{"id":30158,"date":"2016-07-11T09:38:36","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T12:38:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=30158"},"modified":"2017-04-01T06:52:30","modified_gmt":"2017-04-01T09:52:30","slug":"knowledge-to-create-solutions-in-complexo-do-alemao-instituto-raizes-em-movimento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=30158","title":{"rendered":"Knowledge to Create Solutions in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o: Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas\"\"<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento<\/a>\u00a0(Roots in Movement Institute) is a community-based NGO in\u00a0Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>in the\u00a0North Zone<\/a>\u00a0of Rio de Janeiro focused on\u00a0human rights<\/a>\u00a0and local social, cultural and human development.\u00a0Frequently partnering with other civil society<\/a> organizations and social movements<\/a> in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, the Institute’s\u00a0work is oriented along two principal axes: critical communication and engagement with diverse forms of knowledge. Over the years, Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento has hosted and participated in public debates, events, projects, seminars and courses in areas including media and technology<\/a>, public policy<\/a>, environmental sustainability<\/a>, and creative arts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The “Roots” of Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento<\/h3>\n

The organization was established in 2001, evolving out of a group of youth participating in a college entrance exam preparatory course in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, initiated by Alan Brum Pinheiro in 1997. Alan\u2014who co-founded and currently coordinates the organization\u2014was born and raised in Alem\u00e3o, and studied anthropology at the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ).<\/p>\n

\"Alan<\/a><\/p>\n

Alan describes the origin of Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento\u2019s name:<\/p>\n

“When we chose the name, we thought about a name that would reflect us, that would say what we are.\u00a0Ra\u00edzes<\/em>\u00a0has the connotation of being a group about racial issues\u2014of course, we engage and work with Black movements but we don\u2019t define ourselves as a movement with this central theme. So, we thought about something complementary.\u00a0The\u00a0em Movimento<\/em>\u00a0plays a bit with the idea of a root being something fixed, and\u00a0\u201cin movement\u201d\u00a0has to do with the imaginary walls that are created that separate the favela from the rest of the city. To think about breaking walls\u2014building bridges\u2014is to engage with diverse spaces in the city. It\u2019s inserting Complexo do Alem\u00e3o in the city, and the city in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Center for Research, Memory and Documentation of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2015, Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento formed the\u00a0Center for Research, Memory and Documentation of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o<\/a>\u00a0(CEPDOCA) with the intention of bridging academic and experiential knowledge.\u00a0CEPDOCA consolidated a number of ongoing local knowledge projects initiated in recent years, principally\u00a0Vamos Desenrolar<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0the Collective of Researchers in Movement, both launched in 2010.<\/p>\n

Vamos Desenrolar\u2014which loosely translates to \u201clet’s untangle” or “let\u2019s talk it out\u201d\u2014is an initiative in which researchers and residents of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o unite to discuss and debate relevant issues on a monthly basis.\u00a0Alan explains: \u201cVamos Desenrolar\u00a0is a discussion group circulating in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o.<\/em>\u00a0We go to public squares, to the streets of Alem\u00e3o. Beforehand, we choose a theme that\u2019s important in that moment and call one or two researchers and one or two people from the community who have substantial grassroots\u00a0knowledge about the topic, and they are the facilitators. They begin to present their experience\u2014one academic, the other lived\u2014they face one another, and then the debate opens up.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the meetings began in 2010, Vamos Desenrolar became a university extension project linked to the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ) in 2013. Formalizing the discussion group into a university extension course entailed some changes to the debate format\u2014participants, who are principally residents of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, would be\u00a0selected through an application process, and sessions began to include classroom instruction in addition to discussion and debate in public spaces. Nonetheless, the debate forum\u00a0maintained its\u00a0original concept:\u00a0bringing together academic experts and residents of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o,\u00a0rich with experiential knowledge of the topic at hand.<\/p>\n

Over the years, topics have included public security<\/a>, the criminalization of culture, media as an instrument<\/a> of political action for youth, public education<\/a> and health<\/a> policy, LGBT rights<\/a>, and \u201cRooting and Uprooting\u201d\u2014a theme that reflected on the memories of migrants who have settled in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o while also addressing\u00a0forced evictions<\/a>\u00a0that have uprooted people\u00a0from Complexo do Alem\u00e3o and other\u00a0favelas in Rio in recent years.<\/p>\n

