In 1991, the city asked the French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau to open the Free University of the Environment, being an place for learning about the environment and ecology for the population. Since was created, the UNILIVRE is a reference about studies in economically sustainable care of ecosystems, serving as a model for other similar institutions in various parts of the world, as in Cordoba in (Argentina), Río Grande in (Patagonia), Seoul in (Korea), Guadalajara in (Mexico), and in many other Brazilian cities.