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  • [ May 24, 2025 ] The Story Behind Brazil’s First Favela Museum—The Maré Museum—Started With a Community Network and Oral Histories in the 1990s by Community Contributors
  • [ May 22, 2025 ] From Local Conferences to COPs, Decision-Making on Climate Excludes Those Who Hold Critical Knowledge and Are Most Impacted: Indigenous Peoples and Informal Settlements [OPINION] *Highlight
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  • [ April 30, 2025 ] Sustainable Favela Network Launches Groundbreaking ‘Favela Climate Memory’ Exhibition on May 3, Kicking Off Museums Month [RELEASE] *Highlight
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#EvictionsWatch

Candomblé Priestess in Vila Autódromo Received Death Threats to Make Way for 2016 Olympics

By Heloisa Helena Costa Berto • Translation by Christopher Owens, Emma Platais, Luana Gama • February 23, 2016

Clique aqui para Português This is the second letter sent by Heloisa Helena Costa Berto and published on RioOnWatch. Read her first letter, published on September 17, 2015, here. I have spent the past month […]

#EvictionsWatch

Olympic Park Construction Prevents Candomblé Priestess from Going Home [IMAGES]

By Matias Maxx • Translation by Wendy Turner • February 18, 2016

Clique aqui para Português For the original article by Matias Maxx in Portuguese published in VICE click here. Heloísa Helena Costa Berto, Luizinha of Nanã, is an Afro-Brazilian who has devoted herself to candomblé for over 40 years. […]

#EvictionsWatch

Dona Mariza Left Homeless After Eviction in Vila Autódromo Next Door to #Rio2016 Olympics

By Sam Salvesen • December 3, 2015

Clique aqui para Português On October 23 agents from the city government carried out the unannounced demolition of five homes in Vila Autódromo, next door to the 2016 Olympic Park. 60 year-old Dona Mariza do […]

#EvictionsWatch

Candomblé Priestess from Vila Autódromo Describes the Terror of the Eviction Process

By Heloisa Helena Costa Berto • Translation by Carolyn Oliveira • September 17, 2015

Clique aqui para Português Vila Autódromo evictee, Heloisa Helena Costa Berto, shared the letter she wrote documenting her painful ordeal with the City of Rio, with RioOnWatch. Here it is published in its entirety. Following is an urgent […]

#EvictionsWatch

“I will leave my house, but not the struggle” – Jane Nascimento, during her eviction from Vila Autódromo

By Alexandre Magalhães • Translation by Sarah Jacobs • August 17, 2015

Clique aqui para Português Jane is one of the most important figures in the fight against favela evictions in Rio de Janeiro today. She has always been tireless in her fight: speaking out not just in […]

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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.
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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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