After having visited several municipalities of the Baixada and Leste Fluminense, the next stop for the 2019 Rio Forum will be in Santa Cruz, in the Zona Oeste of Rio. The 13th edition of the meeting takes place on October 18 and 19, at the headquarters of the NGO SerCidadão. The objective is to debate the future of the metropolis from the strengthening of social participation, cultural production, and knowledge of the metropolitan periphery.
To enrich the discussions, Casa Fluminense – supported by iCS – designed the event in partnership with several organizations, movements, and groups, such as the Observatory of Favelas, Quiprocó Filmes, Peneira, and Rainha Crespa. The program intends to strengthen and establish cooperation networks between individuals and institutions, from three areas:
a) Participation and Democracy;
b) Urban Culture;
c) Public Policies and Sustainable Development.
In addition to thematic panels, workshops, and interactive installations, the Forum will also exhibit six audiovisual productions in a screening of short films. The idea is to promote the production of independent filmmakers who are scattered around the region.
“Debating the future of the metropolis is today’s task,” says Henrique Silveira, the executive coordinator of Casa Fluminense. “So, in October, we want to bring together voices, experiences, and trajectories that are capable of inspiring us and pointing out the paths in the search for a more inclusive, sustainable, and popular metropolis.”
While organizations mobilize in order to advance collectively on public policies, the government heads in the opposite direction to this movement. On September 19, in an arbitrary decision, the state governor, Wilson Witzel, excluded the democratically appointed representatives of civil society from the Advisory Council of the Metropolitan Chamber. Henrique Silveira, of Casa Fluminense, takes over the presidency of the Council. “The decision of the governor reinforces his authoritarian profile and his incapability to respect the processes of social participation and autonomous organization of civil society,” says a statement released by Casa Fluminense.
