New phase of GARDE and CEFET partnership promotes social transformation and urban resilience

GARDE is launching a new phase in its trajectory of community strengthening for disaster prevention and disaster risk reduction (DRR). In partnership with Centro Federal de Educação Tecnológica Celso Suckow da Fonseca (CEFET-RJ), through its DRR program, we are introducing the project “Youth and Territory: Participatory Action Research for Resilience and Disaster Risk Reduction,” to be implemented from 2025 to 2027.

The environmental crisis does not affect everyone equally. In Petrópolis, as in so many parts of the world, disasters are not natural; they are the result of political choices and the historic exclusion of communities, their cultures, and their knowledge systems. It is within this context that the project emerges, placing young people and their communities at the center of the struggle for more just and resilient cities.

Through workshops, community walks, and dialogue circles, high school and undergraduate students will act as catalysts in practices such as participatory mapping, historical and geographic investigation, and community mediation. More than transmitting technical knowledge, the project seeks to foster critical and political awareness, encouraging young people to question inequalities, claim their rights, and actively participate in decisions about their city.

Our goal is to strengthen youth capacity to respond to socio-environmental risks and to nurture engaged citizens who not only understand the territories they inhabit but also have the voice and agency to confront structures that perpetuate inequality, silencing, and vulnerability.

The project builds on the technical cooperation between GARDE and CEFET-RJ, initiated in 2023 with awareness-raising seminars on disaster risk and urban planning. These meetings brought together government representatives, community leaders, the private sector, and students, consolidating spaces for cross-sector dialogue.

Now, we advance with the challenge of positioning youth as protagonists of territorial transformation.

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