IPESA started after a successful project called Trilhas do Mirante (Viewpoint Track) in 2002. At the time our group was mainly formed by graduated students of USP - University São Paulo, Geography Department. In a partnership with FBS - Friends of Paúba Society, we developed environment education and recovery works in Morro do Mirante (Viewpoint Mount) set in the coastal city of São Sebastião, between Maresias and Paúba beach.

During the project our group grew stronger and new challenges related to social-environmental issues came up making us fell the need to establish ourselves as an institution.

In June 2005 we founded IPESA - Social Environment Institute of Projects and Research, qualified as an NGO (non-governmental organization).

Together we developed our Social Statute, Internal Regiment and line of action. We then started elaborating our actions, projects and partnerships in a mutual effort to achieve our goals.

Successfully, in November 2005, IPESA signed its first institutional partnership with Alphaville Foundation to participate in the Project of Professional Capacitation AVEMARE - Vila Esperança's Association of Collectors of Recyclable Materials- responsible for the execution of the project Our Garbage - Recycling Citizenship in the city of Santana de Parnaíba - SP.

This partnership was amplified with the achieve of one more project - Eco Schools, which is now on its second phase.

The Capacitation Project of AVEMARE is now on its fourth phase, and from August 2006 counts on a new important partner: The Tamboré Institute.

In July 2006, IPESA gave technical assistance on the recovery of degraded areas of Nova Paulista Lot, in the city of Jandira - SP. Therefore we expanded our mission and started to give technical assistances to issues regarding our goals. In November 2006 we diagnosed the implementation of Via Oeste 's source separation curb side collection system.

Our first seed, the Trilhas do Mirante (Viewpoint Track) project continued to provide us opportunities such as the project Portraying Reality- Artistic and Environmental Education Project, in Mobile School.

In 2008 two more important partnerships were established, and the City Government of Santana do Parnaíba and the City Government of São Paulo became our partners through FEMA (SFESD) - Special Fund for Environment and Sustainable Development , and IPESA started giving environment education classes for the Project of Implementation of Environment Education in the Linear Park of Sapé and Água Podre.