Civic Media for Housing Rights: Lessons from struggles against evictions in São Paulo and Lagos
Lead Research Organisation:
International Institute for Environment and Development
Department Name: Human Settlements Group
Abstract
The role of digital and social media technologies to advance social change is a key debate of our times. In this field, there is a range of literature discussing 'Civic Media' to examine how media practices and technologies employed by grassroots groups have helped to advance rights and social justice. We will contribute to this debate by focusing on the civic media practices utilised in the housing rights struggles across Lagos and São Paulo, where rights violations are threatening lives and livelihoods of marginalised groups living in insecure housing.
In São Paulo, local government has recently endorsed evictions that violate housing rights, while in Lagos, government-led evictions and harassment of informal dwellers have persisted even after court orders condemned these as unlawful. Social movements and their support networks in both cities have used digital and social media practices to share information about the threat of evictions and denounce these housing rights violations. In São Paulo, social movements have used on-line manifestos, webinars and digital mapping tools to generate public debates about these violations and to amplify the voices of the urban poor. Meanwhile, grassroots groups in Lagos' informal settlements have developed films, exhibitions and digital stories aimed at mobilising public support against evictions while also challenging social stigma associated with residents of informal settlements. In both cities, it is crucial that these civic media initiatives can be strengthened to improve their capacity to shape equitable decision-making processes and support more inclusive visions of urban development.
This project will support and learn from these initiatives by focusing on how civic media can influence policy and planning processes in Lagos and São Paulo. The research activities will identify specific short- and longer-term opportunities to support housing rights by reducing unlawful evictions and other violations, while at the same time securing policy instruments that can promote access to adequate housing and enhance recognition for marginalised urban citizens. During our participatory action research project, we will carry out civic media campaigns in both cities targeting these specific planning opportunities. At the same time, we will analyse the lessons learnt and impacts of these experiences, with the intention to inform debates and practice about how civic media can advance social justice in cities.
Our project's public-facing outputs will mainly target policy and planning processes in Lagos and São Paulo to raise policymakers' awareness of marginalised residents' voices and priorities. By doing this, we hope that urban plans are better able to recognise the diverse needs of the urban poor and support programmes that can upgrade informal settlements and other precarious housing via participatory processes. Through academic papers and a tool-kit on civic media for housing rights, we will share key lessons with international networks of practitioners, civil society organisations, and engaged academics interested in using civic media to enhance the capabilities of social movements to advance housing rights. Finally, we also seek to influence international donors and foundations by discussing how to promote housing rights using community-led communication activities.
In São Paulo, local government has recently endorsed evictions that violate housing rights, while in Lagos, government-led evictions and harassment of informal dwellers have persisted even after court orders condemned these as unlawful. Social movements and their support networks in both cities have used digital and social media practices to share information about the threat of evictions and denounce these housing rights violations. In São Paulo, social movements have used on-line manifestos, webinars and digital mapping tools to generate public debates about these violations and to amplify the voices of the urban poor. Meanwhile, grassroots groups in Lagos' informal settlements have developed films, exhibitions and digital stories aimed at mobilising public support against evictions while also challenging social stigma associated with residents of informal settlements. In both cities, it is crucial that these civic media initiatives can be strengthened to improve their capacity to shape equitable decision-making processes and support more inclusive visions of urban development.
This project will support and learn from these initiatives by focusing on how civic media can influence policy and planning processes in Lagos and São Paulo. The research activities will identify specific short- and longer-term opportunities to support housing rights by reducing unlawful evictions and other violations, while at the same time securing policy instruments that can promote access to adequate housing and enhance recognition for marginalised urban citizens. During our participatory action research project, we will carry out civic media campaigns in both cities targeting these specific planning opportunities. At the same time, we will analyse the lessons learnt and impacts of these experiences, with the intention to inform debates and practice about how civic media can advance social justice in cities.
Our project's public-facing outputs will mainly target policy and planning processes in Lagos and São Paulo to raise policymakers' awareness of marginalised residents' voices and priorities. By doing this, we hope that urban plans are better able to recognise the diverse needs of the urban poor and support programmes that can upgrade informal settlements and other precarious housing via participatory processes. Through academic papers and a tool-kit on civic media for housing rights, we will share key lessons with international networks of practitioners, civil society organisations, and engaged academics interested in using civic media to enhance the capabilities of social movements to advance housing rights. Finally, we also seek to influence international donors and foundations by discussing how to promote housing rights using community-led communication activities.
Publications
Rodrigues, Evaniza
(2023)
Mapeamento e Análise de Mídia
Rodrigues, Evaniza
(2023)
Análises de Políticas Públicas
Sesan Temilade
(2023)
Housing Policy Analysis
Cociña, C.
