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On December 2, 2023, the Sustainable Favela Network’s (SFN)* 6th Annual Full-Network Meet-Up took place at the Irmãos Kennedy Community Center (CCIK) with the presence of community leaders, youth, and residents of 35 Rio de Janeiro favelas, alongside technical allies, all members of the SFN. The tradition, going back to 2018, wraps up each year by reviewing key moments and voting on defining priorities for the upcoming year. This year, the event was also paired with the “Favelas’ COP,” a collective construction of the SFN Youth Working Group. Discussions focused on the challenges and priorities of young people, promoting a localized debate parallel to the United Nations Climate Conference (COP 28).
The 6th Annual Full-Network Meet-Up Takes Place in the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro
On a sunny Saturday, in one of the hottest regions of Greater Rio, the 6th edition of the Annual Full-Network Meet-Up unfolded in Vila Kennedy, West Zone of Rio de Janeiro. The Irmãos Kennedy Community Center (CCIK), a powerful local reference, opened its courtyard and rooms, serving as host to 100 SFN members from 35 different favelas.
The event began with a welcome from the CCIK hosts, Berenice Natalicio Santos and Verônica Gomes Martins da Silva. Da Silva set the tone with a joyous greeting to everyone, providing a quick overview of CCIK’s history and shedding light on the important partnership with the Sustainable Favela Network.
“Good morning! It’s with great joy that we welcome all of you and the Sustainable Favela Network, where we truly feel at home. It’s a network that embraces not only us but our needs, amplifying our voices, struggles, victories, and even our pains. It constantly empowers us.” — Verônica Gomes
Next, Theresa Williamson, executive director of Catalytic Communities (CatComm), which oversees the SFN managing team, provided context for the event within the history of the SFN.
“The proposal for the Sustainable Favela Network effectively began at a Full-Network Meet-Up, which was the first one held in 2018 at the Public Defender’s Office. The aim of these gatherings is to start the day by reflecting on the past year and end it by defining proposals for the following year. This year, we will have a moment led by the SFN Youth Working Group, formed over the course of the year, which will reflect on COP 28, which is happening right now. They put forward the idea of a Favelas’ COP.” — Theresa Williamson
The morning continued with a retrospective of the year, presented by Gisele Moura, coordinator of the Sustainable Favela Network’s managing team, who introduced the video “Realizing Climate Justice in the Favelas,” with excerpts from the network’s 2023 activities.
Watch the Retrospective Video Covering All SFN Activities in 2023, with English subtitles:
Following the video, attendees who participated in the year’s activities were invited to come forward to take a photo and speak briefly of the significance of their involvement, with fellow network members. Moura highlighted one of the first initiatives of the year, the planting and revitalization effort in Salgueiro, and Luiz Cassiano, from Green Roof Favela, shared his experience participating in the event.
“It was really cool to be there at the Salgueiro collective action, with the network present… I’d love to see photos of what it looks like now. It was really great, an exhausting day, but very enriching due to the interactions, friendships, and the people who were there, fighting to create that garden.” — Luiz Cassiano
Another impactful 2023 initiative highlighted at the Full-Network Meet-Up, was the Favela Climate Memory project. This project consisted of five intense days of climate memory discussion circles held in various favelas across Rio de Janeiro, including Maré, Rocinha, Antares in Santa Cruz, Pavão-Pavãozinho/Cantagalo (PPG), and Vidigal. These discussions culminated in the launch of the Favela Climate Memory exhibition at the Evictions Museum in Vila Autódromo in June.
Márcia Souza, from PPG’s Favela Museum (MUF), shared her experience as she looked back on the climate memory circle held in her community.
“The conversation at MUF was very interesting. We had the participation of elders, both women and men, telling the history of our territory. We were also lucky to engage some young people who are now part of the Favelas’ COP group. I mean, the outcome was really great, and I got to hear stories [from before] I was even born. The elders were not at all shy to speak into the microphone—excited to learn about our history, talk about themselves, discuss our territory and evoke memories to prevent history from repeating itself.” — Márcia Souza
Another key 2023 activity was the Climate Justice and Community Journalism Workshop, conducted by the RioOnWatch team with youth from 11 different favelas in the SFN. Matheus Edson Rodrigues, a young participant from Rio das Pedras, recalled the experience.
“The journalism workshop—I never get tired of praising the entire process, from beginning to end. The fact that we were able to come up with our story ideas, our articles, was great for me because it’s very satisfying to report on what’s happening in your favela.” — Matheus Edson Rodrigues
Local data launches on water and energy justice in the favelas were also central activities of the SFN in 2023. In each community featured in the study “Water and Energy Justice in the Favelas: Community Researchers Gather Data Revealing Inequalities and Calling for Action,” residents were presented the data collected by local youth researchers in their communities. These launches were also highlighted in the 2023 retrospective.
