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Latest News
  • [ April 21, 2026 ] New ‘Water Watch Platform’ Enables Monitoring and Public Participation in Health and Sanitation in the State of Rio de Janeiro by Community Contributors
  • [ April 14, 2026 ] ‘If the Baixada Doesn’t Plant, Rio de Janeiro Doesn’t Eat’: Second Magé Climate Forum Puts Regional Food Sovereignty at the Center *Highlight
  • [ April 10, 2026 ] There’s Blood in the Palmeiras Favela: The Cry for Help Police Chose Not to Hear in São Gonçalo’s Salgueiro Favela Complex #UPPWatch
  • [ April 8, 2026 ] ‘While Water Is Scarce, Profits Abound!’ On World Water Day, Outraged Movements Demand Right to Water in Front of Águas do Rio, Rio de Janeiro’s Private Utility, and Call for Restatization *Highlight
  • [ April 2, 2026 ] ‘International Favelas Conference’ Promotes a (dis)Integrated City: From Erasing Favela Residents to Global Marketing [OPINION] #ParticipationWatch
HomeFavelas as a Sustainable Model

Favelas as a Sustainable Model

*Highlight

Green Favela Vale Encantado Breaks Ground on a Sewage Treatment Biosystem

By Claire Lepercq • October 10, 2015

Clique aqui para Português During the month of September 2015, a team of engineers, masons, and workers in Vale Encantado began the construction of the community’s second biodigester, this one designed as the first step towards a sewage treatment […]

Eco Rede Students and Iara Oliveira by Eco Rede
*Highlight

‘Eco Network’ Community Group Tackles Environmental Issues in City of God

By Christine Wilkes • July 8, 2015

Clique aqui para Português Waste management is a problem faced by virtually every favela in Rio de Janeiro. Most communities suffer inadequate or non-existent waste collection services because public agencies miscount the local population and provide inadequate services, […]

*Highlight

Vale Encantado: An Emerging Example for Sustainable Communities

By Asha Nidumolu • April 27, 2015

Clique aqui para Português RioOnWatch visited Vale Encantado a few weeks ago on an educational visit with Pratt University’s urban planning graduate students. Vale Encantado is part of Alto Da Boa Vista, a region of Rio […]

Residents of Manguinhos took part in Planting Ideas event on Wednesday March 4. Photo by Edilano Cavalcante
Civil Society

“Planting Ideas”: Manguinhos Launches Environmental Awareness Project

By Brooke Parkin • March 11, 2015

Clique aqui para Português On Wednesday March 4 community leaders, environmental activists and young people all from the North Zone community of Manguinhos gathered at the community library to launch the project Plantando Ideias (Planting Ideas). The initiative […]

Favela Culture

A Country Called Favela by Renato Meirelles and Celso Athayde [BOOK REVIEW]

By Andrea Cangialosi • October 7, 2014

Clique aqui para Português Um País Chamado Favela (in English, A Country Called Favela) by Renato Meirelles, president of Data Popular, and Celso Athayde, co-founder of CUFA, examines the accomplishments of favelas and their economic advancements, with analysis of informal housing and its economic power […]

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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.
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

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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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  • Violations
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    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
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  • Content Map
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