From territory to city: two recent Silo gatherings

23 March - 2026

Community mediation on electricity distribution in Serrinha and the closing of LabMARÉ mark recent Silo gatherings

In the first months of 2026, Silo – Art and Rural Latitude was involved in two gatherings that mobilized reflections on territory, social participation, and knowledge production. In distinct contexts, the initiatives highlight an important dimension of the organization’s work: promoting spaces for dialogue between communities, institutions, and different fields of knowledge.

Silo fulfills a community and public-interest role by facilitating conversations between the community and different institutions, contributing to the construction of listening, mediation, and articulation processes around issues that directly impact the territories.

Community conversation on energy in Serrinha do Alambari

On January 21, 2026, residents of Serrinha do Alambari, in Resende (RJ), gathered at the court of the Moacir Coelho da Silveira Municipal School for a conversation about the electricity supply in the region. The meeting was attended by CERESCOOP – Rural Electrification Cooperative, the Serrinha do Alambari Residents’ Association (AMOROSA), AMAR – Resende Environmental Agency, and members of the local community.

Silo – Art and Rural Latitude acted as institutional mediator of the gathering, led by director Cinthia Mendonça. The mediation organized the discussion and promoted a space for listening between community and institutions to discuss challenges related to energy distribution in the territory, such as supply interruptions, voltage variations, limitations of existing infrastructure, and environmental constraints. The organization has worked for years facilitating dialogues and contributing to the transformation of conflicts through listening and collective construction.

Throughout the gathering, residents were able to present their concerns and everyday experiences with power outages, while the cooperative explained technical aspects of the network, the system’s operational limits, and prospects for investment and infrastructure expansion. Among the next steps identified at the meeting are the possible creation of a Serrinha Electricity Technical Commission, the presentation of timelines for expanding the network, and feasibility studies for installing a substation in the region.

For Silo, mediating gatherings like this one reinforces the institution’s commitment to the Serrinha do Alambari territory and to promoting balanced dialogue between community and institutions.

Cinthia Mendonça, director of Silo – Art and Rural Latitude, leads the opening of the community conversation on electricity in the Serrinha do Alambari Environmental Protection Area, alongside institutional representatives and members of the local community.

LabMARÉ closing seminar – Science Communication and Popularization

In February, Silo – Art and Rural Latitude, in partnership with Redes da Maré, held the closing seminar of the second edition of LabMARÉ – Laboratory for Science Communication and Popularization. The gathering marked the public presentation of the projects developed throughout the training process, which began in August 2025, as well as the launch of the publication gathering reflections and records of this experience.

The publication opens with a text by Silo’s director, Cinthia Mendonça, and brings together information on the perception of science in Brazil and the laboratory’s process. It is followed by a section dedicated to the projects carried out, with texts by guest contributors such as Gilberto Vieira and Rian de Queiroz, who analyze the production of citizen data in peripheral communities, especially in favelas. The publication presents reflections on the effects of LabMARÉ on the territory and the influence of citizen data production on science. The full text is available at: Silo Arte Library

The event marked the presentation of the projects developed throughout the laboratory, bringing together methodological reflections, records of the training process, and accounts of the experiences developed by the teams over the course of the program.

Silo’s director, Cinthia Mendonça, took part in the seminar’s panels, contributing reflections on collaborative methodologies, mediation, and collective knowledge-building processes. The collaborative laboratory methodology, developed by Silo over the course of its experience with participatory and interdisciplinary processes, guided the teams’ work during LabMARÉ, encouraging the creation of narratives that bring science, data, and everyday life in the territory closer together.

From left to right: João Sousa e Silva, Gilberto Vieira, Samantha Reis, Cinthia Mendonça, and Henrique Silveira.

LabMARÉ is part of a cycle of laboratories held in the Maré territory aimed at strengthening community practices and situated knowledge production. The first edition, held between July 2024 and February 2025, focused on Leadership and Community Practices in Maré. The second edition, held between August and September 2025, focused on Science Communication and Popularization, encouraging the creation of projects capable of bringing science, data, and community daily life closer together.

The continuation of this cycle is already underway: the seminar for the third laboratory is scheduled for April, continuing the process of training, experimentation, and collective knowledge production developed in the territory.

Mediation and methodologies

Although held in different contexts, both gatherings highlight the importance of methodologies capable of organizing dialogue between different social actors. Silo – Art and Rural Latitude works in this field through consulting, methodological advisory services, and institutional mediation, contributing to the creation of spaces for listening, articulation, and collective construction among communities, organizations, and institutions.