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Latest News
  • [ January 13, 2026 ] 10 Years Since the Rio Olympics: Vila Autódromo Continues to Resist Gentrification Pressures Amidst New ‘Olympic Barra’ Neighborhood #EvictionsWatch
  • [ January 8, 2026 ] COP30 Civil Society Rundown: Thousands of Communities and Social Movements, Representing Favelas, Indigenous, Quilombola and Other Marginalized Groups Fill Belém During COP30 [IMAGES] *Highlight
  • [ December 31, 2025 ] ‘What We Want Aren’t Bodies on the Ground… It’s Recognition of [Our] People Creating Solutions’: Penha Favelas Hold Composters and Integrated Health Events Highlighting Local Climate Memories *Highlight
  • [ December 26, 2025 ] 2025 Retrospective of Top International Reporting on Rio’s Favelas #MediaWatch
  • [ December 24, 2025 ] ‘No One in Terra Firme Will Sleep Hungry Today!’ Amid Adversity, Belém Favela Initiatives Distribute 2,200 Meals During COP30 With Support from the People’s Summit Solidarity Kitchen *Highlight
HomeFavela Qualities

Favela Qualities

*Highlight

RIP ‘Subnormal Agglomerations,’ Part 1: Local Diversity, Strength, and Belonging in a New Official Term

By Julio Santos Filho • Translation by Ezra Spira-Cohen • November 8, 2023

Clique aqui para Português This is the first article in a series of three about how Brazil’s census bureau, IBGE, held an unprecedented week-long workshop to debate how to change the term “subnormal agglomeration” used […]

Rocinha. Photo: CatComm/RioOnWatch
*Highlight

A Critical Look at the Double-Standard of Heritage Conservation in Rio de Janeiro: The Case of Horto Florestal [REFERENCE]

By Nathan Bergrin • October 30, 2023

Clique aqui para Português The United Nations still frequently uses the term “slum” synonymously with “informal settlement” to describe where at least 1 billion of the world’s people live. Broadly speaking, “informality” when it comes […]

#CommunityMedia

Media Coalition Representing Brazil’s Peripheral, Favela, Quilombola, and Indigenous Communities Use Ancestral Technology to Democratize Communication Rights

By Tatiana Lima • Translation by Staff • October 5, 2023

Clique aqui para Português The Peripheral, Favela, Quilombola, and Indigenous Media Coalition brings together a network of journalism initiatives as ancestral technology to end the silences in the media market and change the future of […]

*Highlight

When Memories Collide: ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition Launched by Rio de Janeiro’s Sustainable Favela Network [VIDEO]

By Bárbara Dias • Translation by Kay Alvito, Ujwala Murthy • September 30, 2023

 Clique aqui para Português On Saturday, June 17, Vila Autódromo in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone hosted the launch of the Climate Memory of the Favelas Exhibition, organized by community museum members of the […]

*Highlight

Favela Climate Memory Circles, Part 5: Vidigal Memories Nucleus Pleads ‘People Need a Place to Live!’

By Rita de Cássia Machado • Translation by Cristina Fornara • September 29, 2023

Clique aqui para Português On June 17, 2023, Rio de Janeiro’s Sustainable Favela Network (SFN)* launched its Favela Climate Memory Exhibition, the culmination of five day-long climate memory circles held by favela community museums between […]

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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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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
    • Understanding Rio
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  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
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    • 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
    • Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
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