Impact · Case Studies · Territory
In Paquetá, a community and the Elos Methodology have grown together for over twenty years.
Downtown Santos · where the Oasis Game was created and played for the first time in 2003, and where the Warriors Without Weapons returned in 2026.
20+ years
community relations
2003
when the Oasis Game was created and played for the first time
DREAMS COME TRUE
1 revitalised square; 1 youth group mobilised, Djow Djow; 1 community bakery built, Um Só Coração; 1 group of women entrepreneurs, Raízes Corticeiras; 1 housing group organised to build the Vanguarda housing estate (113 units)
2003
A square that had been abandoned for years was the first collective dream. Residents and visitors imagined together what they wanted there, and transformed the space.
It was at Paquetá that Elos created the Oasis Game and played it for the first time in 2003. Much of the method was developed here with this community
2007: GSA
In 2007, the GSA programme took place at Paquetá, further boosting the projects that were already underway.
young people
The children who used to attend the meetings reluctantly went on to form a group that learnt how to draft letters, negotiate with the authorities and put forward their own proposals.
The programme extended beyond the neighbourhood: the young people attended the World Social Forum, and two of them took part in an exchange programme in Canada.
women
A group of women has transformed the traditional crafts found in the region, chita, fuxico, crochet and the colours of the market, into a range of accessories.
The pieces were circulated and found their way to buyers outside Brazil. And, by selling them, the women began to present their own territory as a point of reference.
housing
The struggle for housing that brought Samara to Elos has developed into a project comprising 113 self-managed housing units under the Federal Government’s ‘Crédito Solidário’ and ‘Minha Casa, Minha Vida’ programmes.
The project came to a standstill due to a lack of funds. The community organisation, however, did not: the families continued to meet, setting up committees and establishing a collective reserve.
The Connection
In 2025, ‘Conexão Elos’, a learning programme for teenagers, returned to the Association’s premises, which had been closed since the pandemic began. Before the first workshop took place, a series of community clean-up days were organised.
The teenagers’ dream was a safe place to play. The square was undergoing building work, and the answer was no.
So they turned their attention to the residents’ association’s garden. Seven lorries full of rubble were cleared away, and in their place the ‘Quintal Brincante’ and a play centre were built.
Here, Conexão brought families together: mums and uncles took part in the workshops alongside the young people.
2026: GSA
In July 2026, Warriors Without Weapons returns to Paquetá, and the teenagers’ dream comes full circle, back to where it all began: the square.
Participants from various parts of Brazil and around the world are arriving in the region to experience the methodology in practice.
Residents and warriors side by side, working together, the very same spirit that shaped the history of this place.
Those who return find a different community, and dreams that are not yet over.
The Elos that is returning is not the same either: part of the approach that leads to other territories originated here.
Returning to Paquetá is like rekindling a relationship that has lasted more than two decades.
New generations in the same area: children who were born whilst the projects were already underway.
The community effort as a milestone: proof, once again, that it is possible to build things together.
Now the organised community hopes to renovate the ACC Community Centre; organise a Territorial Forum on the theme of the Right to the City and Housing; open the Vanguarda Housing Estate; and launch a new housing development in partnership with the Sítio do Campo Movement.
What Elos achieved: Elos helped to bring people together and recognise the potential of the local area. It was also here that it created the Oasis Game and provided support to numerous community initiatives such as the ‘Djow Djow’ youth group, the community bakery, the cork-harvesting community and the housing movement. Through Conexão, it paved the way for the return of the GSA and a new cycle of technical support.
What the community has built: the square, the youth group, income-generating schemes, the campaign for housing and the ‘Quintal Brincante’ have all been run by the community itself for over twenty years.
What’s under construction: The dream of refurbishing the ACC’s communal space to host activities, events and a café. The ‘Mudar Sem Se Mudar’ (Changing Without Moving) project, supported by the Council of Architects and Urban Planners (CAU SP), aims to create a Territorial Forum to discuss the Right to the City and Housing.
In the early 2000s, Samara came to Instituto Elos seeking help. She had taken over as chair of the residents’ association in Paquetá, in the centre of Santos, and wanted to revive a long-standing campaign for housing. Elos, which was still in its early stages, was unable to take on the project. She then made a simpler request: could she come back if she had any questions?
She could have. And she came back every day. “She always had an excuse: ‘I need to write an official letter, I need to write a letter’,” recalls Mariana Gauche. That persistence brought together two paths that would run side by side for the next two decades.
In 2003, SESC invited Elos to give a talk on community action. The team suggested taking action rather than just talking. They chose Nagasaki Square, which had been abandoned for years. The residents worked together to envisage the space, built scale models and transformed the square. It was there that Elos first formalised the Oasis Game.
Youth groups, income-generation groups and housing groups emerged. The children who used to attend the meetings reluctantly formed a group, learnt to write formal letters, learnt to accept ‘no’ for an answer, and began to champion their own proposals. The women transformed chita fabric, fuxico and the colours of the market into a range of accessories that even came to be sold abroad.
The housing project was a dream that could not be realised within the timeframe of the original plan. The proposal for 113 units under a self-management system made progress, but the building work came to a halt due to a lack of funds and changes to public programmes. The families did not give up: they continued to meet, set up committees and established a collective reserve fund. Some people gave up, some died whilst waiting, children grew up, and the dream remained alive.
In 2023, Nay, Samara’s daughter, who had grown up attending those meetings, took over as chair of the association. The headquarters, however, lay largely unused for years following Samara’s death and the pandemic.
In 2025, Conexão arrived there. Before the first workshop could take place, it was necessary to clear the area, through community clean-up days over the holidays, and remove bag after bag of rubble. The teenagers dreamt of a safe place to play. The square was under construction and couldn’t be used, so the group turned their attention to the association’s back garden. Seven lorryloads of rubble were cleared away, and in its place the Quintal Brincante and a play centre were created.
It was this movement that brought Warriors Without Weapons back. In July 2026, GSA returned to Paquetá and the teenagers’ dream came full circle to where it had begun: the square, now with a larger group and the necessary permits. Today they have the backyard, the playroom and the square. Conexão continues to take place, and the post-GSA group keeps Elos active in the neighbourhood once each edition ends.
GSA found a different community, and a different Elos too: much of the approach that the organisation takes to other places was learnt there.
Now the organised community hopes to renovate the ACC Community Centre; organise a Territorial Forum on the theme of the Right to the City and Housing; open the Vanguarda Housing Estate; and launch a new housing development in partnership with the Sítio do Campo Movement.
Those who have experienced it tell their stories
We were trained to speak, to explain, and to listen to the ‘no’s’ we were bound to hear. We were prepared, really.
Nay
Chair of the Paquetá Residents’ Association
Whilst I’m talking and walking, I’m here holding hands.
Jô
Resident and community leader in Paquetá
Next case