By Marina Grossi
Experience has confirmed to us that among the greatest challenges for implementing sustainable development – regardless of the size of the initiative – is our ability to involve, in an articulated and transparent manner, public authorities, companies and other institutions of organized society.
Rio de Janeiro was recently the scene of an integrated action involving these main actors, an experience that deserves to be observed, studied and replicated. I am referring to the Rio Cidade Sustentável project implemented in the Chapéu Mangueira and Babilônia hills, in Leme. Started two years ago and recently completed, Rio Cidade Sustentável is a pioneering urban infrastructure and social transformation project, with a focus on sustainability, aimed at low-income communities, whether they are located in areas on the outskirts of cities or in more urbanized spaces, as was the case.
We work together on seven fronts, all of which seek to address the basic dimensions of sustainability – economic, social, environmental and cultural: sustainable housing improvement; organic urban agriculture; sustainability in schools and homes; community tourism; development of local entrepreneurs; community waste management; and green urban infrastructure.
The result alone justifies the initiative. In the area of professional training, 93 residents were trained in bricklaying, electrician, plumber and locksmith courses; 16 are qualified to install and maintain vegetable gardens in continuous production in backyards and on rooftops; and 51 local entrepreneurs were formalized, now able to issue invoices and obtain credit from financial institutions.
In the area of urban and environmental improvement, 700 meters of concrete sidewalks with rubber granules were built, which provides greater resistance to the coating; and LED public lighting systems were installed, which guarantee energy savings of 10% to 30%, and an ecopoint where residents take recyclable waste, encouraging the culture of selective waste collection. Community involvement was reinforced with workshops and lectures at the Santo Tomás de Aquino Municipal School, which has more than 600 students.
However, the project's legacy went far beyond opening up a new perspective on life for the residents of the two communities. By bringing together, in a single project, 12 large companies from different segments and even market competitors, the three spheres of government and social institutions from different areas of activity, we signaled that it is possible to work together, producing concrete benefits for historically marginalized communities, for city life, for economic activity, for the environment and, ultimately, for society as a whole.
All those involved participated in a unique learning process, in which group work and multilateral decisions must always prevail. Based on this experience, we will now launch BH Cidade Sustentável, certainly with a much greater chance of success.
Published in O Globo
