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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
HomeReference Articles

Reference Articles

*Highlight

World Localization Day: The Biggest Movement You May Be a Part of Without Realizing [REFERENCE]

By Sana Khan • June 21, 2024

Clique aqui para Português Each year on June 21, more and more people around the world are celebrating World Localization Day. In 2020, NGO Local Futures organized the first World Localization Day. Countless citizens, initiatives […]

*Highlight

Climate Anxiety in Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas Is the Echo of Environmental Racism, Say #VoicesFromSocialMedia [REFERENCE]

By Cleyton Santanna • Translation by Hannah McKenzie • February 22, 2024

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of a series created in partnership with the Behner Stiefel Center for Brazilian Studies at San Diego State University, to produce articles for the Digital Brazil Project on environmental justice in the favelas […]

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 […]

#MediaWatch

A Better Way to Do Journalism: The Benefits of Solutions Journalism on Environmental and Land Issues [REFERENCE]

By Julio Santos Filho • Translation by Cristina Cortez • April 24, 2022

Clique aqui para Português On March 9, the Land Portal and the Solutions Journalism Network realized the webinar “Communication About Land and Environmental Issues: The Solutions Journalism Approach” with attendees from Nigeria, Tanzania, Namibia, Rwanda, […]

*Highlight

New Sustainable Favela Network Map Makes Palpable The Sheer Diversity of Favela Solutions [REFERENCE]

By Beatriz Carvalho • Translation by Clau Guimarães • February 21, 2022

Clique aqui para Português Rio de Janeiro’s Sustainable Favela Network (SFN)* recently launched an update to its Sustainable Favela Network Map. The results were presented during its last meeting of 2021, with 79 network members in attendance […]

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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

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    • Sanitation
  • Violations
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    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
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  • Content Map
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    • by Int’l Observers
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      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
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