Greening Teresina: Climate Action in a Social Housing Complex

The City of Teresina joined global networks such as the Global Covenant of Mayors and ICLEI, and hosts several climate-related projects, including UrbanShift (CAF/GEF) and Viver+ Teresina (AFD), but these initially did not reach Residencial Edgar Gayoso, one of many MCMV (My House, My Life - Housing Program) social housing estates located on cheaper peripheral land with limited services. 

In Teresina’s peripheral social housing complex Residencial Edgar Gayoso, the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC) Urban Lab, locally known as the Alliance for the Residencial Edgar Gayoso, is using small, visible “green” actions to tackle extreme heat, poor public space, and social fragmentation. Through co-created interventions such as the “Praça dos Sonhos” (Central Square), backyard greening, composting and recycling, and the design of a new multi-use community space, residents, municipal departments, universities, and civil society are jointly improving quality of life while embedding climate and social justice in everyday urban development. 

The Urban Lab in Edgar Gayoso, Teresina advanced through three phases:

2021 – Coalition building

WRI Brasil convened municipal departments, UFPI, civil society and residents to form the Alliance. Early meetings and technical/community assessments established a shared understanding of risks and priorities.

2022 – Territory reading + first visible actions

• Participatory diagnosis: Workshops and “dream boxes” gathered residents’ concerns and aspirations, highlighting the need for safer, greener public spaces.
• Mutirões (collective community work action)/ Central Square (“Praça dos Sonhos”): Two collective work days transformed a central median with an outdoor gym, playground, seating and vegetation, creating a quick, trust-building demonstration of change.

2023 – Structured implementation through Working Groups.

Four Working Groups (WGs) advanced specific priorities:

• WG Community Space: Co-designed a 19,800 m² multi-use centre with gardens, sports courts, agroforestry and a recycling point; incorporated climate-smart design. Although, facing several challenges; it has secured support from Viver+ Teresina and SCFV (Service for Conviviality and Strengthening of Bonds) for its future implementation and management.
• WG Employment & Income: Mapped local businesses, strengthened the women-led Sunday Fair, and partnered with the Wall Ferraz Foundation to plan tailored vocational training.
• WG Open Areas: Launched the Green Backyards initiative to improve urban agriculture and support private green gardens; delivered composting and recycling workshops. The WG continued the upgrades to the Central Square (“Praça dos Sonhos”) with shading, art and maintenance. Praça dos Sonhos was the result of a mutirão and hosts several activities, including public festivities, the Sunday Fair and community meetings.
• WG Public Policies: Organised the Citizenship Festival to bring essential services into the neighbourhood; and community-led mapping, water testing and evidence generation to inform municipal action.

In 2023, governance shifted to the community through on-site evening meetings, childcare, and decentralised roles—boosting resident participation, especially among women, and reframing the Lab as a shared community platform.

A broad coalition brings together residents, local government, academia, civil society and private actors around a shared climate-justice agenda.

• Municipal Government: SEPLAN/Agenda 2030 (planning and resilience), SEMDUH (urban development and housing), SEMAM (environment and greening), SEMCASPI (social assistance and future community-space management), ETURB and SAAD Norte (public space and service support).
• Academia: UFPI/Architecture Department and CESU (lab) contributed and assisted the leading role of hired consultants in the delivery of the executive project for the community space and providing technical, research and student engagement.
• Civil Society & Professional Bodies: OAB-PI, IAB-PI and research groups contributing to design, advocacy and institutional support.
• Community Organisations: Residents’ Association and women leaders driving the Sunday Fair, census, backyard greening and activation of public spaces.
• Private & Social Enterprises: Coopcata 3R’s and É de Sol Compostagem delivering recycling and composting training.
• Facilitator & International Partners: WRI Brasil coordinating the Urban Lab; TUC (UNU-EHS, IDOS, WRI, IIED) funded by IKI.

Communication combines on-the-ground engagement with digital storytelling to normalise climate action as part of everyday neighbourhood life.

