The Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) is a non-profit-making organization. Since 21st September 2001 we have been classed as a Civil Society Organization in the Public Interest (in Portuguese, an Organização da Sociedade Civil de Interesse Público, or Oscip).

ISA was founded on 22nd April 1994. The organisation brought together the material and immaterial legacies of 15 years work by the Indigenous Peoples’ of Brazil Programme (run by the Ecumenical Centre for Information and Documentation, known in Brazil as PIB/CEDI) and of the Brasília-based Nucleus for Indigenous Rights (known in Brazil as the NDI). Both of these activist organizations were well known for their work around the rights of indigenous peoples in Brazil.

ISA was set up to offer integrated solutions to both social and environmental issues. Its main objective is to defend rights and resources (whether collective or individual) relating to the environment, cultural heritage, and indigenous and traditional peoples. Since our foundation, we have been behind a variety projects and actions carried out in partnership with the people we seek to support.

PIB Mirim is part of this work. It was set up as an extension of the website Indigenous peoples in Brazil. Its intention is to offer material that will be helpful to children carrying out school research. The material is written in language that is accessible to young readers. The central themes are broken down into a series of questions created by the ISA team. There is an online game called the Virtual Village, set in a circular indigenous settlement in the Brazilian savannah. The website’s content sets out to challenge the notion that ‘all Indians are the same’, and to encourage interest in, and respect for, children from the indigenous cultures of Brazil.

Team