{"id":77062,"date":"2023-12-28T14:57:01","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T17:57:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=77062"},"modified":"2025-09-13T14:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T17:07:13","slug":"urban-planners-at-rios-federal-university-get-special-class-on-favela-climate-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=77062","title":{"rendered":"Urban Planners at Rio’s Federal University Get Special Class on Favela Climate Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Public<\/a>
Special session with members of favela community museums during the 2023 IPPUR Week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/h4>\n

Invited by the Urban and Regional Planning and Research Institute<\/a> (IPPUR) at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro <\/span>(UFRJ<\/a>) and supported by the Research Support Foundation for the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ<\/a>), on December 11, museum members of the Sustainable Favela Network (SFN<\/a>)\u2019s Climate Memory Working Group took part in the \u201cBrazil\u2019s Past Urbanizations<\/a>\u201d discussion panel<\/span>. Panelists included: Ant\u00f4nio Carlos Vieira of the Mar\u00e9 Museum<\/a>, Bruno Almeida of the Historic Orientation and Research Nucleus of Santa Cruz<\/a> (NOPH<\/a>), Maria da Penha Macena of the Evictions Museum<\/a>\u00a0in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo<\/a>, Rose Firmino of the Sankofa Museum in Rocinha<\/a>, and M\u00e1rcia Souza of the Favela Museum (MUF<\/a>) in Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho<\/a>\/Cantagalo<\/a>. On display alongside the panel was the Favela Climate Memory exhibition<\/a> on the<\/span> ground level <\/span>of the university’s Jorge Machado Moreira Building, from 9am-5pm.<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\n

Favela Climate Memory Exhibition Meets Academia<\/b><\/h3>\n

The Favela Climate Memory exhibition organized by community museum members of the Sustainable Favela Network (SFN), was displayed during the 28th IPPUR Week<\/a> at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Comprising a rich tapestry of memories and stories, narrated from the perspective of residents of five of Rio de Janeiro\u2019s favelas, the exhibition took the form of banners hung on a bamboo clothesline with pegs alongside a number of other exhibition materials. It gives a brief summary of the favela climate memory circles<\/a>\u00a0that took place in the participating community museums: Mar\u00e9 Museum<\/a> in Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a>; Sankofa Museum<\/a> in Rocinha<\/a>; Historic Orientation and Research Nucleus of Santa Cruz (NOPH<\/a>) in Antares<\/a>; Favela Museum (MUF<\/a>) in Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho and Cantagalo; and the Memory Nucleus<\/a> of Vidigal<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Favela Climate Memory Exhibition on display on the ground level of the Jorge Machado Moreira Building, at IPPUR-UFRJ. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In addition to banners, the exhibition features a circular timeline that chronicles the most notable events in the histories of the participating favelas. These narratives come directly from residents who were present during the climate memory circles. A final structure completes the exhibition\u2019s circuit: the \u201cWell of Memories\u201d installation, created by visual artist Ev\u00e2nia de Paula<\/a> from Vidigal. The well includes approximately 100 photographs with captions, offering a moment for sharing local memories and histories from the participating communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Public<\/a>
Public visits the exhibition. In the photo, the timeline and Well of Memories. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As soon as visitors entered the hall of the Jorge Machado Moreira Building at IPPUR, they were greeted by the exhibition\u2019s installations. The exchanges between students, professors and representatives of the favela museums had already begun. During the visit, the mediation between what was observed and the narratives from museum representatives further enriched the experience.<\/span><\/p>\n

Favela Museums in the Professor’s Seat<\/b><\/h3>\n

This year, IPPUR Week addressed the theme: \u201cThe Environment in Question: Inflections and Permanence in Contemporary Socio-environmental Conflicts.\u201d The special session \u201cFavela Climate Memory\u201d mediated by Professor Ta\u00edsa Sanches saw the participation of five representatives from the favela museums featured in the <\/span>Favela Climate Memory<\/span> exhibition.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Members<\/a>
Members of the favela museums participate in the special session during IPPUR\/UFRJ week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The discussion circle\u2019s objective was to present the Sustainable Favela Network and the favela museums that created the Favela Climate Memory exhibition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maria da Penha Macena<\/a> of the Evictions Museum in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo explained the context in which the museum was created, during the period of widespread pre-Olympic evictions. The museum came about with two purposes: to preserve the memories of a community that once comprised 700 families, now reduced to 20; and to serve as an instrument of struggle<\/a> against evictions. She spoke on her experience during the climate memory circles in other communities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an incredible experience because the stories are very similar. Actually, they’re identical. The story of the working-class Brazilian repeats itself because what is left for us are the favelas. And then, when we build in these spaces, the government thinks it has the right to remove us.\u201d \u2014 Maria da Penha<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Maria<\/a>
Maria da Penha, from the Evictions Museum in Vila Aut\u00f3dromo, speaks at the special session during IPPUR\/UFRJ week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the Evictions Museum didn’t host a climate memory circle in its own territory, it was the one which launched<\/a> the original Favela Climate Memory exhibition.<\/p>\n

