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Latest News
  • [ 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
Homecreativity

creativity

*Highlight

Rocinha Residents Raise Tilapia In Water Tanks in Fight Against Hunger

By Karen Fontoura • Translation by A.M. Oliver • September 29, 2025

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by Karen Fontoura published in Fala Roça, click here.  Arriving at Terreirão da Rua 1, at the top of Rio de Janeiro’s Rocinha favela and near the […]

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 […]

*Highlight

RONGO’s Graffiti Museum and Verde Vale Recycling Project [PROFILE] #SustainableFavelaNetwork

By Adriana Gonzalez, Emma Bergman • May 22, 2019

Clique aqui para Português Initiative: The Graffiti Museum and Verde Vale (“Green Voucher”) Project at the National Organized Graffiti Workshop Space (RONGO) Contact: RONGO Facebook | Graffiti Museum Facebook | Email Year Founded: 2011 / 2013 […]

*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 […]

*Highlight

‘Badalados and Badaladas’: City of God’s Famous ‘Bate-Bola’ Carnival Clowns [IMAGES]

By Jota Marques • Translation by Sharonya Vadakattu • March 3, 2019

Clique aqui para Português  Horror or revelry? There is a bit of both in the history of the emergence of carnival clowns known as bate-bolas (“ball-hitters”). At once scary and performative, historians date their origins to the […]

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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
    • Highlighted Stories
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  • Communities
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  • Policies
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    • Education
    • Health
    • Sanitation
  • Violations
    • Human Rights
    • Housing Rights
    • Police Violence
    • Government Neglect
  • Organizing
    • Community Organizing
    • Community Solution
    • Resistance
    • Sustainability
    • Participation
    • Protest
    • Culture
    • Responsible Tourism
  • Content Map
    • by Community Contributors
    • by Int’l Observers
    • Series
      • Anti-Racist Series
      • Energy Justice Series
    • Event Reports
    • Video Stories
    • Photo-Essays
    • Interviews/Profiles
    • Research & Analysis
    • Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
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