Pedro Arlès, a Brazilian designer and member of the Young Climate Prize Cycle 02 Cohort, has highlighted community-led strategies for addressing urban waste management. Mentored by Stephen Burks and Malika Leiper, he developed the project More Favela, Less Trash, which tackles the urgent challenge of solid waste in Brazil’s cities—an issue that disproportionately affects vulnerable populations.

In Aglomerado da Serra, one of Brazil’s largest favelas in Belo Horizonte, Arlès worked with residents to implement self-management solutions: installing over 400 waste hooks to lift garbage off the ground, creating a 20-meter mural mapping collection sites and services, providing guidance for the disposal of construction debris and abandoned vehicles, and cultivating community gardens and vegetable plots to improve children’s nutrition.

By weaving together design, public art, and grassroots action, Arlès demonstrates how locally driven innovation can foster environmental justice and inspire new models of resilience in urban communities worldwide.