The defeat of the Brazilian team at the hands (feet?) of the German Mannschaft two years ago is etched in our collective minds. The match – though remarkable – had little to do with that. What stuck was the reaction of the public and the images of heartbroken football fans that went around the globe. They showed a nation that had betted a lot on football – and lost.
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The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro have been heralded from the start as ‘legacy games’. One key component of the Rio 2016 legacy plan is increased sport participation for low-income children and youth, with a number of public programs set up, and substantial funding channeled, toward this goal. One month before the Games are scheduled to begin, however, this legacy has yet to leave a lasting mark.
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Rio won the honour to host the Olympic Games on the idealistic promise it will leave a “sustainable legacy”. There is, however, a distinct difference between the ideal and the reality when the Olympic Sustainable Management Plan fails to combat the booming Brazilian illegal wildlife trade. The international community are on one hand promoting Rio as green, but on the other accepting their contribution to what the UN has recently found to be ‘an unprecedented threat to wildlife’ by allowing Rio to host the world’s biggest international sporting event.
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The reason to stay in the post-Brexit EU should not be based on fear.
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The municipal government of Rio de Janeiro has promised to urbanize its favelas by 2020, but projects supposed to upgrade the favelas’ infrastructure and create jobs have quickly lost momentum. Fortunately, an unexpected champion has emerged, as residents of favelas have come together and taken the initiative to “green” their communities with reforestation projects, rooftop solar panels and community food gardening, highlighting how sustainable urban design should be done.
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Brazil is used to dealing with two issues lately: massive sport events and extensive social protests that challenge them. Yet the recent brutal gang rape provoked a discourse that had always been downplayed, forgotten – or neglected. When massive sport events make the sex industry flourish, how do we address and tackle the underlying stigmatization of women in Brazil? Authors: Irene Zugasti & Simon Marijsse
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