Fundación Cimas is a nonprofit organization, created through agreement No 32 of Ecuador’s Ministry of Environment, on July 22, 1997

Mission

To facilitate a comprehensive human development and the construction of collectives of local and alternative development designed to promote social equity, combining the world views, knowledge and wisdom of various peoples and cultures with the ultimate goal of building a united world.

Vision

To operate as a research-based academic organization that links Ecuadorian and international universities, local governments and marginalized communities in urban and rural areas, with the aim of creating spaces for dialogue associated with participatory processes for the construction of local development alternatives through:

• Human resources training with holistic, interdisciplinary and team-based academic programs.
• The development of participatory action research in environmental, social, and cultural areas. Also, the study of living conditions and health with an intercultural, gender and generational -based perspective.
• The connection between institutional actions and programs with the interactive construction of local development alternatives, the socialization of research results, organization of academic and public events.
• The establishment of networks of cooperation between governments, international agencies and NGOs, in order to strengthen local development processes.