“The Vila Cruzeiro experience was very interesting… The community attended the event and embraced it, spoke up, felt comfortable being there and speaking their mind. We had the opportunity to talk about our research and explain the data. The whole event had a lightness to it, it wasn’t boring, and I think that was interesting.” — Juliana Vicente
The first national Sustainable Favela Network exchange, “Weaving Sustainability and Expanding Knowledge with Favelas, Quilombos and Indigenous Communities,” was also held in 2023, with the presence of several leaders from across the country. Additionally, in 2023, a mini-course trained SFN solar ambassadors, coinciding with the installation of a photovoltaic system at the Association of Women With Attitude and Social Commitment (AMAC) in Duque de Caxias.
“Setting up the solar panels… was a milestone, not just for our community but, I think, for everyone in the network. The idea is that it can be a model, so we can set it up in other communities, too… What’s great is that it’s innovative, it’s a system that isn’t talked about much but that needs to get more attention… And the best part is that besides producing energy, we’re also creating more jobs right here in the favelas.” — Nill Santos
A mobile app has been developed and tested by the Sustainable Favela Network and partners in 2023 to monitor water and energy justice in favelas. One of the app testers, Flávia Lima, a resident of Rio das Pedras, spoke about what it was like to use it.
“I got involved in the research in Rio das Pedras, going door to door, street by street, hearing people denounce the lack of water, electricity and basic sanitation. This was crucial for me because it gave me a better understanding of my community.” — Flávia Lima
The training course on community association management also stirred excitement among participants in 2023. The video also treated us to glimpses of the Favela Climate Memory exhibition that toured Rocinha—an exhibition open to the public and strategically set up in high foot traffic areas. This allowed residents to revisit the times of carrying cans of water on their heads, and the collective efforts in community initiatives.
Finally, closing the year’s activities, the Sustainable Favela Network attended the public hearing “The Human Right to Water: High Fees and No Water?” with the presence of 100 of the network’s members at the State Legislative Assembly (ALERJ).
“I really enjoyed it because we were in a place we don’t typically find ourselves. Speaking for myself, I’m not used to being there, not accustomed to taking part in a public hearing. But we made it there and accomplished what needed to be done. We did it, and things will only get better from here on.” — Luiz Miguel Ribeiro
The Favelas’ COP: Produced Collectively by Sustainable Favela Network Youth
A series of discussion circles mediated by the Sustainable Favela Network Youth Working Group was one of the highlights of the Full-Network Meet-Up. The so-called Favelas’ COP, held in parallel to the UN’s COP 28, fostered intergenerational debates between young and veteran community organizers, based on four themes: (1) solid waste in favelas; (2) injustices stemming from environmental racism; (3) stories about overcoming environmental racism, and (4) protagonism and the role of peripheral youth in the fight against climate change.
In the late morning and early afternoon, the youth took charge, leading discussions in two separate sessions. Attendees flocked to circles aligning with their interests. Sara Hins, a member of the Favela Museum (MUF) in Pavão-Pavãozinho/Cantagalo, who played a key role in mediating the “Protagonism and the Role of Peripheral Youth in Fighting Climate Change” circle, emphasized the significance of the activity.
“I found the process very interesting, being with other youth from different areas, each with its own specificity, discussing topics like environmental racism and climate justice. The importance of the Favelas’ COP is to discuss these themes from the perspective of our territories, where we, Black and peripheral bodies, are the most affected by climate change… the Favelas’ COP engages with the official COP in that it creates a space that we, peripheral civil society, wouldn’t have access to otherwise… formed by people who truly and personally experience the impacts of climate change, day to day.” — Sara Hins
Consolidating Existing Projects and Identifying New Paths for 2024
The afternoon at the 2023 Annual Full-Network Meet-Up honed in on shaping the trajectory of actions planned by the Sustainable Favela Network in 2024. Rooted in its five pillars of action—exchanges, infrastructure, research, communication, and advocacy—the discussions aimed to define a strategic focus for the upcoming year.
In order to debate proposals for 2024, results of the annual evaluation were shared, reflecting responses from 86 members of the Sustainable Favela Network—the majority of whom are leaders from favelas spread across all regions of Greater Rio. After presenting the results, Williamson asked everyone to separate into four discussion groups, with each person writing their top priority for 2024 on a post-it and discussing their responses as a group.
At every Annual Full-Network Meet-up, this is a crucial moment for a face-to-face exchange of ideas that define actions for the following year. Within each group, participants introduced proposals, organizing them on a poster as debates unfolded to uncover complementarities and differences. These exchanges then returned to the larger group, recognizing common threads between groups and voting on the SFN’s global priorities. The three priorities that will steer the SFN’s actions in 2024 are: the ongoing development of activities with and empowerment of youth; exchanges and actions expanding the SFN’s reach into new favelas; and capacity-building and contracting of consultants to help structure and strengthen member community initiatives.
See the photos of the 6th SFN Meet-up on Flickr:
About the author and photographer: Bárbara Dias was born and raised in Bangu, in Rio’s West Zone. She has a degree in Biological Sciences, a master’s in Environmental Education, and has been a public school teacher since 2006. She is a photojournalist and also works with documentary photography. She is a popular communicator for Núcleo Piratininga de Comunicação (NPC) and co-founder of Coletivo Fotoguerrilha.
*The Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) and RioOnWatch are projects of Catalytic Communities (CatComm).