Rio Incubator

Catalytic Communities’ approach is two-pronged.  On the Internet and face-to-face, we work to connect communities to one another and broader global knowledge networks of support and exchange.

In parallel, CatComm incubates model, replicable solutions on-the-ground in Rio de Janeiro — solutions of relevance to community organizers and focused on addressing unmet and timely challenges.  As we incubate these projects, we carefully document the characteristics of relevance for other organizations  interested in implementing a similar solution in other locations.

In 2003 CatComm launched the Casa do Gestor Catalisador (Casa), a community technology hub that brought together 1050 leaders from 215 neighborhoods across Rio. We are currently developing a project called RioFloresta, which will be an on-the-ground tree-planting, community mobilization and environmental education initiative that will serve some of the lowest income neighborhoods in Rio.

As our success with the Casa demonstrates, CatComm has a strong record of incubating local projects that then become models for communities across the world.  This is in keeping with our focus on developing community solutions that benefit not only Rio but, through documentation and networking, a global community facing similar social challenges.

Just as the Casa offered a UN-recognized model community technology center at a time when communities across the world struggled to overcome the digital divide, so RioFloresta will offer a replicable model for the greening and mobilization of environmentally-challenged neighborhoods as they struggle to adapt to climate change.