CENESTA is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable community- and culture-based development. CENESTA works with a variety of partners, from local communities in Iran and other countries to local and national governmental agencies, from universities and research organizations to national and international NGOs. The UN bodies with which CENESTA and its experts entertain on-going collaboration include UNDP, FAO, UNICEF, UNSO, IFAD, UNCCD and the UN Secretariat. CENESTA is a member of IUCN—the World Conservation Union and is affiliated with the University of the North (Iran).
Set up in Tehran originally in 1979 and re-organised after the war in 1991, CENESTA is active in the following areas: Community empowerment and equity; community health, environmental health and pollution control; national and international policies for sustainable development; social communication; renewable energy; sustainable agriculture; collaborative management of natural resources; living with the desert and environmental impact assessment studies.