At the event, the question \u201cwhat is climate memory?\u201d was debated, with a noteworthy response from Bruno Almeida, head of the Historic Orientation and Research Nucleus of Santa Cruz (NOPH<\/a>) which realized its climate memory circle in the favela of Antares, Santa Cruz.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow, over the course of thirty years, have favelas related to or been impacted by climate change? This is a recurring question, especially in terms of floods and heat\u2026 As per our methodology in the circles, the favela museums [proposed] four questions [(1) What is climate change? (2) How did the occupation of the favela take place and what is the area’s relationship with the climate and nature? (3) How do climate and environmental issues relate to housing access and rights? and (4) What knowledge has the community developed to respond to the challenges posed by nature and climate?]. In all the [climate memory] circles, these questions were explored, and communities proposed solutions. This is climate memory\u2014it’s the recollection of ongoing events that communities have experienced and responded to [over time].\u201d \u2014 Bruno Almeida<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Bruno<\/a>
Bruno Almeida from the Historic Orientation and Research Nucleus of Santa Cruz (NOPH) in Antares, Santa Cruz, takes part in a special session among members of favela museums during IPPUR\/UFRJ Week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

M\u00e1rcia Souza of the Favela Museum (MUF<\/a>), shared her perceptions, along with those of fellow residents of Pav\u00e3o-Pav\u00e3ozinho\/Cantagalo, on how the community manages (or doesn\u2019t) to deal with climate change.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we noticed a lot in Cantagalo, is that both young and older people have this feeling of \u2018how do we tackle them<\/a>?\u2019 [issues relating to climate change]… And this wasn\u2019t any different in the other circles.<\/p>\n

All of these favelas and communities intertwine. I encountered people in Mar\u00e9 who had lived in Cantagalo, and people in Antares who had come from Cantagalo [from where they’d been evicted] due to the rain, as there were frequent landslides there\u2026 Each time we told our stories, it was very touching\u2026 We are the same, even in different areas. We live the same situations amid this whole diversity of locations, memories, and histories.\u201d \u2014 M\u00e1rcia Souza<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"M\u00e1rcia<\/a>
M\u00e1rcia Souza of the Favela Museum (MUF) participates in the special session between members of the favela museums during IPPUR\/UFRJ week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rose Firmino, from the <\/span>Sankofa Museum of Rocinha<\/span><\/a>, emphasizes the circles\u2019 educational purpose for the residents who participated in the activities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe favela is my home, my place of memory<\/a> and that’s what we’re doing here when we set up this exhibition, when we form a circle and talk about the favela. We start to resignify the favela, and then we start to educate, not because people aren\u2019t educated, but to bring knowledge that makes all the difference in the place where you live.\u201d \u2014 Rose Firmino<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Rose<\/a>
Rose Firmino from the Sankofa Museum of Rocinha participates in the special session between members of the favela museums during IPPUR\/UFRJ week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Ant\u00f4nio Carlos Vieira, from the Mar\u00e9 Museum<\/a>, emphasized that the reflections from the IPPUR special session are essential because they come from the favela residents themselves. According to him, this is important because favela residents are often appointed as the great villains of environmental issues in the shallow<\/span> wisdom of conventional\u00a0discourse. Events like this prove the opposite: favelas are incubators for climate solutions and can actually teach universities.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that the entire process of forming and building cities is a process of exclusion. So, this panel has a fundamental role, which is to put things in their place. The favela resident is not the generator of great urban problems. Actually, they are the great victims of an entire process that capitalism has imposed over the course of the 20th century. And, now that we\u2019re in the 21st century, planners don\u2019t really know what to do with the issues that exclusive cities, built in an authoritarian way, have generated\u2026 it’s inequality in every sense\u2026 They transformed a basic right, housing, into merchandise\u2026 and it acquires another dimension when we’re discussing the issue of global warming and climate change, which will have much graver repercussions for these residents who have had their right to housing turned precarious.\u201d \u2014 Ant\u00f4nio Carlos Vieira<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Ant\u00f4nio<\/a>
Ant\u00f4nio Carlos Vieira, from the Mar\u00e9 Museum, participates in the special session with members of the favela museums during IPPUR\/UFRJ week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Vieira offers an extensive retrospective of the countless processes of eviction, with the alleged objective of upgrading and revitalizing the city\u2014a kind of \u201cpublic policy of eviction<\/a> and exclusion\u201d towards many of Rio\u2019s favelas. Their populations were mostly relocated to the West Zone, to housing projects without sufficient structure or urban mobility, and they had their emotional ties to their areas, neighbors, and memories severed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here today at a university of planning and architecture\u2026 This university could have a different role in the construction of the city if there were effective public policies. It\u2019s no use if we do miraculous things: you have to do them with the residents\u2026 because they are the people who are there on a daily basis, who live there\u2026 So, it\u2019s no use to have an intellectual come in with a 3D blueprint if this isn\u2019t talked over and built together with the residents. That’s why all of our housing policies have been disastrous. We’re reaping what was sown.\u201d \u2014 Ant\u00f4nio Carlos Vieira<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Knowing How to Listen to What the Favela Has to Say<\/b><\/h3>\n
\"Public<\/a>
Public participates in the special session with members of the favela museums during IPPUR\/UFRJ week. Photo: B\u00e1rbara Dias<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The sharing of experiences and knowledge at the IPPUR event illustrates the crucial need to preserve and narrate the stories of favelas’ formation in large cities and their longstanding fight against climate change.<\/span> The presence of favela museum leadership and the Sustainable Favela Network in an academic context, both dedicated to producing memories, served as a means for favela voices to educate the university. The exhibition, visited by students and professors, in association with the talks given during the discussion circle, reinforces the potencial that favelas have as they organically build their knowledge and present it from the inside out.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t miss the album by B\u00e1rbara Dias on Flickr<\/a>:<\/h3>\n

\"Exposi\u00e7\u00e3o<\/a>