At the beginning of 2020, a collective understanding began to emerge about the importance of creating a Pan-Amazonian institute, inspired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), with the premise that knowledge of the Amazon must be based on science and technology directed towards innovation to ensure socio-economic inclusion in the development of the region itself, while observing the fundamental precepts of environmental conservation.

The idea was conceived by Prof. Carlos Nobre, a scientist from the University of São Paulo (USP), together with Prof. Maritta Koch-Weser, president of the NGO Earth3000, who later invited Prof. Adalberto Val, a researcher from the National Institute of Amazonian Research (INPA). They were directly involved with the initiatives that resulted in the current AmIT proposal, initially formulated in terms of its vision, mission, objectives, components, feasibility and governance. To draft this preliminary proposal, a multidisciplinary team was formed in Manaus and has maintained dialogue with colleagues from various institutions in the region and from MIT.

AmIT aims to seek creative solutions involving a holistic and transdisciplinary approach to the structural problems that result in the sustainable development of the region. With this in mind, the goals and proposals elaborated by AmIT align with current discussions among forest-owning countries and resource donors within the context of global agendas like COP-26.