Instituto Sinal do Vale

The Instituto Sinal do Vale evolved from CEMINA ( Communication, Education, Information and Adaptation), a not- for- profit organization founded in 1990 to empower women and communities through the use of the radio. In 2007, CEMINA shifted its focus from radio to the capacity building for social start ups and education for adaptation to climate change. One of its main projects was Adapta Sertao, which developed a social technology that benefits the population of small underserved towns in the semi-arid region of Brazil, articulating a group of social technologies that use scare resources such as water and arable land to guarantee the livelihoods of the local farming communities. The project... read more The Instituto Sinal do Vale evolved from CEMINA ( Communication, Education, Information and Adaptation), a not- for- profit organization founded in 1990 to empower women and communities through the use of the radio. In 2007, CEMINA shifted its focus from radio to the capacity building for social start ups and education for adaptation to climate change. One of its main projects was Adapta Sertao, which developed a social technology that benefits the population of small underserved towns in the semi-arid region of Brazil, articulating a group of social technologies that use scare resources such as water and arable land to guarantee the livelihoods of the local farming communities. The project received very prestigious awards such as the 2008 SEED Award. It has also been recognized as a best practice by UN Habitat. In 2008, CEMINA developed a second agroecological program to restore de Atlantic Rainforest in the peripheral communities of Rio de Janeiro, called Sinal do Vale. Since then, SINAL has grown to take prominence as a reference of sustainability solutions and environmental education in the region, hosting more than 4,000 change agents from all over the world and acting as a hub where innovative ideas are tested and scaled up.