{"id":76742,"date":"2023-11-29T15:25:07","date_gmt":"2023-11-29T18:25:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=76742"},"modified":"2023-12-15T12:17:01","modified_gmt":"2023-12-15T15:17:01","slug":"brazils-favela-community-land-trust-celebrates-five-years-and-hosts-international-exchange-in-rio-de-janeiro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=76742","title":{"rendered":"Brazil’s ‘Favela Community Land Trust’ Celebrates Five Years and Hosts International Exchange in Rio de Janeiro"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Participants<\/a>
Participants at the event that celebrated the five years of the Favela-CLT Project and the Third (Inter)National Seminar. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/i><\/span>\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

The Favela Community Land Trust Project* marked its fifth anniversary in 2023, having grown as a model for ensuring stability and security of tenure in self-managed communities. The milestone was celebrated during a seminar featuring national and international invited guests at the Rio de Janeiro Public Defenders Office<\/a> headquarters, in the FESUDEPERJ<\/a> Auditorium, on October 28.<\/h4>\n

Community Land Trusts (CLTs<\/a>) serve as a model for land rights and management<\/a> through community control<\/a>, originating with the U.S. civil rights movement of the 1960s. In Brazil, the potential of Favela Community Land Trusts<\/a> was introduced in Rio de Janeiro<\/a> five years ago, an anniversary celebrated at an event on October 28, 2023. Here, the model is being used primarily to counter eviction and gentrification<\/a>, guaranteeing the right to housing<\/a> in favelas<\/a>, housing cooperatives<\/a>, traditional communities<\/a>, and urban occupations by ensuring security of tenure<\/a> and empowering local residents.<\/p>\n

The basic principle<\/a> of the model is self-organization through a skillful melding of collective land management with the individual freedom of residents, established by separating ownership of land from structures. The land, owned by the entire community<\/a>, is maintained through a system of collective management, while the homes belong to residents individually. CLTs’ main purpose is to guarantee affordable housing<\/a> by strengthening<\/a> the community, ensuring security of tenure with territorial control.<\/p>\n

The Favela Community Land Trust is a Brazilian application of the CLT<\/a>, which, since the 1960s, has crossed borders, finding a home in numerous nations and diverse contexts worldwide. It was with the intention of stimulating a broad exchange of knowledge and experiences among those who, through CLTs, fight for access<\/a> to dignified housing worldwide<\/a>, that the Favela Community Land Trust project held its 5th Anniversary Event<\/a> in late October, attended by 150 people in-person and another 500 online.<\/p>\n

\"Guest<\/a>
Guest speakers present during the second panel discussion of the day. From left to right: Jurema Const\u00e2ncio, Barbara de Jes\u00fas, Mario Nu\u00f1ez, Ashley Allen and Razia Khanom. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The international guests shared their vast experience, representing CLTs from three countries. They included: Ashley Allen<\/a>, executive director of the Houston CLT<\/a> in the US<\/a>; Razia Khanom, vice-president of the London CLT<\/a> in the United Kingdom<\/a>; and Mario Nu\u00f1ez and Barbara de Jes\u00fas, executive director and community leader, respectively, of the Fideicomiso de la Tierra Ca\u00f1o Mart\u00edn Pe\u00f1a<\/a>. Located in San Juan, Puerto Rico<\/a>, this was the first CLT in an informal settlement in Latin America and served as a direct inspiration for the Brazilian Favela-CLT<\/a> movement.<\/p>\n

Representatives from pilot CLT experiences<\/a> in Brazil were also present, including: Jurema Const\u00e2ncio, from the Shangri-L\u00e1 Housing Cooperative<\/a> in Taquara<\/a>, in Rio\u2019s West Zone<\/a>, and member of the National Union for Popular Housing (UNMP<\/a>); Neide Mattos, from Grupo Esperan\u00e7a<\/a>, in Col\u00f4nia Juliano Moreira<\/a>, in Jacarepagu\u00e1<\/a>, also in the West Zone; and Paulo Roberto da Silva Machado, president of the Trapicheiros<\/a> Residents Association, in Tijuca<\/a>, located in the North Zone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The event featured group activities and reflections on the CLT and its practical applications in favelas, in addition to the thematic panels with national and international guests. The first panel, \u201cThe Right to Land and Housing through the CLT\u201d discussed the challenges of land access and the realization of housing rights in cities. The second panel, \u201cCommunity Organizing in CLTs\u201d delved into strengthening communities through CLTs and strategies for engagement and democratic control of land. The panel \u201cSouth-South Dialogues: Opportunities and Challenges for CLTs in Latin America\u201d specifically explored the potential application of CLT strategies to favelas and urban communities across Latin America.<\/p>\n

Theresa Williamson, urban planner and executive director of Catalytic Communities,* opened the event by providing context on how the proposal for Favela-CLTs emerged in Rio: as a tool of resistance and policy formulation in a city where mega-events triggered significant waves of both forced evictions and gentrification in favelas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea of the Favela0CLT<\/a>, though it didn’t have that name at the time, originated from the concept of Community Land Trusts abroad. We began discussing it as a theoretical proposition in the context of meetings<\/a> [in Vidigal, to combat gentrification]. The idea [of transforming favelas into CLTs] lingered like a dream, something distant. Little did we know it had already been done in favelas in Puerto Rico. It was something we found out after the Olympics and that’s why we’re here today. From that small seed planted in Vidigal in 2014<\/a>\u2026 we had been researching with foreign volunteers, and one of them said, \u2018did you know there’s already a CLT in Puerto Rico? In their favelas?\u2019 And that\u2019s where it all started.\u201d \u2014 Theresa Williamson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She concluded her talk stating that the Ca\u00f1o Mart\u00edn Pe\u00f1a CLT, in Puerto Rico, became the inspiration for the Favela-CLT in Brazil. Two years later, in 2018, after connecting and learning more, a series of workshops were held<\/a> with their new Puerto Rican partners to introduce Favela-CLTs in Brazil.<\/p>\n

Following the opening talk, a retrospective video (with English subtitles) recapped the most important events of the first five years of the Favela-CLT Project:<\/h3>\n