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Arcadia

Arcadia serves humanity by preserving endangered cultural heritage and ecosystems.

We protect complexity and work against the entropy of ravaged and thereby starkly simplified natural environments and globalized cultures. Innovation and change occur best in already complex systems. Once memories, knowledge, skills, variety, and intricacy disappear – once the old complexities are lost – they are hard to replicate or replace. Arcadia aims to return to people both their memories and their natural surroundings. What we want to preserve remains fragile, small and dispersed. But if we do not protect it – if it vanishes forever – then future generations will have no base from which to build a vibrant, resilient, green future.

Because knowledge should belong to all, we also promote open access, seeking to make information available without barriers of cost or distance. Charities, businesses, universities, schools, the media, politicians, and citizens all benefit when research and data are no longer locked behind paywalls or reserved for those who live near their repositories. The economy benefits too from better-informed decisions, improved schooling and knowledgeable citizens, from enhanced academic research and innovation based on shared knowledge.

We do not accept applications, but seek and support organizations run by exceptional individuals, operating in a cost-effective, scientifically sound, and ethical manner that share our vision.

Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin

Funder Website

Arcadia Projects

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The Peruvian Peasant Confederation Archive (Confederación Campesina del Perú): Rural and Indigenous Society, National Politics, and International Solidarity

Since 1947 the Confederación Campesina del Perú (CCP) has been active in defence of peasants and indigenous people. Their archive documents the organized efforts of rural and …

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MEAP UCLA

Citizen action for the defence of human rights in Chile: Personal Fonds

Throughout the late 20th century, Chile endured a repressive regime that threatened national democracy. This project, facilitated by the Museo de la Memoria y los Derechos Hum…

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2 0035 rz

Digitization and description of the film collection of the news program “El Mundo al Día”

News program “El Mundo al Día” aired on the Domincan Repblic's first TV channel from 1965 to 1980. During those years, the program broadcasted daily to the nation, capturing a…

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2 0034

Artefacts of a Nation’s Birth - Preserving the Newspapers of Kenya’s Transition From Colony to Nation

The McMillan Memorial Library holds over 45,000 newspaper issues across their three library branches. The rich newspaper collection includes reports of key historical events d…

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2 0033 rz

Surprise!: Photo Jack Imaging Lebanon's Passers-by, Public and Private Life

Throughout the 1940’s to the 1980’s, the Photo Jack Studio captured the intricacies of urban life in northern Lebanon. Using local photography practices and methods, photograp…

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2 0032 rz

African Studies Ibadan Audiovisual and Arabic Manuscripts Archives

During West Africa’s decolonization, researchers and practitioners captured the flourishing of local traditions, including festivals, speeches, songs, and performances-- repre…

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2 0031 rz

Projet Archives des Femmes, Mali

Amongst the recent and historical socio-political turmoil in Mali, local women have worked together to create a more just and equitable society. The personal collections of wo…

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2 0030

Rescuing Zik’s Library: Preserving the Nnamdi Azikiwe Papers

From his role as a student studying in America to becoming the first president of Nigeria, Nnamdi Azikiwe created a vast collection of documentation including personal works, …

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2 0029

Playing Relative: Alliance-Making in Urban Malaysia

Throughout the 1980’s into the early 2000’s, Malaysian countercultures became connected through performative and visual art, which transcended differences in race, language, a…

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