Page 3 - UmRio Sustainability - Action Plan

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY

The global climate crisis requires favela residents to adapt and become resilient.

Empowering favela residents to adapt and become more resilient to climate change is
intricately intertwined with UmRio’s mission to promote social justice and reduce
inequality in favelas, specifically Morro do Castro in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

This Sustainability Action Plan (SAP) will focus primarily on reducing and mitigating the
adverse effects of climate change on favela residents so that UmRio can continue to
execute its mission and goals. This Plan is focused on engaging residents, working from
within their community, and engaging other similar communities to identify ways that
UmRio, as it wraps sustainability into its overall goals and mission, can work to help
residents of the Morro do Castro favela reduce their climate change risk while UmRio
delivers its services and programs within Morro do Castro and begins to look at
expanding into other informal communities and neighborhoods.

Working with UmRio's Founder and President, the consultant identified UmRio’s goals
to help focus and prioritize SAP recommendations. The proposed strategies seek to
leverage UmRio’s significant partnerships through expanding and enhancing a health
research opportunity, reducing urban heat island (UHI) effects, supporting climate
change education in schools and the community, and educating and empower favela
residents to benefit from the opportunities that sustainability and climate change
resilience initiatives can provide.

Four initial recommendations are proposed to help address climate change resilience
and adaptation for favela residents and enhance UmRio's overall mission and goals.
Several strategies are described for each recommendation, which provides ideas for
UmRio to choose the interventions that make the most sense for their program
participants and residents in their community.

Because UmRio is a non-profit that must carefully decide how its donations should be
allocated and used, all SAP recommendations are focused on creating value through
leveraging partnerships, generating positive returns on investing existing reserve funds,
partnering with key organizations, and supporting meaningful education and change to
build community resilience.

www.umrio.org