This past weekend, the Sustainable Favela Network (SFN) – a project led by Brazilian NGO Catalytic Communities (CatComm) – hosted its first international exchange online event. During the event grassroots leaders and activists shared their work and efforts to develop community-based initiatives that strengthen environmental sustainability and social resilience in informal settlements and underinvested communities worldwide. Most tackled some of the biggest challenges that our society faces, such as reducing poverty, providing accessible education, promoting gender equality and climate actions.
Figure 1. Graffiti mural by Carlos Acme in the Favela Museum at Cantagalo/Pavão-Pavãozinho community. Image source: https://rioonwatch.org/?p=45983#prettyPhoto, retrieved on August 28th, 2021.
In a world where many communities have often been treated as illegitimate by their governments and excluded from discussions and debates about the plans for the future of their cities, this knowledge-sharing experience highlighted some of the innovative strategies that have been helping residents of informal settlements not only to imagine, plan and build their own future but also to claim a meaningful role in creating a city that embraces them and recognizes their rights.
Listed here are some of these astonishing projects. If you are as passionate as I am about participatory design processes, I am sure they will be a great source of inspiration. Check them out!
1. The favela Museum – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2. The Human City Project / Chicoco Radio - Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
3. The Point CDC - Bronx, New York, USA.