Secondly, the Collective of Researchers in Movement, a monthly meeting for researchers conducting fieldwork in Alem\u00e3o, emerged out of the sensation that there existed insufficient communication between\u00a0researchers, particularly as many university-affiliated researchers who study Alem\u00e3o\u00a0are not from the favela.\u00a0Alan explains: \u201cEvery time they spoke with residents, with us, they would try to ‘reinvent the wheel,’ and the same things would surface.\u201d The Collective, bringing together researchers in diverse fields including history, geography, anthropology and architecture\u2014along with residents of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o attending university\u2014seeks to enhance collaboration in the research process and enrich the quality of academic studies produced about Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u00a0and its inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Beyond Vamos Desenrolar and the Collective of Researchers in Movement, two major projects have been developed through CEPDOCA.\u00a0Firstly,\u00a0Social and Political Life in the Favelas<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is a compilation of ten studies conducted by participants of the Collective, published by the\u00a0Institute of Applied Economics Research\u00a0<\/a>(IPEA) and\u00a0launched on June 30, 2016.<\/p>\n

\"Book<\/a>
\nThe second major project is the forthcoming publication of an annotated bibliography of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, expected to be completed in\u00a02017. Alan describes the project as a catalogue that will contain \u201ceverything that has been produced on Complexo do Alem\u00e3o. We are mapping everything, past and present.\u201d Firstly, the annotated bibliography will serve as a reference for residents, community organizations and future academic researchers. Secondly, it\u2019s also intended for public schools, such that, as Alan envisions, \u201cteachers can better understand the context of their own students, because teachers usually come from outside [of Alem\u00e3o].” Finally, Alan describes the bibliography as \u201ca weapon of political pressure\u201d that will hold public administrators accountable for creating more consistent and contextually appropriate public policies<\/a> for\u00a0Complexo do Alem\u00e3o.<\/p>\n

Public space in the aftermath of the Growth Acceleration Program<\/h3>\n

While on the one hand the production and exchange of knowledge occurs\u00a0in the arena of research\u00a0and public dialogue, on the other it takes place through physical interventions in public spaces.\u00a0Identifying the need to make public spaces<\/a> in the community more available and functionally useful for residents, Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento has engaged in a\u00a0series of community upgrading projects in partnership with the Architecture and Urbanism School at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FAU\/UFRJ) and other groups.<\/p>\n

Alan describes:\u00a0\u201cThese interventions in public space have a direct relation with the negative experience of the\u00a0Growth Acceleration Program (PAC)<\/a>,\u00a0in which residents and institutions tried to influence the project according to local demand<\/a> for public works, but we\u00a0weren\u2019t able to see changes in\u00a0the issues that we brought up\u2014the priorities of\u00a0the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beginning in 2008, Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u00a0<\/em>received over\u00a0R$800 million in federal and state investments<\/a>\u00a0for public works including mobility, housing, infrastructure, and health, education, and sports facilities through the PAC,\u00a0a federal program established\u00a0by President\u00a0Lula in 2007. In its first phase of implementation in Rio de Janeiro (known as PAC 1), the program targeted Complexo do Alem\u00e3o along with two other large favelas,\u00a0Rocinha<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Manguinhos<\/a>. Despite the promise of improvements\u2014particularly to physical infrastructure in the favelas\u2014as Alan points out, the PAC intervention process was entirely non-participatory<\/a>: \u201cThe upgrading from the government was an upgrading without engagement with the community. When we would ask to do something, or wanted to influence the project\u2014they would say, \u2018No, that\u2019s not technically viable. It\u2019s because you don\u2019t know\u2014it\u2019s not possible to do that here.\u2019 We weren\u2019t allowed to participate in the process.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of the total PAC 1 budget allocated for upgrading works in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o, approximately\u00a0R$210 million in federal and state funds<\/a>\u00a0were spent on Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u2019s cable car<\/a> system\u2014often criticized<\/a> as a beautified tourist attraction lacking social integration and failing to meet residents\u2019 actual transportation needs. Discontentment with the cable car\u00a0led Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento\u2014together with Rocinha Sem Fronteiras\u2014to\u00a0sue the State of Rio de Janeiro<\/a>\u00a0in 2013 for failing to comply with\u00a0Law\u00a010.257\u00a0<\/a>(which mandates\u00a0participation<\/a>\u00a0in public works) in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u00a0and for failing to implement PAC 1 interventions in Rocinha<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Public<\/a><\/p>\n

Beyond the cable car, the PAC 1 upgrading projects implemented in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o left a great deal of empty space in the community. For example, houses and buildings\u2014including Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento\u2019s former headquarters\u2014were removed in the process of widening roads, but plots of land often remained abandoned following the construction work.\u00a0As such, Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento began to reclaim and repurpose public space in Complexo do Alem\u00e3o through collective action projects, known as\u00a0mutir\u00f5es<\/em><\/a>,\u00a0starting in July 2015 with the construction of a public plaza located opposite the organization\u2019s new headquarters on Avenida Central, Morro do Alem\u00e3o.<\/p>\n

