The Change Stories project has worked with students internationally and now we are planning a study abroad for University of Washington undergraduate and master’s students in Brazil.
Belo Horizonte: Urban Change in Action
Through experiential and community-engaged learning, participants on this study abroad program will explore sustainable, healthy, and equitable urban change in one of Brazil’s most innovative cities. Belo Horizonte is internationally recognized for its participatory governance and urban policy success, particularly in reducing hunger and malnutrition. The city continually adapts in response to community needs and has sustained progressive policies over decades, despite shifting political priorities.
During this 2026 Summer A program, students will develop a contextual understanding of the city’s food policy development and implementation, equipping them with knowledge and skills to apply innovative thinking and solutions to urban policy challenges in the USA, not only those related to food. This program is ideal for students interested in urban planning, policy innovation, social justice, public health, sustainability, journalism and related fields.
Gain experience with urban professionals and activists
One week of the program will overlap with the Change Stories Fellows program, which brings together leaders and changemakers in urban health, equity, and sustainability from the USA and around the world. Students will collaborate on projects with professionals and activists actively shaping urban change, making this study a unique combination of networking and learning with real-world impact in a global context.
Overview
- Dates: June 14 – July 16, 2026
- Location: Belo Horizonte, Brazil
- Credits: 10
- Application deadline: 31 January 2026
- University partner: Federal University of Minas Gerais (FUMG)
- Contact: Email Helen Pineo for more information
- Open to undergraduate and graduate students on any major
- Information session: 20 January 2026, noon to 1pm (email Helen Pineo to register)
The program is co-led by Dr Helen Pineo (UW) and Lydia Collins (UW and FUMG), with local partners Prof Waleska Caiaffa and Dr Elis Borde (bios here).
Full program information and application details coming soon.
The program is organized around three courses:
- URBAN 598 SPECIAL TOPICS: PLANNING, POWER AND POLICY (3 credits): Historical and theoretical overview of governance in Belo Horizonte, focusing on concepts of power, policy-making and space/territory. Examines how diverse external and internal actors have influenced urban policy over time, including colonial powers and political actors. The course will use foundational readings from the Global South and Brazil on topics such as colonialism, history of Brazilian redemocratization, and structure of Brazilian planning policies, focusing on Belo Horizonte. Students will become equipped to engage in preliminary comparative analysis of US and Brazilian urban governance mechanisms.
- URBAN 598 SPECIAL TOPICS: DIMENSIONS OF URBAN CHANGE (4 credits): Conceptual and empirical study of how social movements and grassroots activists work with, against, and beyond the state to advocate for sustainable and equitable development. Focuses on empirical research performed by the Change Stories team and existing relationships with local community-based organizations in Belo Horizonte. Food justice and housing will be core themes.
- URBAN 518 QUALITATIVE METHODS (3 credits): Methodological and experiential foundation for studying lived experience, either for research or applied use in planning and public sector services. Reviews diverse methods for learning about residents’ knowledge, including consideration of participants’ needs and ethics, with attention to how such knowledge will be used. Students will integrate storytelling and graphic anthropology approaches on a specific project based in Belo Horizonte.
Classes will occur at the Federal University of Minas Gerais. Each week there will be multiple study tours and visits off campus to encounter places and people involved in food and housing justice in Belo Horizonte.
We will have a two-night field trip to Ouro Preto, a municipality in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The city, a former colonial mining town located in the Serra do Espinhaço mountains, was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO due to its Baroque colonial architecture. Ouro Preto was previously the capital of Minas Gerais from 1720, prior to the foundation of Belo Horizonte in 1897. Students will visit the The Inconfidência Museum to study Brazilian history and culture related to colonialism. They will also have a guided tour of the town to observe colonial architecture.
During the third week of the study abroad, students will become part of a unique international knowledge exchange that is integrated into their studies – the Change Stories Fellowship. Fellows are leaders and changemakers in urban equity and sustainability. The Fellowship includes participants from the USA and our project case study cities.
How will students be integrated in the Fellowship? You will become a Fellow for a week of knowledge exchange. We anticipate that you will learn and share knowledge during this week. Translators will support communication across languages. The Fellowship week is part of the program curriculum with normal classes suspended for the week.
We are planning for your housing to be close to the university (walking distance). More details will become available soon, but please ask if you have any questions.