(2024)
Towards Housing Justice: Four propositions to transform policy and practice
Maki, A
(2024)
Lagos Civic Media Labs - Activity Report
Rodrigues, E.
(2024)
São Paulo Civic Media Labs - Activity Report
| Title | Civic Media Lab Exhibition - Lagos |
| Description | From November 10th until the 14th of 2024, the Media for Change collective in Lagos put exhibited the outputs of their Civic Media Labs within the communities that they were produced. The exhibition aimed to share the videos produced by the civic media lab participants to their community members as well as representatives from IIED and União dos Movimentos de Moradia visiting Lagos for the research project exchange workshop. The exhibition also aimed to trigger debates about what residents of informal settlements can do to advocate for their housing rights. Apart from the videos produced by civic media lab participants, the exhibition also counted with a screening of the feature movie produced by the Media for Change collective called 'The Legend of the Vagabond Queen of Lagos' in a water-front informal settlement in Lagos. The movie screening was attended by approximately 500 people, mostly local residents of the informal settlement. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2024 |
| Impact | The development of the creative output was a meaningful process for the civic media labs, who expanded their communication skills as well as better understanding on how communication devices can be useful to advocate for housing rights. Exhibition generated public debate, playing an important role in awareness raising among residents of informal settlements about housing rights violations as well as the mechanisms to respond to them. |
| Title | Civic Media Lab Exhibition - São Paulo |
| Description | In December 16th, 2023, União dos Movimentos de Moradia exhibited all the products produced by the participants of the Civic Media Lab programme, sharing among the members of the housing social movements, as well as the IIED and Lagos project partners visiting São Paulo and participating in the project's exchange workshop. The exhibition included sharing the following media products: a film on the activities of the housing social movement; cards produced for dissemination of information through social media channels; a newspaper; and a podcast production. During the exhibition, participants also reflected about the benefits as well as the challenges of developing their communication products. |
| Type Of Art | Artistic/Creative Exhibition |
| Year Produced | 2023 |
| Impact | The development of the products exhibited in this event played an important role in raising the civic media literacy among the members of the housing social movement União dos Movimentos de Moradia. The exhibition was an important moment for the São Paulo housing social movement to discuss the importance of popular communication practices. Following the exhibition, members of the housing social movement recognised the importance of strengthening the communication capabilities of the movement, as various participants demonstrated interest to become part of a communication collective to support the activities of União. For the participants of the civic media lab, this was also a moment to raise their confidence on their capacity to use communication practices to tell their personal and collective housing experiences and demands. |
| Description | 1) New knowledge generated about how unfair media landscapes intersect with housing justice struggles in several ways: Communication injustices have direct implications for housing struggles. We have documented how the existing communication landscape - namely, the infrastructures, norms, resources and power relationships that shape communication - impacts the struggle for housing justice experienced by movements in São Paulo and Lagos. We observe how (unfair) communication landscapes intersect with struggles for housing justice in at least three ways: • The production of housing: the commodification of urban data has implication for land and housing markets, and unequal access to communications creates challenges for housing collective efforts; • The framing of housing narratives: discriminatory housing discourses shape movements capacities to reveal often-ignored voices and dispute often-criminalising narratives; and • The mobilisation of housing claims: media landscapes constrain (or enable) the emergence and dissemination of grassroots voices to advocate for particular demands. 2) New knowledge about how housing social movements use a range of communication practices: Looking at the 'functions' of communication, the work with project partners UMM and JEI also included the development of a historical timeline in which we collectively identified how their communication practices have changed over time. These media trajectories showcase the centrality and diverse functions that communication practices have played in their struggles. The timelines demonstrate that it is possible to identify 'eras' in which different political and social conditions have called for different approaches to their communication practices. Reflecting on these trajectories requires us to revisit and interrogate the communication and media practices of grassroots organisations. Often, when we ask housing movements about their media activities, they tend to minimise them. But on closer inspection, it is clear they are constantly mobilising practices that require communication capacities - from pamphlets, social media and word-of-mouth, to video making, newsletters and printed journals. Pursuing a better understanding of these methods can be a powerful tool for prioritising strategies in the struggle for housing justice. 3) New knowledge about how communication capabilities play a role in strengthening housing social movements. Central to this action-research project has been the implementation and documentation of media workshops for grassroots groups (which we call civic media labs). These took a different shape and emphasis in each city. Main lessons learned include: • the structure, focus, location and content of each workshop was designed in ways that responded to strategic objectives for local movements and their current demands and aspirations; • the documentation of the civic media labs has demonstrated that there are several challenges in creating mechanisms to increase communication capabilities at grassroots level - such as challenging economic and political conditions, unequal access to equipment and literacy, and competing priorities around time commitment; and • this process of supporting communication capacities for housing justice work has highlighted the critical need to mobilise explicit efforts in different sectors - including among researchers, policymakers and donors - as well as for the strategic development of housing movements themselves. • action to strengthen communication capabilities is strategic for consolidating housing movements and their efforts to contest harmful narratives, resist violence, expand individual agency, strengthen community solidarity and influence policy and development decisions. |
