[14] Horta Inteligente: Environmental Care & Awareness in Favelas

Horta Inteligente (Intelligent Garden) promotes environmental education to children in the oldest favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As a volunteer-run initiative, they collectively create new ways of inhabiting and relating to the city through agroecology, art, community-based education, and creating spaces for cultivating food. 

In this episode I speak with project partner and environmental engineer Lorena Portela about the history of favelas and their current state, how founder Elisângela Almeida Oliveira received the funds to get started at just 18 years old, how to get people in the community to see value in environmental care, innovative projects like turning cooking oil into all purpose soap, and more ways they are bringing nature and sustainability to an urban underserved community.

Resources:

Horta Inteligente Website

Horta Inteligente Instagram

Horta Inteligente Facebook

Horta Inteligente YouTube