What is the name of your organization?
Instituto Decodifica
What is the name of your solution?
Retratos das Enchentes
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Retratos das Enchentes is a social technology that applies citizen-generated data to strengthen climate resilience in underserved communities
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Rio de Janeiro
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Brazil
What type of organization is your solution team?
Nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
Climate change is increasing flood risks in Brazil’s urban peripheries, where Black and low-income communities face disproportionate impacts. Yet these territories remain largely invisible in official data systems. Without community-generated, territorially grounded evidence, adaptation policies risk overlooking those most affected and reinforcing existing inequalities rather than building resilience.
What is your solution?
Retratos das Enchentes is a social technology that strengthens climate resilience through Citizen-Generated Data. In partnership with grassroots organizations, we train community agents to conduct household surveys, document flood impacts, and build participatory territorial databases. The methodology generates localized evidence on material losses, health impacts, sanitation challenges, displacement, and gaps in early-warning systems, transforming lived experiences into actionable insights for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction. A key element of the model is the collective interpretation of findings. Through community dialogues, residents identify priorities, define advocacy strategies, and engage public authorities using evidence they helped produce. This process strengthens local leadership, expands participation in decision-making, and ensures that adaptation measures reflect the realities of the most affected communities. By positioning residents as data producers and governance actors, Retratos das Enchentes builds local capacity, creates opportunities for community agents, and contributes to long-term resilience in vulnerable urban territories.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Retratos das Enchentes supports residents of flood-prone favelas and urban peripheries, especially Black and low-income communities often excluded from official data and decision-making processes. Through citizen-generated data, residents become active producers of knowledge about their territories, strengthening their ability to identify risks and advocate for local solutions. The project also strengthens grassroots organizations through funding, training, and institutional support, enhancing their governance, advocacy, and engagement with public authorities. Community leaders develop skills in climate policy, negotiation, and strategic planning, increasing local resilience. By generating territorially grounded evidence, the initiative amplifies community voices and provides decision-makers with reliable information to design more effective climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction policies. Ultimately, the approach promotes more equitable, inclusive, and resilient outcomes for populations most affected by climate impacts.