| Exploitation Route | There are two routes through which we envisage our research outcomes being taken forward: Firstly, our definition and exploration of communication capabilities of housing social movements is relevant to the human development and capability approach community of practice, looking at the role of participatory action research in advancing capabilities, as well as those exploring how social movements and social innovation can expands agency and human development. These outcomes will be outlined in an academic paper to be submitted to the Journal of Human Development and Capabilities and at the 2025 Human Development and Capability Association conference. Secondly, the documentation of civic media labs will be taken forward by civil society groups using communication practices to advance their housing rights advocacy activities. The findings and messages from the research have been synthesised in the form of 'booklets' (one about the communication trajectories and another one about the methods of the labs), targeting directly the movements in São Paulo and Lagos and their networks. Additionally, these are being shared through the partners of the Hub for Housing Justice, an initiative that involves networks of civil society organisations as well as academic actors, and which IIED is acting as secretariat. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software) Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://www.iied.org/bringing-housing-justice-civic-media-together-three-reflections |
| Description | In a context of shrinking of civic spaces in Lagos and São Paulo restricting the ability of marginalised groups to participate in public life and decision-making process, this project contributed to strengthen local democracies by supporting housing social movements in the following ways: This project increased the ability among residents of informal settlements in Lagos and São Paulo to produce communication products, enhancing their capacity to document, share and exchange information on housing rights related issues. More than 100 participants from different regions of metropolitan São Paulo, and 67 participants from three informal settlements in Lagos acquired various communication skills, such as making short films, developing community newspaper, producing podcasts, as well as designing graphic cards for social media activities. These participants vary across age, ethnicity and gender. Participants have reported using these new skills for a variety of purposes, which include the documentation of evictions, development and implementation of housing related advocacy campaigns, expand their livelihoods opportunities, among others. The project also Increased the capacity of housing social movements in São Paulo and Lagos to use communication practices to their struggles for housing rights. União dos Movimentos de Moradia in Brazil and Media for Change collective of the Nigerian Slum/Informal Settlement Federation have been able to develop and consolidate their capacity to run communication training programmes, and more broadly, to perform their communication activities. They have mobilised and trained new members of their communication teams, which helped them generate new content, initiate and consolidate permanent communication committees, increase their use of the movements' official social media channels, and coordinate their communication activities. The expanded use of communication tools by housing movements has also impacted their capacity to influence public awareness about their housing struggles and demands. For example, in São Paulo, UMM relied on the newly acquired skills in their campaigns in January 2025 to defend the federal housing programme supporting social movements, "Minha Casa Micha Vida - Entidades"; a campaign against police violence in December 2024; or to mobilise for the defence the municipal housing programme "Pode Entrar" in July 2024. In the case of Lagos, JEI has relied on the expanded civic media team for the urgent appeal regarding forced evictions in March 2025, or activities related to the dissemination of a recently premiered advocacy film focused on forced evictions in Lagos. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Cultural Societal |
| Description | Cities fit for Young People |
| Amount | £878,814 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | REG-22-011 |
| Organisation | Fondation Botnar |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Start | 08/2023 |
| End | 02/2026 |
| Description | Civic Media for Housing Rights |
| Organisation | Federal University of ABC |
| Country | Brazil |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have set up the collaboration agreement, which is guiding the implementation of the research project in collaboration among the five institutions. IIED team will be coordinating the development of the research methodology, as well as the approach for knowledge exchange and dissemination. IIED will also provide any necessary support for the collaborators to implement the research activities associated to this project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have agreed to implement the activities of the research project, which includes conducting research activities, setting up civic media labs, participating in knowledge exchange and dissemination activities. |
| Impact | Completion of stage 1 of the research, which included: development and signing of collaboration agreement among all collaborating institutions; development and submission initial media landscape and housing analysis in Lagos and São Paulo; participation in knowledge exchange remote workshops. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Civic Media for Housing Rights |
| Organisation | Justice and Empowerment Initiative (Jei) |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| PI Contribution | We have set up the collaboration agreement, which is guiding the implementation of the research project in collaboration among the five institutions. IIED team will be coordinating the development of the research methodology, as well as the approach for knowledge exchange and dissemination. IIED will also provide any necessary support for the collaborators to implement the research activities associated to this project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have agreed to implement the activities of the research project, which includes conducting research activities, setting up civic media labs, participating in knowledge exchange and dissemination activities. |
