The Atelié Acaia:
Implementing Community Solidarity
and Youth Empowerment in São Paulo, Brazil

Caru Bowns
Department of Landscape Architecture
Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania

Citation: Bowns, Caru (2007). "The Atelié Acaia: Implementing Community Solidarity and Youth Empowerment in São Paulo, Brazil ." Children, Youth and Environments 17 (2): 11-32. Retrieved [date] from http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/

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Abstract

The end of Brazil’s dictatorship in 1985 focused public attention toward addressing the problems of poverty and social exclusion that had been exacerbated by accelerated population growth and regional demographic shifts. In 1995, Ruth Cardoso, social anthropologist and wife of Brazilian president, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, promoted Comunidade Solidária, a government-sponsored initiative that advocated proactive alliances among government, corporations, individuals, and NGOs to address socioeconomic inequities and build youth capacity in Brazilian society. The Atelié Acaia is a progressive example of Solidária in Brazil, with initiatives ranging from children’s participation in the facility’s design to involving youth in rebuilding favela housing. Situated adjacent to a major favela and the agricultural depot CEASA in São Paulo, the Atelié Acaia is an NGO-supported community facility that continues Solidária objectives to improve the lives of indigent Brazilian youth and families.

Keywords: Brazil, civil society, social reformation, youth capacity, participation