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  • [ December 4, 2025 ] Portrait of a Centenary-Old Favela of Stilt Houses: Belém’s Vila da Barca Resists, Organizes and Fights for Sanitation and Adequate Housing #HousingWatch
  • [ November 30, 2025 ] The Story of Dona Pascoalina, Midwife and Healer of Morro do Borel by Community Contributors
  • [ November 15, 2025 ] ‘There’s No Such Thing as Normal After a Massacre’: One Week After Police Mega-Operation Kills 121 People, Residents From Complexos do Alemão and Penha Speak Out #UPPWatch
  • [ November 13, 2025 ] ‘Human Beings Forget That They Are Nature’: Favelas Teach the Path to the Future at the 2nd Favela Sustainability Festival Civil Society
  • [ November 12, 2025 ] Food Sovereignty and Culinary Heritage Connect with Fight for Climate Justice at the 2nd Sustainable Favela Festival Civil Society
Homeappropriate technology

appropriate technology

*Highlight

Institutions from Five Brazilian States Launch Network to Monitor Violence and Human Rights Abuses

By Edmund Ruge • June 6, 2019

Clique aqui para Português Institutions from five Brazilian states have joined together to launch the Network of Public Security Observatories, a collaborative initiative to track a broad range of violence and human rights indicators. As […]

*Highlight

First Sustainable Favela Network Exchange of 2019 Visits RevoluSolar and Favela Orgânica in Babilônia

By Ben Bildsten, Carolina Medina Zárate, Daiana Contini • May 8, 2019

Clique aqui para Português The Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) is a project of Catalytic Communities (CatComm)* designed to build and reinforce solidarity networks, bring visibility and develop joint actions to support the expansion of community-based […]

#CommunityMedia

Favelados 2.0: The Importance of Maker Culture in Favelas

By Debora Pio • Translation by Alice Lupton • February 16, 2016

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by Debora Pio in Portuguese published in Viva Favela click here. A team of favela residents involved in web culture and who develop their own projects using digital platforms are […]

Policies

POUSOs: Urbanistic and Social Orientation Posts in Rio’s Favelas from 1996 to 2008

By Caitlin Dixon • April 27, 2014

Clique aqui para Português POUSOs, or Urbanistic and Social Orientation Posts (Posto de Orientação Urbanística e Social) were conceived in 1996 by the Municipal Housing Secretariat (SMH) to provide on-site technical support to ensure safety and introduce […]

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.

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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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  • Organizing
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  • Content Map
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  • About
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