• Resident-friendly tools such as “dream boxes”, participatory games and affective mapping sessions to surface concerns and aspirations.
• Hands-on mutirões, fairs and workshops that turn abstract climate topics (waste, heat, green infrastructure) into tangible activities with immediate benefits. 
• An active Instagram profile @alianca.edgargayoso showcasing stories, photos and short narratives of local actions, helping build pride, visibility and recognition beyond the neighbourhood. 
• Storytelling and research outputs by TUC and partners, positioning Edgar Gayoso as a reference for climate-just social housing transformation. 

The initiative combines existing public investments with targeted TUC support and strong in-kind contributions.

• Federal housing (baseline before TUC): R$ 27.99M invested in constructing the Edgar Gayoso housing complex under MCMV (My House, My Life – Housing Program)
• Urban Lab (TUC / IKI): Technical assistance, facilitation, participatory tools, local consultants and small materials for mutirões and backyard pilots.
• In-kind contributions: Municipal staff time, UFPI technical support, and labour and materials from community members and local waste/compost organisations.

Early outcomes show visible spatial upgrades, stronger community ties, and a clearer climate focus in local governance.

• Spatial & environmental improvements
  • The new Central Square adds shade, play, exercise and social life where a bare median once stood, helping cool the area and reclaim public space.
  • Backyard gardens and fruit trees expand vegetation and support cooling, food security and biodiversity.
• Knowledge, data & governance
  • A community-led census transformed an “invisible” neighbourhood into a data-rich territory used to guide services and policies.
  • Municipal departments and the University now collaborate more consistently on climate and equity in Edgar Gayoso, beyond the TUC project.
• Social cohesion & leadership
  • Women increasingly lead meetings, to learn about several topics including women empowerment, gender-based violence), run events and economic activities, strengthening gender-responsive climate action.
  • Residents have begun independently organising recycling and waste collection, spreading climate-conscious behaviour.
• Narratives & visibility
  • Edgar Gayoso is now recognised as a reference for climate-just social housing, featured in TUC stories, research and WRI publications.

Progress remains fragile, revealing key lessons on participation and institutional continuity.

• Slow trust-building: Early scepticism and changing community leadership limited engagement; daily socioeconomic pressures often overshadow participation and climate topics.
• Low online participation: Virtual meetings failed due to limited connectivity, reinforcing the need for on-site, accessible formats.
• Uneven institutional engagement: Civil society and municipal participation fluctuated; reliance on a few committed actors creates vulnerability.
• Risks for new facilities: The future community space is facing different challenges for its implementation and could become under-used or unsafe without strong management and community ownership.
• Dependence on WRI/TUC: Until recently, critical coordination still relied on WRI Brasil; however, the current challenge is continuous leadership from local organisations as long-term sustainability requires stronger institutional anchoring.

Edgar Gayoso shows how a peripheral social housing estate can become a climate-justice hub when community data, quick visible wins, and shared governance come together.

Its approach is replicable for other MCMV estates and low-income neighbourhoods if:

• residents co-lead diagnostics and priority-setting;
• early, low-cost nature-based interventions demonstrate tangible benefits;
• working groups link everyday needs with climate action; and
• municipal programmes and climate plans direct resources to these territories.

The Urban Lab has reframed Edgar Gayoso from an isolated housing complex into a recognised site of collective climate action. Embedding this co-creative, gender-responsive, micro-scale resilience model into Teresina’s regular planning and budgeting systems is the next step for scaling impact citywide and beyond.

• TUC Urban Lab Profile – Alliance for the Residencial Edgar Gayoso
• Residencial Edgar Gayoso’s Urban Lab Process - Video
• Community Census of Residencial Edgar Gayoso (PT)
• Instagram: @alianca.edgargayoso

Urban Lab Contact: alianca.centrodorecife@gmail.com

Dr. Flávia Guerra
Associate Academic Officer on the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC)
United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
guerra@ehs.unu.edu

Dr. Andrea Ramírez Agudelo
Associate Academic Officer on the Transformative Urban Coalitions (TUC)
United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS)
ramirez@ehs.unu.edu