Collaboration between communities, scientists and public authorities through social technologies has shown promising results in managing climate risks. One inspiring example comes from Quemados, a municipality of 150,000 in Baixada Fluminense (RJ) that has historically been exposed to floods. In 2020, a group of young residents with digital skills created a social and environmental startup called Visão Coop, which supports authorities with qualified data to deal with the problem. The projects are based on active listening and the concept of “co-intelligence”, which is the co-construction between humans and machines.
Many verbal demands from residents, hitherto ignored in official records, began to be added to the technical information to create more reliable vulnerability maps. “This has allowed the city council to direct resources to essential works, such as removing river sediments,” says sociologist Lennon Medeiros, co-founder of the company. The result: In 2024, Quemados recorded no deaths in the Baixada Fluminense floods, and saw a 90% reduction in the number of people affected. With support from the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), this methodology is being replicated in other municipalities and states.
Visão Coop advised the COP30 Presidency of the Global Climate Change Conference and is now entering the second phase of its evolutionary cycle: organizing and adapting solutions to the contexts of other South American countries. “Our goal is to ensure that peripheral areas and slums are not just victims, but are at the center of climate adaptation strategies,” highlights the scientist. It reminds us that artificial intelligence, even in its best models, is a reproduction of simulated ideas. Therefore, it is necessary to consider other ways of understanding the world, such as the indigenous worldview.
AI also supports the fight against illegal deforestation and land grabbing in the Amazon region. Through the Land Registration and Regulatory System (Sicarf), a digital tool created by YouX, Instituto Terras do Pará (Iterpa) has been able to automate 80% of its internal processes and significantly reduce waiting times for assistance. High-resolution satellite images detect any illegal vegetation removal and generate automatic alerts. The agency’s strategy is to provide legal security to the rightful owner, and to link ownership of land to the duty to preserve environmental assets.
The company estimates that the titling process conducted via the digital platform will ensure the preservation of 7.9 million hectares as a legal reserve in the state of Pará. For 2026, the company’s goal is to integrate intelligent conversational agents and shooting data from Inpe to send preventative alerts via WhatsApp directly to rural producers. Through the ABC+ unit, the company seeks to adopt low-carbon agricultural practices and open doors to green credit.
On another front to prevent deforestation, the Amazon Institute of Man and the Environment (Imazon) uses the PrevisIA digital platform to monitor “arteries of destruction,” that is, official or secret roads built in the biome. Mapping on satellite images, which requires 2,300 hours of human effort, takes just seven hours. The system can forecast deforestation trends up to a year in advance with up to 73% accuracy. Its algorithms take into account statistical data that 95% of cumulative deforestation and 90% of fires occur within 5.5 kilometers of roads.