Set up in 2003, Garimpo de Soluções is a Brazil-based, pioneering company operating at the crossroads of the creative economy, culture and regional development, committed to the improvement of businesses and regions. Its portfolio includes more than 800 talks, 60 curatorships of conferences and other content-based projects and international missions, having worked in 250 cities of 34 countries. Garimpo authored and released spearheading books, such as Creative Economy as a Development Strategy (2008, trilingual, co-ed. Itaú Cultural) and Creative City – Perspectives (2009, bilingual, co-ed. Creative City Productions/US).
The versatility and expertise of the team qualify Garimpo as a contributor to UN and IADB global reports, in parallel to the creation of tailor-made methodologies for local projects, such as for the mapping of regional creative singularities (since 2011), already deployed in seven Brazilian states; for the fostering of creative entrepreneurship (as in the project Território Criativo DF, 2017/18); or for the decoding of the universe of citizens and its translation into a regional brand (e.g. Marca-território Vale do Jequitinhonha, Sebrae MG, 2020).
Other innovative projects include Mapa da Energia Criativa, for the mapping and awareness-generation of 100 creative entrepreneurs (EDP Brasil, 2023); Calculadora Cultural, a free, online calculator of the various impacts of cultural projects (together with ASAS Arte e Tecnologia, 2021); and a series of creative economy plans, of which the first regional creative economy plan in the country, Dá Gosto Ser do Ribeira (Sebrae SP, 2020). The plan was shortlisted in different awards (Jabuti), won others (Prêmio Governo do Estado) and was showcased at Expo Dubai 2021 as a best practice. Garimpo also advises governments and private associations, such as the Federation of Industries for the State of São Paulo (2022/23).
In 2023, in partnership with Instituto Pensar, Garimpo de Soluções proposed the only project in the Americas selected by UNESCO-Aschberg Fund for the rights of cultural workers.