| Impact | Completion of stage 1 of the research, which included: development and signing of collaboration agreement among all collaborating institutions; development and submission initial media landscape and housing analysis in Lagos and São Paulo; participation in knowledge exchange remote workshops. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Civic Media for Housing Rights |
| Organisation | University of Ibadan |
| Country | Nigeria |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have set up the collaboration agreement, which is guiding the implementation of the research project in collaboration among the five institutions. IIED team will be coordinating the development of the research methodology, as well as the approach for knowledge exchange and dissemination. IIED will also provide any necessary support for the collaborators to implement the research activities associated to this project. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They have agreed to implement the activities of the research project, which includes conducting research activities, setting up civic media labs, participating in knowledge exchange and dissemination activities. |
| Impact | Completion of stage 1 of the research, which included: development and signing of collaboration agreement among all collaborating institutions; development and submission initial media landscape and housing analysis in Lagos and São Paulo; participation in knowledge exchange remote workshops. |
| Start Year | 2022 |
| Description | Civic Media Exchange |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | This in person workshop in São Paulo involved around 90 participants of the São Paulo civic media lab, co-investigators from Brazil and Nigeria, representative from civil society partners in Lagos, as well as researchers from IIED. The workshop consisted of the presentation of the civic media lab outputs, and included a panel discussion with the project partners. This event was a key moment for knowledge exchange as well as celebrate the achievements of the civic media lab participants. Participants of the civic media labs outlined the need to continue with these activities, which has been critical to expand their communication skills and knowledge. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Civic Media and the Right to the City |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | This is a talk given at Federal University of ABC (in São Paulo on 03/03/2023) by Alexandre Apsan Frediani (IIED, project PI) and Evaniza Rodrigues (Uniao dos Movimentos de Moradia, project collaborator) focused on the role of civic media in advancing right to the city. There were 80 postgraduate students, as well as academic staff and representatives from different social movements. Discussions increased the audience's interest on the intersections between communications and the advancement of the right to the city. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Communications and the struggle for the right to the housing |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | Alexandre Apsan Frediani (project PI) participated in an on-line class by the 'Escola da Cidadania' of the Polis Institute. This course targeted representatives from Brazilian social movements and grassroots organisations as well as activists, engaged academics and professionals working in NGOs. There were 120 participants in the class, who were extremely interested in learning more about how communication practices can help to advance the right to housing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPZq72fEeW8 |
| Description | Housing Justice Exchange |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | São Paulo and Lagos teams (UMM and JEI) joined a series of "Housing Justice Exchanges" convened by IIED, in which representatives from 10 grassroots and civil society organisations exchanged ideas about the meaning of and struggles for Housing Justice. The exchanges concluded with a session for sharing ten locally-produced videos to feed into a collective definition of housing justice. The network emerging from these exchanges will continue designing activities together. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Housing Justice Journalism Seminar |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | 5 journalists, 3 representatives from civil society organisations, and 6 researchers joined an on-line workshop to discuss about the challenges faced by journalists working with international media outlets engage with housing rights issues. The workshop also explored the role of civic media to enhance the coverage of housing rights issues. The workshop sparked interest among the journalists who attended the workshop, calling for further meetings and involving a wider range of journalists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | IIED Blog Post |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | More visibility of the on-going practices of civil society groups to advance housing justice. This blog post was within the top 10 blog posts of IIED, achieving 628 views by December 2024. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.iied.org/defining-housing-justice-audiovisual-exchange-struggle-action |
| Description | IIED Blog Post |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | This blog post intended to raise awareness among civil society organisations and donors about the role of civic media in the struggles for housing rights. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.iied.org/bringing-housing-justice-civic-media-together-three-reflections |
| Description | Networking Event - World Urban Forum |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Increased visibility among the urban development community of practice of the use of communication practices by grassroots housing social movements, including the use of digital technologies and social media. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://wuf.unhabitat.org/event/wuf12/social-media-inequality-and-futures-bridging-realities-policy-... |
| Description | Virtual presentation at the "Gridding Equitable Urban Futures in Areas of Transition" hosted at Lancaster University, UK. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Temilade Sesan, Co-investigator in this project gave a presentation titled "Defending housing rights in Lagos: state-citizen contestations and emerging opportunities for civic engagement". The talk brought a concrete element to the theoretical focus of the conference on developing the strong human 'infrastructures of relational practices' that are central to the making of [urban] futures. It also raised awareness about our then forthcoming working paper on the same topic, which was subsequently published in December 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/cemore/project/great/ |