Join Us Online on August 6th for “Sustainable Favelas: The Key to Climate Justice and Thriving Cities?”

Description:

Residents across Rio de Janeiro’s favela communities have been adapting to climate change and coming up with development solutions in the absence of public investment for a century. Today, hundreds of grassroots organizers have come together as the Sustainable Favela Network, to recognize, strengthen, consolidate and produce these solutions at scale.

Through a social justice lens on history, this presentation flips the script on informal settlements, with Rio’s favelas lighting the way. Are informal settlements simply the present-day form organic human settlements take? Could it be that in this way they are more aligned with natural rhythms and systems than formal architecture? Is there a double-standard towards them, produced through the mounting systems of structural inequality our cities have amassed over several centuries? Dr. Williamson’s talk will provide a fresh look at informal settlements that centers them in the search for solutions to climate change and social justice.

Mini-Bio:

Theresa Williamson, Ph.D., is a city planner, community organizer, environmentalist and founding executive director of Catalytic Communities, an NGO providing strategic support to Rio de Janeiro’s favela community organizers since 2000. She is known for her committed advocacy for the recognition of favelas’ heritage status, resident rights and community-controlled sustainable development. CatComm’s asset-based programs, co-created and co-produced with hundreds of favela partners, include RioOnWatch, the Sustainable Favela Network, and Favela Community Land Trust project. Dr. Williamson earned her B.A. in Biological Anthropology from Swarthmore College and PhD in City and Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.