On July 5, Entre Rios do Sul, the small city in the state of Rio Grande do Sul commemorated seven years since the opening of its Culture Center, the first in Brazil to be totally financed from Rouanet Law resources for municipalities with less than one hundred thousand people. Sponsored by ENGIE Brasil Energia with a R$ 1.6 million investment, the project attends 300 children and 10% of the population every week, offering a library, a space for digital inclusion, museum and auditorium for cinema and theater as well as several workshops which range from capoeira (a Brazilian martial art), to jazz, percussion to street art, karate to the accordion, among others.

“In these last seven years, the Culture Center has changed the local reality”, declared its manager, Chirley Rigon. She recalled that in 2007, the municipality had proportionally the second highest murder rate in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, and the investment in children and adolescents has since helped reduce violence in the community. Chirley said that as from the second half of the year, the number of participants in activities will have reached 20% of the inhabitants thanks to new programs directed at women, the elderly and children with special needs.

“It gives us great satisfaction to be celebrating the anniversary of our pioneer Culture Center”, said ENGIE Brasil Energia’s specialist in corporate social responsibility, Luciane Pedro. “This initiative is part and parcel of a global project of the Company to leave a legacy to future generations”. Also present at the ceremony, Diego Collet, the regional manager of the Uruguay River plants, pointed out that the project was an extremely daring one at the time it was established and today it is totally consolidated: “The children are going to have a life different from the generations which never had this opportunity”.

The commemoration was held in the city’s sports gymnasium with shows put on by the singing and dancing group from the Warsaw Polytechnic University, Poland and the Raízes da Terra Group from the Tradições Gaúchas Recanto dos Xirús Center. On the same occasion, the thirtieth anniversary of the Vila Alegre Community Development Association (Adecova) was also commemorated, this association being instrumental in making the project a reality in partnership with the city government and local entities. In June, ENGIE Brasil Energia donated a photovoltaic generation system to the Culture Center, ensuring savings of 70% in electric energy expenditures.