thaís Cavalcante • Translation by Tara Mittelberg • July 9, 2019

Clique aqui para Português “The idea of universities for everyone doesn’t exist… Universities should be reserved for the intellectual elite.” These are the words of Brazil’s recently dismissed Minister of Education Ricardo Vélez-Rodriguez, spoken in […]

*Highlight

Forum on Basic Sanitation Inspires Environmental Action in the Maré Favelas

By Thaís Cavalcante • Translation by Ava Rose Hoffman • April 25, 2019

Clique aqui para Português On April 13, the first Forum on Basic Sanitation in Maré took place at the Herbert Vianna Municipal Cultural Center with the objective of collectively creating effective public policy proposals to […]

#MarielleLegacy

Four Things That I Learned from Marielle Franco’s Struggle #1YearWithoutMarielle [OPINION]

By Thaís Cavalcante • Translation by Ava Rose Hoffman • March 14, 2019

Clique aqui para Português The first time that I saw Marielle Franco in the streets of Maré, in Rio’s North Zone, was in 2016. I remember her colorful head wrap vividly. She was sitting on […]

Posts pagination

1 2 … 4 »

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.

Contact & Support

contact@rioonwatch.org
WhatsApp +55.21.991.976.444
USA VOIP +1.301.637.7360

Volunteer | Donate

10 Years! Check Out Our Story:

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

MENU
  • Home ►
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities ►
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • 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
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About ►
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate
  • Home
    • Highlighted Stories
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • 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
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
  • For Journos
  • Donate

© 2025 Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International