Problem statement

The project starts from the problem that stems out from the reality of the capital of Minas Gerais itself, Belo Horizonte. This metropolis has 2.72 million inhabitants, of which more than 480,000 live in slums and in inadequate housing and infrastructure ¹ .

This poor occupation of urban space causes the city to suffer the most diverse consequences of climate change, such as floods, landslides, flooding in periods of intense rain, exposure to seasonal diseases, excessive heat in summer, disproportionate cold in winter, in addition to the loss of their own enchantment with the city, as the consequences of climate change on the space make it less pleasant and desirable for this population.

In parallel, it can be seen that the climate issue is still perceived as something very distant from the peripheral population, since the causal link between the melting of the polar ice caps, the worsening of fires in the Amazon, with the garbage discarded incorrectly by the population and the landslides that kill dozens of Belo Horizonte residents every year are two sides of the same coin. Thus, the first problem that will guide the execution of the project arises here: how to communicate climate change to a population that does not feel directly affected by it?

Target Group

The selected area for the development of the project is the Morro do Papagaio cluster, which is located in the South Zone of Belo Horizonte.

The Morro do Papagaio cluster, one of the largest clusters in Belo Horizonte, located in the southern region of the capital, has a population of approximately 17,000 inhabitants and has been suffering from serious problems related to garbage.

Based on a survey carried out by the Global Shapers Hub Belo Horizonte in loco, through conversations with local residents, an aggravating factor for the community to contribute directly to the aggravation of the aforementioned problems is the inadequate disposal of waste.

This contributes to the proliferation of diseases and the aggravation of floods in periods of heavy rains. This occurs because the favelas are places with poor infrastructure, especially when it comes to solid waste management, basically garbage collection and its correct destination. With this context, the need to better communicate climate issues is combined with another problem: how to involve the community in a project that is more accessible and contextualized to local issues?

Proposed Solution 

To find the answer to the two guiding questions of the project, the Global Shapers Hub Belo Horizonte joined the “Eu Amo Minha Quebrada” project to co-construct a project capable of modifying the reality of the entire community, with solutions found together with those who experience the difficulties of the periphery.

About the Eu Amo Minha Quebrada Movement, it was founded in 2013 by the Community Leader Júlio Fessô. From the discontent with the way in which the media reproduces the news about the Favela, ignoring the profile of most of its inhabitants: hardworking, happy and supportive people. Although it started as a project to improve the image of Morro do Papagaio, today it is dedicated to promoting citizenship and generating income for the population.

So, in summary, in the development of this project, the Global Shapers Belo Horizonte Hub, together with the movement Eu Amo Minha Quebrada and local residents, identified the two problems mentioned above, culminating in a concrete and urgent challenge: the irregular disposal of garbage and the lack of reuse and recycling processes.

In addition, there is low engagement of the population with climate causes which aggravates the social problems of the community and reduces the chances of prosperity of the actions. Therefore, this project proposes to focus on the mitigation of these problems.

Activities and objectives

The general objective is to develop a new generation of young community leaders, prepared to communicate and mitigate the consequences of the climate crisis in their locality.

Specifically, the project aims to:

- Work on the theme of socio-environmental development in the community context.

- Co-build solutions in favor of a cleaner and more environmentally structured community.

- Communicate the climate crisis to vulnerable populations that are distant from the topic.

Based on these objectives, the project was developed, answering the question: how to communicate climate change to a population that does not feel directly affected by it?

The proposed solution was a joint collaboration between Global Shapers Belo Horizonte, the Eu Amo Minha Quebrada movement and the residents of Morro do Papagaio, which will be carried out in three phases (described below).

Phase 1: Climate Reality Leaders training for leaders (Completed)

Given the lack of environmental education in the community, the first phase of the program was dedicated to the Climate Reality Leadership Corps - Virtual Training Brazil 2022 hybrid training (in person and online), carried out in partnership with the main leaders of the community (teachers, community leaders, people engaged in social actions) and potential replicators of climate knowledge.

Even before the project started, the objective was to train people who are references in the community so that they can be multipliers and educators on the Climate Change agenda and the project we are carrying out.

The training  took place in partnership with The Climate Reality Project Brazil, at the headquarters of the movement Eu Amo Minha Quebrada (within the Morro do Papagaio community). In total, there were 3 face-to-face meetings open to the public on 08/20/2022, 08/26/2022 and 09/03/2022.

As a result, we got 12 new certified climate reality leaders from Morro do Papagaio and surrounding areas. We hope that these leaders will help in the next phases of the project. 

Phase 2: Multiplying knowledge and leadership development

One of the main challenges posed by the local population is the lack of emerging leaders, with the responsibility for leading and engaging new leaders, especially young leaders, being the sole focus of Julio Fessô.

With this in mind, the second phase of the project consists of promoting a front to develop leadership skills in teenagers and young people through training in partnership with Engajamundo.

To spark interest and keep these young leaders engaged, we will build a program to train “Ambassadors of Quebrada por Clima”. The idea is to train young people to influence and monitor the reality of the region, so that all the proposed changes are sustainable in the long term.

To keep them engaged and dedicated in participating, we will use part of the project's funding (as per budget) to provide a financial stipend as a monthly aid. From selected partners, potentially, in addition to financial aid, we will make available awards such as scholarships and experiences, to increase the quality of life of those young people, in addition to increasing their chances in the job market and opportunities in job vacancies of interest to them.

The project intends at this stage to develop ten selected young leaders..

 Phase 3: Environmental Education in Quebrada

After two phases of leadership development, this phase will mobilize the community to educate residents about the correct disposal of waste, recycling of materials and reuse of solid and organic materials indoors. For this, printed graphic materials will be created (which, although not the most sustainable, are the most accessible to the population without internet access) and digital materials that will be distributed to people in the community periodically and some materials will be exposed throughout the community with relevant information. on waste and good practices.

To ensure long-term sustainable performance, we intend to connect recyclable material collectors with the local population so that they can properly dispose of waste and these materials can generate income for the local population.

At this stage, a joint effort will be held on environmental education within the community, with the participation of residents who have good practices with the reuse and recycling of waste, so that they can share their knowledge with other residents and invite the entire community to the festival Desembolando na Quebrada, which will be the moment to celebrate the end of Phase 3 of the project and to pass on the baton to the community and its ambassadors, which will culminate in the elaboration of a manifesto by the community itself for global society on the impacts of climate change in Morro do Papagaio.

Phase 4: Festival Desembolando na Quebrada

At this stage, we will end the training for leaders, involving the entire community (parents, children, family members and other residents), encouraging young people to develop a festival in Morro do Papagaio to communicate to the community the urgency of tackling climate issues in their daily lives, but in an accessible way and close to the reality of the residents.

After a lot of active listening to the demands of the community, the lack of leisure opportunities, although not directly linked to the environmental agenda, is a social problem that affects the population and distances them from important debates, depriving them of having access to a quality of life.

Thus, the lack of access to recreational activities is a problem that reflects on the way the community positions itself in the democratic scenario. Therefore, the idea is to end the period of development of the project, of the formation of leaderships with the organization of a festival with sports championships, educational workshops, spaces of entertainment, so that the population is attracted to the environmental agenda through pleasant activities where they will have the opportunity to learn about climate change, correct waste disposal, reuse and recycling.

We also wish to record these workshops so that the content can be archived and support future work.