Make it Happen - Brazil 2018

Make It Happen encourages people to engage in the development of their cities in a unique way. Following the project’s launch in 2017 in Denmark, it then travelled to Brazil in January 2018.

The event (called Faça Acontecer in Portuguese) focused on the vulnerable community of Morro da Cruz in Porto Alegre- the extreme south of Brazil. The project was carried out in partnership with the Association of Residents of Morro da Cruz. Members of the community discussed their urban surroundings, the good and the bad, and voted on which ideas should receive funding and make it happen!

The residents focused on ideas that nurtured co-existence in the community- fixing the sports field, improving the local square and creating a music workshop to engage young people in other activities, away from local gangs and drug trafficking.

As well as strengthening social bonds within the community, empowering its members and inspiring future action, the project helped to raise further funds for the Morro da Cruz association, who are now independently planning future Make it Happen events for the area.