THE COMMUNITY FOREST
for the provision of local supplies in the context of growing aridity and nutritional insecurity
Empowering Rural Communities through Design, Nature, and Culture
Partners of Human Potential
OficinaAcademy is a non-profit organization focused on rural entrepreneurship, co-creating local projects with communities. It expands the social and the ecological roles of design, aiming to empower people through their local knowledge rooted in nature and culture.
OficinaAcademy is committed to bottom-up projects. It fosters spatial quality, climate resilience, and the use of local materials and building techniques. It strengthens the connection to the land and its resources as living laboratories for learning and nourishment through multi-generational exchanges, educational programs and community participation.
OficinaAcademy takes current challenges as multidisciplinary opportunities, where reciprocity and collaboration are central to every intervention, aligning aesthetic with symbolic values.
OficinaAcademy offers design, financial and organizational support to communities, co-creating spaces to experience the joy of reciprocity while raising awareness about environmental restoration and social empowerment.
OficinaAcademy transforms local desires into spaces for creative learning, creation, experiencing, and gathering. It activates local latencies in opportunities for integrated futures.
CO-CREATION
ENHACEMENT OF CULTURAL
and natural resources for Community Empowerment
NATURE-BASED CURRICULUM
for children “between 6-12 years old” emphasizing resource stewardship and habitat protection.
Projects
The Forest-School of Indamikunda, Oio Region, Guinea-Bissau
Guinea-Bissau borders Senegal and Guinea in West Africa. It has a population of just over 2 million, comprising more than 30 ethnic groups. While Portuguese is the official language, Guinea-Bissau Creole (Kriol) is widely spoken and regarded as the language of unity. Other local languages include Mandinga, Fula, Balanta, Manjaco, Pepel, and Bijagó.
The Forest-School is the first project of OficinaAcademy, located in the northern region of Guinea-Bissau (Oio) within the community forest of Indamikunda. It will serve children aged 6 to 12, incorporating environmental education to support landscape restoration, cultural sovereignty, and food security.
The country’s per capita GDP ranks among the lowest in the world, presenting challenges for the implementation of educational initiatives that foreground gender equality and social empowerment centered on natural and cultural resources. This context provides an opportunity for the Forest-School to make a significant impact.
OficinaAcademy is partnering with KAFO, a non-profit organization in Guinea-Bissau dedicated to projects on social and gender equity, agro-ecology, environmental restoration, and food security in rural communities affected by climate degradation. KAFO implements various initiatives in the Oio region in collaboration with organizations such as SWISSAID, FAO, IFAD, Seeds, Soils and Culture, and the World Food Program (WFP). More information in: kafobissau.org.
Team
Prof. Dr. Silvia Benedito
(Co-Founder and President)
In addition to her nearly 15 years of teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in Cambridge, USA, and her extensive professional practice, Silvia Benedito founded OficinaAcademy—an open framework for multidisciplinary collaboration aimed at fostering social empowerment, advancing education rooted in local knowledge, and promoting environmental and cultural restoration through place-based design. She is an architect, landscape architect and urban designer educated in Portugal and the USA, with design experience in varied contexts, climates and communities. She is the co-editor and the author of varied books, including the best seller Atmosphere Anatomies: On Design, Weather and Sensation, in collaboration with the photographer Iwan Baan (Lars Müller, Zürich, 2022). This book received an innovation and sustainability award for its contributions to advancing the discourse on the relationship between design, micro-climates, and human well-being. Benedito has lectured internationally on topics connecting design with climate, cultural restitution, and social empowerment.
Pedro Miranda
(Co-Founder and Treasurer)
Mr. Miranda has extensive experience in finance, academia, and developing real estate projects. He is co-founder and managing partner at Cambridge Landmark a top 40 owner of hotels across the US. He was founder and CEO of Itacare Capital, the first UK-listed REIT (LSE: ITA) focused on Brazilian real estate, for 9 years before he took it private. Previously, he was a director at Dolphin Capital (LSE: DCI) a real estate fund with over $1 billion under management and seeded by Fortress Investment Group. He was a vice-president at Edison Advisors, an affiliate of GE Capital and an M&A investment banker at Credit Suisse First Boston and Goldman, Sachs & Co. Mr. Miranda is a member of YPO Global One, FIU Chaplin Hotel School Executive Advisory Board, the MIT Corporation Development Committee and the Advisory Board for Sheraton Hotels. He holds a dual B.S. degree in Computer Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Miami and an MBA in Finance from the Sloan School at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
get in touch
We’d love to hear from you! At Oficina Academy, your feedback, questions, and ideas are important to us. Whether you’re interested in our programs, want to collaborate, or have inquiries about getting involved, please reach out.