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Latest News
  • [ September 30, 2026 ] Meet the Candidates for State and Federal Deputy from Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas by Community Contributors
  • [ September 29, 2026 ] Explainer on the Brazilian Senate: What Does a Senator Do and Why Does This Matter to Favelas? by Community Contributors
  • [ September 28, 2026 ] Riverbank Communities in Brazil’s Climate-Stricken Northeastern City of Recife Demand Respect and Answers #EvictionsWatch
  • [ September 22, 2026 ] Prazeres Favela Community Garden Reclaims Ancestral Knowledge and Celebrates ‘Our Oldest Technology: Putting a Seed in the Ground’ by Community Contributors
  • [ September 17, 2026 ] The ‘Cloud’ Has an Address: Data Centers Put Water, Electricity and Land at the Center of the Debate in Rio de Janeiro #LegacyWatch
Homeasphalt obsession

asphalt obsession

#LegacyWatch

10 Years Later: Rio 2016 Olympics Served to Consolidate Speculative Plan Rejected by Pioneering Brazilian Urban Planner Lúcio Costa

By Alice Novaes • Translation by Dani Scott • June 30, 2026

Clique aqui para Português This article is part of our series reflecting on the impacts of mega-events on Rio de Janeiro 10 years after the 2016 Olympic Games. It was produced in partnership between RioOnWatch and […]

*Highlight

Award-Winning Middle School in Penha Favela Hosts Gardening Collective Action Engaging Passionate Young Environmental Leaders

By Amanda Baroni Lopes • Translation by Alyssa Oliver • March 29, 2026

Clique aqui para Português Two years ago, classes at the Brant Horta Technological Municipal School (GET Brant Horta), located in Penha, a complex of favelas and surrounding neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro’s North Zone, resumed […]

*Highlight

Rio’s New ‘Extreme Rainfall Vulnerability Index’, Rio 60ºC, Shows 600,000 Homes at High Risk of Landslides or Flooding

By Felipe Lucena • Translation by A.M. Oliver • May 16, 2025

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by Felipe Lucena published in Diário do Rio, click here.  Morro dos Prazeres and Rocinha are among the areas identified in a study developed by Ambiental Media […]

*Highlight

The Multiethnic Indigenous University of Aldeia Maracanã: Indigenous Knowledge and Forest Education in the Heart of Rio de Janeiro

By Dayse Alves • Translation by Hannah McKenzie • February 22, 2025

Clique aqui para Português This article, the result of an interview with Mônica Lima Mura Manaú Arawak, Brazil’s only university professor of its Mura indigenous people, is part of a series created in partnership with the Behner […]

#EvictionsWatch

Indigenous Peoples in the Urban Context: José Urutau Guajajara [INTERVIEW]

By Lucas Smolcic Larson • Translation by Rachel Fox • November 13, 2017

Clique aqui para Português José Urutau Guajajara is one of the key leaders in the movement for indigenous rights in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Raised in the Guajajara Village in the Brazilian state of […]

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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.

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10 Years! Check Out Our Story:

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
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  • Communities
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  • Policies
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  • Violations
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    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
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  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
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      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
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  • About
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