Most recently, Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento has collaborated with\u00a0Perman\u00eancias e Destrui\u00e7\u00f5es<\/a>\u00a0(Permanences and Destructions), a public art project funded by the Rio de Janeiro Culture Secretariat and telephone company Oi. Together with residents, Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento identified Travessa Laurinda as an optimal site for intervention given the state of neglect and precariousness of the stairway\u2014which descends from Morro do Alem\u00e3o to Olaria\u2014and its underlying ruptured drainage piping. A project to fix up the stairs and the drainage began in June 2016<\/a> and will continue into mid-July.<\/p>\n

\"Mutir\u00e3o<\/a><\/p>\n

In August, Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento plans to carry out a tree-planting project at the entrance of Avenida Central, which will provide greenery and shade in an area otherwise enveloped\u00a0in concrete.<\/p>\n

Alan explains that,\u00a0equipped with intimate knowledge of their own communities, \u201cpeople from the favela, who often have less education, are the ones orienting how things are done. This brings together Roberto, who is 30 years old and a bricklayer, with Pablo who is 30 years old and studying architecture.\u201d As Alan points out, coupling local know-how with academic and technical expertise offers an excellent example of a best-practice for upgrading physical space in the favela, particularly in the aftermath of the non-participatory PAC interventions.<\/p>\n

Highlighting the value of community participation and designing and implementing public works, Alan says: \u201cWe want to prove that it is possible to achieve technical quality while at the same time taking into consideration what residents want for the space. The result will also be a political weapon, to be able to say, \u2018You told us that it\u2019s not possible to take into account what residents want\u2014and how they want things\u2014and at the same time maintain technical quality.\u00a0It is possible<\/em>.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Creating alternative urban solutions<\/h3>\n

Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento’s activities are\u00a0premised upon the idea of\u00a0producing and exchanging knowledge without hierarchy. As Alan expresses, it’s critical to avoid the pitfall of \u201cplacing\u00a0academic knowledge above grassroots\u00a0knowledge\u2014that is, experiential knowledge. Engagement between academic knowledge and grassroots\u00a0knowledge offers the possibility of restructuring the social fabric, in regard to the development of Complexo do Alem\u00e3o.\u201d<\/p>\n

As such, the experiences that have shaped favela history\u2014characterized by resistance<\/a>, creativity<\/a>, and solidarity in the absence of the right to fully exercise citizenship\u2014are fundamental in\u00a0considering future urban solutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas Instituto Ra\u00edzes em Movimento\u00a0(Roots in Movement Institute) is a community-based NGO in\u00a0Complexo do Alem\u00e3o\u00a0in the\u00a0North Zone\u00a0of Rio de Janeiro focused on\u00a0human rights\u00a0and local social, cultural and human development.\u00a0Frequently partnering with other […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":78,"featured_media":30189,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1668,1288,1290,1284,329,1329],"tags":[882,150,498,1163,756,258,364,32,910,1974,221,674,205,188,25,673,1579,37,152,171,1539,740,270,206,365],"writer":[1695],"translator":[],"illustrator":[],"photographer":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-30158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-participationwatch","8":"category-highlight","9":"category-civilsociety","10":"category-interviews-profiles","11":"category-solutions","12":"category-by-international-observers","13":"tag-academia-x-civil-society","14":"tag-cable-car","15":"tag-citizenship","16":"tag-civil-society","17":"tag-community-organizing","18":"tag-community-solution","19":"tag-community-based-organization-cbo","20":"tag-complexo-do-alemao","21":"tag-creative-organizing","22":"tag-creativity","23":"tag-favela-culture","24":"tag-memory","25":"tag-growth-acceleration-program-pac","26":"tag-history","27":"tag-human-rights","28":"tag-misplaced-public-priorities","29":"tag-morro-do-alemao","30":"tag-north-zone","31":"tag-participation","32":"tag-public-space","33":"tag-raizes-em-movimento","34":"tag-research-findings","35":"tag-resistance","36":"tag-upgrading","37":"tag-zero-participation","38":"writer-ava-rose-hoffman"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/78"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=30158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/30189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=30158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=30158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=30158"},{"taxonomy":"writer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fwriter&post=30158"},{"taxonomy":"translator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftranslator&post=30158"},{"taxonomy":"illustrator","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fillustrator&post=30158"},{"taxonomy":"photographer","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fphotographer&post=30158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}