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Latest News
  • [ May 16, 2025 ] Rio’s New ‘Extreme Rainfall Vulnerability Index’, Rio 60ºC, Shows 600,000 Homes at High Risk of Landslides or Flooding Climate Justice
  • [ May 9, 2025 ] ‘Trash? Not to Us!’ Environmental Action in Rio Public Housing Complex Denounces Municipal Neglect and Proposes Waste Collection as a Source of Income by Community Contributors
  • [ April 30, 2025 ] Sustainable Favela Network Launches Groundbreaking ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition on May 3, Kicking Off Museums Month [RELEASE] *Highlight
  • [ April 20, 2025 ] ‘No One Wants to Hear How Much We Miss Them’: 20 Years After the Baixada Massacre, Families of Victims Report Poor Mental Health and Demand Psychosocial Support from the State #UPPWatch
  • [ April 14, 2025 ] ‘I Was Up All Night, Like Every Summer’: Storm Deepens Climate Anxiety and Sparks Outrage Among Favela Residents Across Greater Rio de Janeiro, Say #VoicesFromSocialMedia #MediaWatch
HomeCulture

Culture

*Highlight

2024 Victories for Afro-Diasporic Culture: Passinho Recognized as ‘Intangible Cultural Heritage’ in Rio as Breakdancing Debuted in Paris

By Juliana Portella • Translation by Kincaid Cummings • November 8, 2024

Clique aqui para Português This Brazilian Black Awareness Month, RioOnWatch celebrates two recent milestones for Afro-diasporic culture: the debut of breakdancing in the Olympics and the enactment of Rio de Janeiro State Law 10.289/2024, which […]

*Highlight

In Rio de Janeiro, Conservative ‘Governor’s Island’ Holds Its First Pride Parade Following Decades of Local Organizing

By Amanda Baroni Lopes • Translation by Staff • July 15, 2024

Clique aqui para Português On a sunny Saturday, June 29, Ilha do Governador (Governor’s Island) held its first LGBT+ Pride Parade at the foot of the Morro do Dendê favela, in Aterro do Cocotá, in the […]

*Highlight

‘Climate of Art’ Event in Santo Amaro Favela Adopts Culture as a Strategy to Fight Climate Change and Environmental Racism

By Amanda Baroni Lopes • Translation by Staff • June 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 […]

*Highlight

Art, Resistance and Ancestral Struggle at Carnival, Part 1: Exploring Rio’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Through the Traditional Bate-Bola Clowns of the Peripheries

By Tatiana Lima • Translation by Staff • February 11, 2024

Clique aqui para Português This is the first in a series of three articles about carnival traditions in Rio’s favelas and peripheries, respectively: the Bate-Bola clowns, an indelible tradition in the North and West Zones, […]

*Highlight

Carnival of Literature! Spaces of Black Resistance, Rio de Janeiro’s Samba Schools Host Literary Festivals that Boost Racial Literacy

By Carol Marinho • Translation by Staff • February 9, 2024

Clique aqui para Português February 9, 2024—Afro-Indigenous Brazilian literature is a growing source of inspiration for samba schools as they organize Rio de Janeiro’s carnival parades. During the 2024 carnival, which starts today, a number […]

Posts pagination

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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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contact@rioonwatch.org
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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
    • Understanding Rio
    • Reference Articles
  • Communities
    • Central
    • South Zone
    • North Zone
    • West Zone
    • Greater Rio
  • Policies
    • Public Security
    • Housing
    • Transport
    • 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
    • Book Reviews
    • Film Reviews
    • Listicles
    • Opinion
    • Reference
    • Podcasts
    • Translated Articles
  • About
    • Timeline
    • Our Reporting Policy
    • License
    • Feedback
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