Reage Rio! ESPM project will create strategies to improve the city

 

Like every city, Rio de Janeiro has its wonders, but also hardships. To try to make the good side prevail, ESPM College will launch a permanent forum to discuss strategies to improve the city. The initiative, named Think Tank Rio, will unite academic knowledge to those responsible for public policymaking.

ESPM, which has mobilized several professors, has set up six laboratories that will help find solutions to give an up-to-date image of the city. The ideas that come up will be presented to the authorities.

Carioca loves Rio de Janeiro and wants its growth and development. It’s a huge pride for ESPM to make it happen. We want to throw a thought for the city. It is not a project that has a beginning and a half, it is forever and ever. The only goal is to promote the city, to find a solution to its problems – said Sandra Sanches, executive director of Think Tank Rio.

One of the project’s laboratories looks for actions that can help improve the Rio brand, such as the creation and dissemination of events that move the city.

– Smaller events, which are better distributed throughout the territory, can foster creative production and give voice to those who often lack opportunities and speaking space – says Eduardo Ariel, academic director of ESPM Rio de Janeiro.

Another lab has mapped out the creative industry to try to expand its borders beyond downtown, South Zone, and Barra, where the study has already identified that the audiovisual industry, the creation of games, fashion and design are concentrated.

“We set the map for the creative industry, and it’s not yet in the suburbs. One reason is violence and education, but this is a very rich region with a lot of cultures, “says Ariel.

Among the six laboratories is also the Observatory of Carnival, which analyzed all the parades of the last decade of the samba schools of the Special Group. The researchers found that this year alone, the party handled R$ 3.78 billion in business related to the sectors of commerce, audiovisual, entertainment, gastronomy, and tourism – a fact that can help in the creation of new public policies.

 

Legacy of the Olympiad

 

The official launch of the project will be on June 25th at the Prudential Theater, formerly Teatro Adolpho Bloch, in Glória. The forecast is that by August a council with 21 entities, between private and public entities, will be formed that will discuss how to transform the material into public policies. The first initiative of the agenda is already decided: how to optimize the legacy left by the Olympiad in the Port Region. For Sandra Sanches, the population will have an essential role throughout the project.

– The carioca is the soul of this city. The idea is to be heard. We will also have class entities, non-governmental organizations that will have an active voice and represent the citizen in decision-making, “said Sandra.