Brazil’s social inequities are reflected in the deep disparities between its urban neighborhoods. Brazil has over 11,400 favelas and comunidades, home to more than 16 million people. These informal areas, often located in the cheaper peripheral parts of cities, are growing faster than many formally urbanized areas. But poor infrastructure, from water and power to roads and transport networks, means their residents have fewer opportunities, suffer poorer health, and are especially vulnerable to shocks and stressors.

To build more resilient and inclusive cities, Brazil’s peripheral communities must be effectively included in urban policy and action.

WRI Brasil is supporting the implementation of Periferia Viva (“Living Peripheries”), a Brazilian federal government program launched in 2024 that aims to improve living conditions in vulnerable territories through both federal public policy and supporting local initiatives. In its first cycle, the program secured over $1 billion in investments to support 58 vulnerable areas across 48 cities and 21 states.

WRI Brasil's contribution, in partnership with the National Secretariat for Peripheries (SNP, in Portuguese), with funding from REHOUSE, the Tide Setubal Foundation and the International Climate Initiative (IKI), centers on three strategic fronts: advancing climate justice and fostering participatory planning, promoting knowledge exchange, and strengthening technical capacity.

Climate Justice and Participatory Planning

WRI Brasil successfully helped establish climate justice as a guiding principle of Periferia Viva, supporting SNP in developing a brochure on climate justice and a practical guidebook for creating action plans with climate justice at their core. Building on WRI’s experience with urban labs, implemented through the Transformative Urban Coalitions in Recife and Teresina, WRI Brasil also supports SNP in producing guidelines for participatory planning.

Knowledge Sharing

WRI Brasil coordinates the Periferia Viva Network, a national community of practice that brings together public officials, civil society, technical professionals and community leaders involved in the program. The network fosters collaboration, facilitates peer learning, and ensures that successful experiences and best practices are shared and scaled across territories.

Capacity Building

As the Periferia Viva Network’s coordinator, WRI Brasil is promoting capacity-building sessions for technical assistance professionals working in the targeted territories. These sessions leverage WRI’s expertise in sustainable urban development, alongside contributions from partner organizations and other initiatives across the country. WRI Brasil also supports the central technical consultancy team, which is responsible for ensuring high-quality implementation in key communities that will serve as references and champions within the program.

By building local capacity, WRI enhances the quality and sustainability of interventions in informal settlements and strengthens institutional capacity for long-term implementation.