Simbdea began its activities in 2001, with the creation of an Associazione Culturale (Cultural Organization, a type of association belonging to the non –profit sector) with over 50 founding members.
During the years, the number of members has reached over 200 people, including  teachers, researchers and students from the academic  museum studies area, museum and archive professionals, museum directors, education specialists, ethnomusicologists, ethnologists, researchers of  local folklore.
The variety of skills of the members of Simbdea is one of the most important characteristics of this organization: all areas of research regarding local and national ethnographic heritage are present, and the members are all active in various sectors of ethnographic interest.  Moreover, the members are located all throughout the country, and contribute in giving Simbdea both a national and a strongly local presence.

Events, initiatives and projects organized by the members in their  own areas (by museums, academic institutions and local administrations) are fundamental in allowing the association to monitor the situation in order to support the safeguard and promotion of local heritage while gaining  a deep knowledge of the contexts.

Also, the organization is active on a national level in promoting discussion and research about the most important and urgent issues related to heritage in all its forms and how museums and archives contribute in safeguarding and shaping the knowledge of heritage for the public and civil society. One important instrument of Simbdea’s dissemination policy is the periodical AM-Antropologia Museale, which deals with museums and heritage from different perspectives, raising many different issues and hosting interviews and contributions from both museum professionals, academics, and policy makers.

The focus of the organization, since 2001, has been on:
a) safeguarding and promoting traditional tangible and intangible heritage traces and documentation stored in museums
b) promoting a deeper understanding of this heritage and of cultural diversity through museum exhibitions  and activities (learning activities within museums, seminars, lessons, conferences, creation of museum exhibitions, temporary and permanent)
c) training museum professionals to act for the safeguard and  promotion of traditional heritage with deeper awareness of its implications and an ethnographic approach
Main themes of these 7 past years of activity have been: intercultural issues within museum exhibitions and learning tools in museums, preservation of heritage in museums, museum professionals training, promotion of tangible and intangible heritage in local and national contexts through museum exhibitions, research projects, meetings and congresses, seminars and courses in various universities.