December 15, 2011–A letter from our ED, Theresa Williamson:
When I founded Catalytic Communities in 2000 I set off to build an organization that would provide support to community organizers in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas to strengthen local projects through networks, training, and communications support, at a time when government investment in these communities was close to nil. During our first ten years CatComm helped hundreds of community-based organizations across Rio establish their foothold on the Internet: publishing their solutions in our Tech Award-winning Community Solutions Database. We helped over a thousand community leaders develop their first computer and Internet skills and build comfort with social networking at our UN-recognized Casa Community Technology Hub. We made hundreds of collaborations possible, both across community organizations and with larger global networks of support. As a result, today CatComm is a widely respected organization across Rio de Janeiro’s favelas, recognized as a trusted partner in bringing visibility, capacity-building, and networks to leaders in these communities.
Since 2009 policies have changed dramatically towards Rio’s favelas. As the city government works to permanently reconfigure Rio’s image from one of poor governance and stagnant economic growth to one of responsible leadership and economic dynamism, a policy of close to no investment in the city’s favelas has been turned on its head. Today, neighborhoods across the city are experiencing significant policy interventions, ranging from forced evictions to multi-million dollar “makeovers.” Yet in none of these cases are the existing qualities of favela life being taken into consideration, and in none of these cases are legitimate participatory processes being implemented. As a result, we are seeing many favela residents’ wellbeing threatened by the unforeseen consequences of policies that are stated to benefit them. Requests from our community partners for us to raise awareness about what is at stake have led us to pursue a new set of actions over the past two years.
The mainstream media continue to portray favelas as bastions of crime and destitution. Urban interventions in whatever form, when viewed in this light, are assumed to be very positive. Authoritarian and non-participatory approaches don’t seem like a problem if we assume we’re dealing with criminals and squalor. But as you know, the reality of Rio’s favelas is very different. Initial surveys conducted by CatComm show that the majority of people who have visited Rio’s favelas think of them favorably, while almost universally those who haven’t see them negatively instead. From films to video games, newspaper articles and magazines, Rio’s favelas have born the brunt of negative stereotyping. In this sense the international press’ portrayal of these communities has facilitated current authoritarian policies that appear positive but are likely to have dire consequences, compromising valuable community qualities like solid building practices, solidarity networks, culture, walkability, entrepreneurship, access to jobs, and more, while increasing inequality in what is already one of the most unequal societies on Earth.
Fortunately, thanks to our community networks constantly informing us of the latest goings-on across the city, we have been able to connect the dots and are seeing the beginning of negative impacts before they turn commonplace. This means there is time to act and influence urban policy in a positive direction. By continuing to bring widespread attention to community voices and perspectives through RioOnWatch.org and other outlets, working with international media and university researchers, seeking out public officials, and tackling favela stigmas in increasingly public ways—while simultaneously developing awareness among community leaders and participatory approaches on-the-ground—we can change Rio for the better. Favela communities can be recognized for their contributions to the broader society, their innovation, while true participatory processes are developed that ensure policies benefit existing residents, favoring their integration rather than displacement.
In 2011, we:
• Published 125 breaking stories on RioOnWatch;
• Grew our network to an estimated audience of 18,000 people reached monthly;
• Developed a strong relationship with the mainstream media covering Rio, serving as a source for stories and helping influence the public discourse—this began in March 2011 when we were contacted by the Associated Press for what would turn out to be the first story on favela evictions, which helped trigger stories from the Guardian, BBC, Telegraph, Al Jazeera, cyberpresse.ca, Dave Zirin’s Edge of Sports, The Independent, Al Jazeera’s The Stream, CBC Radio Canada, The Rio Times, and Chicago WBEZ’s WorldView, the last 8 of which quoted CatComm;
• Launched Rio News Digest providing vital monthly English-language updates to strategic opinion leaders supporting Rio’s communities worldwide (No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, No. 6);
• Trained 20 carefully selected youth in community journalism;
• Trained 50 youth from 3 traditionally unheard-of favelas in video-journalism as part of the Adobe Youth Voices program;
• Served as production partners to Witness.org providing video portion of training of 20 anti-evictions organizers in Rio;
• Coordinated 15 Educational Community Visits with international researchers, journalists & organizations;
• Spoke to 8 college campuses and 4 influential groups on “Pre-Olympic Rio: The Dynamics of Urban Change;” and
• Began revealing research on favela stigmas.
In 2012, we have set out a strategic agenda to change the discourse on the city’s favelas and create a strong case for inclusionary participation of these communities. In addition to extending the above programs, we will:
• Build RioOnWatch.org (Rio Olympics Neighborhood Watch) to guarantee 3 weekly articles and weekly multimedia stories by community journalists and international observers on a variety of themes: urban policies and fast-paced transformations in Rio, dynamic of exclusion and inequality in Rio, stories that address stigmas, and favela valuation. We will benefit from specially trained international observers in sports policy, psychology, international development, architecture, planning, and others;
• Conduct ground-breaking research on favela stigmas and solidarity and engage with it strategically to influence public perceptions;
• Train 20 carefully selected community NGOs in crowd-funding, a technology recently introduced to Brazil that makes fundraising through one’s existing network possible online (using Catarse);
• Train 20 carefully selected community leaders in participatory “place-making” using techniques developed by the Project for Public Spaces, as a way to introduce community leaders in Rio to true participatory planning processes;
• Train organizations providing favela tours through strategic information to empower the communities visited and recognize the potential of their role in integrating the city through changing perceptions of these communities;
• Conduct specially developed Educational Community Visits and campaign for the greening of Rio’s North Zone during the Rio+20 Summit; and
• Work closely with architecture firms involved with the IDB-funded Morar Carioca upgrading program to implement a pilot participatory planning process that truly upgrades the community with resident interests in mind to set an example for future upgrading programs in Rio.
To ensure our work expands in 2012 we are counting on ongoing supporters to maintain their support, and new supporters to join the fold. If you value what we do, please take a moment to donate now and your support will double in impact! We have identified a donor who will match the contributions of up to $10,000 in donations made or pledged by December 31, 2011.
On behalf of Rio de Janeiro and its communities, thank you!
Theresa Williamson
Founder & Executive Director
theresa@catcomm.org
